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Selected AbstractsAdsorption of hydrophobic organic compounds onto a hydrophobic carbonaceous geosorbent in the presence of surfactants,ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 6 2008Peng Wang Abstract The adsorption of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs; atrazine and diuron) onto lampblack was studied in the presence of nonionic, cationic, and anionic surfactants (Triton® X-100), benzalkonium chloride [BC], and linear alkylbenzene sulfonate [LAS]) to determine the effect of the surfactant on HOC adsorption onto a hydrophobic carbonaceous geosorbent. Linear alkylbenzene sulfonate showed an adsorption capacity higher than that of BC but similar to that of Triton X-100, implying the charge property of a surfactant is not a useful indicator for predicting the surfactant's adsorption onto a hydrophobic medium. The results also indicated that the octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow) of a surfactant is not a good predictor of that surfactant's sorption onto a hydrophobic medium. Under subsaturation adsorption conditions (i.e., before sorption saturation is reached), surfactant adsorption reduced HOC adsorption to a significant extent, with the reduction in HOC adsorption increasing monotonically with the amount of surfactant adsorbed. Among the three surfactants, Triton X-100 was the most effective in reducing HOC adsorption, whereas BC and LAS showed similar effectiveness in this regard. Under the same amount of the surfactant sorbed, the reduction in atrazine adsorption was consistently greater than that for diuron because of atrazine's lower hydrophobicity. No significant difference was observed in the amount of the HOC adsorbed under different adsorption sequences. Our results showed that the presence of surfactant can significantly decrease HOC adsorption onto hydrophobic environmental media and, thus, is important in predicting HOC fate and transport in the environment. [source] Thermodynamic analysis of binding of p -substituted benzamidines to trypsinFEBS JOURNAL, Issue 6 2001Reinskje Talhout Understanding the structural basis of inhibitor,enzyme interactions, important for the design of new drugs, requires a complete thermodynamic characterization of the binding process as well as a description of the structure of the complex. In this paper, the binding of p -substituted benzamidinium derivatives to the structurally well-characterized serine proteinase bovine pancreatic trypsin has been studied using isothermal titration calorimetry. These experiments have permitted a complete characterization of the temperature dependence of the inhibitor-binding thermodynamics. At 25 °C, both the enthalpy and entropy of binding are favourable for all studied derivatives, but this is only true for a relatively narrow temperature range. As binding is characterized by a negative change in heat capacity, the process is characterized by enthalpy,entropy compensation, resulting in a change of the net thermodynamic driving force for association from entropic to enthalpic with increasing temperature. These phenomena are not unusual when hydrophobic forces play an important role. The trend in the relative binding potencies can, to a significant extent, be attributed to the electron-donating/withdrawing character of the substituent at the para position, as shown by the Hammett plot for the different inhibitors; the more polar the p -substituted benzamidine, the less potent it will be as a trypsin inhibitor. This behaviour might result from a bulk solvation effect, meaning that the more polar, lower potency inhibitors will be more stabilized in water than the less polar, higher potency inhibitors. [source] Relationship of prolactin response to meta-chlorophenylpiperazine with severity of drug use in cocaine dependenceHUMAN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY: CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL, Issue 6 2006Ashwin A. Patkar Abstract Rationale Serotonergic (5-HT) mechanisms appear to mediate central effects of cocaine. Therefore 5-HT disturbances could be associated with drug severity. Objectives We investigated whether prolactin (PRL) response to meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (m-CPP), a mixed 5-HT agonist/antagonist were associated with severity of cocaine use. Methods Thirty-six cocaine-dependent subjects and 33 controls underwent a challenge with 0.5,mg/kg of oral m-CPP. Severity of drug use was assessed using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). Results The PRL response to m-CPP was significantly blunted in cocaine patients compared to controls (F,=,21.86, p,<,0.001). ,PRL (peak PRL,baseline PRL) was negatively correlated with ASI-drug (r,=,,0.45, p,<,0.01), ASI-alcohol (r,=,,0.32, p,<,0.05), and ASI-psychological (r,=,,0.41, p,<,0.01) composite scores, and with the quantity, frequency and duration of drug use (r ranged from ,,0.41 to ,,0.32, p ranged from <,0.01 to 0.05). Hierarchical regressions showed that ASI-drug composite scores significantly predicted the variance in ,PRL after controlling for behavioral and demographic variables (F,=,4.27, p,<,0.05). Conclusions The results indicate that disturbances in 5-HT function as reflected by a blunted response to m-CPP seem to be primarily associated with severity of drug use and to a lesser, although significant extent with behavioral traits in cocaine-dependent patients. