Double-cavity radiometer for high-flux density solar radiation measurements.

A radiometric method has been developed, suitable for both total power and flux density profile measurement of concentrated solar radiation. The high-flux density radiation is collected by a first optical cavity, integrated, and driven to a second optical cavity, where, attenuated, it is measured by a conventional radiometer operating under a stationary irradiation regime. The attenuation factor is regulated by properly selecting the aperture areas in the two cavities. The radiometer has been calibrated by a pulsed solar simulator at concentration levels of hundreds of suns. An optical model and a ray-tracing study have also been developed and validated, by which the potentialities of the radiometer have been largely explored.

Screening haemodialysis patients for infection with human immune deficiency virus (HIV).

A group of 484 patients having regular haemodialysis was tested for the presence of antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). With a commercial enzyme-linked immunoassay kit, the serum of 17 appeared positive. When these 17 samples were retested by a different method, however, none was found to contain antibodies to the virus. Furthermore, evaluation of the clinical state of these 17 patients for the presence of any prodromal symptoms associated with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome was negative. It is therefore suggested that patients having regular haemodialysis are presently at low risk of contracting infection by HIV. By contrast, 81% of these patients had antibodies to cytomegalovirus.

Human tumor antigens inducing in vivo delayed hypersensitivity and in vitro mitogenic activity.

Significant immunogenic properties were observed with an antigen extracted from tumor-liberated particles (TLP). Several different tumors were used to obtain antigens by such cell analysis and purification procedures as: gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, ion-exchange chromatography, affinity chromatography, and gel filtration on Sephadex G-200. The molecular weight determined on SDS-PAGE was about 214,000 daltons. In vivo, TLP yields delayed hypersensitivity reactions both in autologous and homologous hosts. TLP does not seem to have any nonspecific mitogenic activity, but it does have specific mitogenic activity, since lymphocyte blastogenesis (TLP-induced in presensitized patients) could mean its ability when intradermally inoculated to sensitize a lymphocytic clone.

TAF-test: a tumor diagnosis device in oncologic urology.

A screening test for detecting antibodies to HSV-TAA was performed on 26 sera, from urinary bladder carcinoma patients and on 30 sera from prostatic carcinoma patients. Positive results were found in 50% of the urinary bladder cancer sera and in 60% of the prostatic carcinoma sera. As control 10/11 sera from benign prostatic hypertrophy and 4/4 sera from renal pelvis or ureter neoplasias (tumors never previously associated to HSV) were negative before and after surgery. The only one positive of the former group became negative after surgical treatment. The TAF-test can therefore be a meaningful test for monitoring antibody levels in the sera of patients before, during or after the treatment, in order to evaluate the presence of metastases or the success of a therapy.

An immuno-enzymatic assay for herpes simplex virus tumour associated antigen in gynecological oncology.

The authors studied the HSV-TAA (Herpes Simplex Virus Tumor Associated Antigen) in patients affected by female genitale tract tumors, using the immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA). They found a positive frequence of 65% in sera of patients affected by uterine cervical carcinoma and of the 80% in sera of patients affected by vulvar carcinoma. The authors suggest that this enzymatic method has a real value and propose its use in the early diagnosis of the female genital tract neoplasms.

Perspectives and limits of an immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA) for herpes simplex virus (HSV) tumor-associated antigen (TAA).

An ELISA has been developed to detect specific antibodies for HSV-TAA in sera of patients with head, neck and urogenital tract carcinomas (Cancer, 45:1980). Further studies have shown that 64/800 controls (8.12%), i.e. healthy people, are positive against 312/425 patients with herpes associated tumors (73.41%). People with herpes recurrens show 18% positivity, precancerous lesions 44% and other cancers 6%. Immunodepression, chemo- and radio-therapy play an inhibitory role on the ELISA positivity for TAA. Radical surgery of the HSV-TAA positive cancers results in lack of specific antibody whereas relapse or metastasis of the tumor yields positive results. The reproducibility of the test is very good and the standard error is low (1.0655). The conclusions allow us to foresee the use of this ELISA for early detection of the HSV-TAA antibodies in certain human carcinomas.

Purification of herpes simplex virus tumor associated antigen from human kidney carcinoma.

In the present study, we attempted to purify herpes simplex virus (HSV) tumor associated antigen(s) (TAA) extracted from human kidney carcinoma. Trypsinized human tumor cells were sonicated for 9 minutes and clarified at 100,000 x g for 1 hour; the supernate yielded 70% of detectable TAA as determined by means of quantitative absorption with specific antisera. The supernate used as source of soluble HSV-TAA was concentrated and the pellet was resuspended in 0.02 M tris, pH 7.2, and purified by means of filtration on Sephadex G-100 followed by chromatography on DEAE Sephadex A-50 and then affinity chromatography on concanavalin A (Con A) sepharose. The TAA bound to Con A sepharose was eluted by 0.5 M of alpha-CH3D-mannoside (alpha-MM) and behaved as a glycoprotein. The molecular weight determined on SDS-PAGE was about 70,000 daltons in relation to standard marker proteins. This antigen reacted in complement fixing tests with hyperimmune guinea pig sera as well as with certain human squamous cancer sera. As a control we used a human kidney carcinoma which showed no complement fixing activity in any of the procedural steps, and as control sera, guinea pig sera prepared by inoculation of uninfected guinea pig cells.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for herpes simplex virus tumor-associated antigen.

The antibodies against herpes simplex virus (HSV) tumor-associated antigen (TAA) in human sera were investigated by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). By combining the findings of antibody levels in many human sera, a significant level of discrimination between normal and cancer sera could be reached. Thus, 57 of 74 pathological sera had increased levels of antibodies against HSV-TAA antigen as compared to 26 of 512 normal sera. A significant correlation between the ELISA values and complement fixing (CF) and radioimmunoassay (RIA) values was also found. The results suggest that serodiagnosis with the ELISA test may therefore be of some use in the detection of specific antibodies against HSV-TAA antigen in sera of cancer patients.