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A switched-capacitor programmable gain amplifier using dynamic element matchingIEEJ TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING, Issue 6 2007Jun Wang Non-member Abstract This paper discusses the effect of capacitor mismatch errors on gain accuracy of switched-capacitor programmable gain amplifier (SC PGA). To improve gain deviations caused by mismatch errors, the dynamic element matching (DEM) algorithm is applied to the SC PGA circuits. It uses digital gain-control signal to dynamically vary the matched capacitor combinations so that the effective capacitances of the sampling and feedback capacitor arrays are averaged, and thus the gain deviations due to capacitor mismatch errors are eliminated to a significant extent. The distortion caused by mismatch errors shift to certain frequency bands, and could be reduced or removed by subsequent processing such as lowpass filtering. A 4-bit SC PGA using DEM was designed in 0.25 µm CMOS process with 2.5 V voltage supply, including offset cancellation and clock bootstrapped circuits operating at a sampling frequency of 10 MHz. Test results have indicated that gain deviations due to mismatch errors are substantially reduced. Copyright © 2007 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] Interactions between N,acetylcysteine and sodium selenite in modulating the clastogenicity of urethane and 2,acetylaminofluorene in miceINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 1 2004Roumen M. Balansky Abstract Combined treatment with different agents represents a promising approach in cancer chemoprevention. Therefore, it is useful to assess in preclinical models the efficacy of combinations that are selected by taking into account mechanistic considerations. We designed 2 studies evaluating the interaction between N,acetylcysteine (NAC) and sodium selenite (Se), both given with the drinking water to Balb/c mice, in modulating clastogenic effects in bone marrow polychromatic erythrocytes. In a first study, a single i.p. injection of urethane considerably enhanced the frequency of micronucleated cells. While NAC produced a significant inhibition, Se further enhanced urethane clastogenicity. When given in combination at the same doses, NAC prevented the adverse effect of Se. In a second study, a single i.p. injection of 2,acetylaminofluorene enhanced the frequency of micronucleated cells. Se did not reduce this effect to a significant extent, while NAC produced a dose,dependent inhibition. When tested at the lower dose in combination with Se, the protective effect of NAC was unchanged. Especially in association with Se, NAC also prevented the toxicity of 2,acetylaminofluorene by normalizing the ratio of polychromatic to normochromatic erythrocytes. In conclusion, NAC attenuated the clastogenicity of both urethane and 2,acetylaminofluorene and the toxicity of this aromatic amine. In addition, NAC prevented the clastogenic and toxic effects resulting from the interaction of Se with urethane. Together with the findings of previous studies, it appears that, besides its intrinsic protective properties in carcinogenesis, NAC is capable of attenuating the adverse effects of several cytotoxic drugs and chemopreventive agents. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Sensitivity of the southern African circulation to dipole sea-surface temperature patterns in the south Indian OceanINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2002C. J. C. Reason Abstract Previous observational work suggests that when sea-surface temperature (SST) is warm (cool) in the southwest Indian Ocean and cool (warm) in the southeast Indian Ocean, increased (decreased) summer rains may occur over large areas of southeastern Africa. In this study, an atmospheric general circulation model is used to investigate the sensitivity of the regional circulation and rainfall over southern Africa to these dipole SST anomalies in the subtropical south Indian Ocean. When the model is forced with positive SST anomalies in the west and negative SST anomalies in the east, increased rainfall occurs over southeastern Africa as a result of the enhanced convergence of moister than average air over the region. Enhanced evaporation occurs over the warm pole in the southwest Indian Ocean and this moist air is advected towards southeastern Africa as a result of the low-pressure anomaly generated over this pole, which strengthens the onshore flow. Increased and more intense extra-tropical cyclones occur to the southeast of South Africa, favourable for tropical,temperate trough formation. When the SST poles are reversed in sign, decreased precipitation occurs over southeastern Africa as a result of increased low-level divergence of low-level flow and this flow being drier than average. Weaker and fewer extra-tropical cyclones occur southeast of South Africa in this case. The model results are sensitive to the proximity of the southwest Indian Ocean pole to southeastern Africa. There is also sensitivity in the model low-level wind changes and precipitation anomaly over low-latitude southern Africa (but not over South Africa to any significant extent) to the presence or absence of the SST pole over the southeast Indian Ocean. Although the model resolution does not capture the details of the local SST and topographic gradients as well as one would like, the changes in model circulation and precipitation in the experiments with different SST anomalies are consistent with previous observational and theoretical work, hence increasing confidence in the robustness of the results. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Association chain graphs: modelling etiological pathwaysINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 2 2003Michael Höfler Abstract Multiple time-dynamic and interrelated risk factors are usually involved in the complex etiology of disorders. This paper presents a strategy to explore and display visually the relative importance of different association pathways for the onset of disorder over time. The approach is based on graphical chain models, a tool that is powerful but still under-utilized in most fields. Usually, the results of these models are displayed using directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). These draw an edge between a pair of variables whenever the assumption of conditional independence given variables on an earlier or equal temporal footing is violated to a statistically significant extent. In the present paper, the graphs are modified in that confidence intervals for the strengths of associations (statistical main effects) are visualized. These new graphs are called association chain graphs (ACGs). Statistical interactions cause ,edges' between the respective variables within the DAG framework (because the assumption of conditional independence is violated). In contrast they are represented as separate graphs within the subsample where the different association chains may work within the ACG framework. With this new type of graph, more specific information can be displayed whenever the data are essentially described only with statistical main- and two-way interaction effects. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source] Possible mechanisms for the relative efficacies of ortho -phthalaldehyde and glutaraldehyde against glutaraldehyde-resistant Mycobacterium chelonaeJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2001S.E. Walsh Aims: This investigation compared glutaraldehyde (GTA)-sensitive and -resistant strains of Mycobacterium chelonae and examined the effects of pretreatment of GTA-sensitive and -resistant strains of Myco. chelonae with chemical agents that interfere with cell wall synthesis. Methods and Results: When exposed to 2% (v/v) GTA at 25°C, GTA-resistant strains of Myco. chelonae dried on to glass carriers were not inactivated to any significant extent. By contrast, GTA-sensitive strains of Myco. chelonae and a strain of Myco. terrae suffered a > 6 log reduction in viability in 5 min. However, ortho -phthalaldehyde (OPA; 0·5% w/v) achieved a corresponding inactivation against two GTA-resistant strains within 5,10 and 10,20 min, respectively. Electron microscopy, using a non-aldehyde fixation process and also negative staining, failed to detect any extensive changes in GTA-sensitive and -resistant cultures exposed to GTA or OPA. Thin-layer chromatography was unsuccessful in detecting differences between GTA-resistant and -sensitive strains of Myco. chelonae. However, pretreatment of GTA-resistant cells with mycobacterial cell wall synthesis inhibitors increased their subsequent susceptibility further to OPA but not to GTA. Conclusions:Ortho -phthalaldehyde is an effective new biocidal agent that, at its in-use concentration, is rapidly bactericidal to non-sporulating bacteria, including GTA-sensitive and -resistant mycobacteria. Significance and Impact of the Study: Pretreatment of GTA-resistant cells with mycobacterial cell wall synthesis inhibitors increased their subsequent susceptibility to OPA but not to GTA. [source] Chemistry of some fluorescamine,amine derivatives with relevance to the biosynthesis of benzylpenicillin by fermentationJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 12 2002L Baker Abstract The reaction of fluorescamine with 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) at pH 4 was investigated for its potential use in the biosynthesis of benzylpenicillin. A number of amino acids and penicillin amine derivatives, that reacted with fluorescamine at pH 7,9, were unlikely to do so to a significant extent at pH 4 and hence were unlikely to interfere in results that led to the biosynthesis of benzylpenicillin. Biosynthesis was followed using Penicillium chrysogenum Wis F3-64, growing in a corn steep liquor medium in a shake flask fed with phenylacetic acid daily. Analysis of benzylpenicillin formation was effected enzymically and fluorimetrically. A sample of the fermentation broth was treated with buffer at pH 7.8 and an active penicillin acylase solution for 1,h at 37,°C. The pH was then lowered to 4 by swamping with acetate buffer and the solution was treated with fluorescamine. The resulting fluorescence was compared with that of a standard 6-aminopenicillianic acid solution treated in the same manner. In this case the biosynthesis of benzylpenicillin was found to increase over 6 days. The results were compared with those for a control broth where the penicillin acylase was not added. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Effects of Thermal Aging on the Mechanical Properties of a Porous-Matrix Ceramic CompositeJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 3 2002Eric A. V. Carelli The present article focuses on changes in the mechanical properties of an all-oxide fiber-reinforced composite following long-term exposure (1000 h) at temperatures of 1000,1200°C in air. The composite of interest derives its damage tolerance from a highly porous matrix, precluding the need for an interphase at the fiber,matrix boundary. The key issue involves the stability of the porosity against densification and the associated implications for long-term durability of the composite at elevated temperatures. For this purpose, comparisons are made in the tensile properties and fracture characteristics of a 2D woven fiber composite both along the fiber direction and at 45° to the fiber axes before and after the aging treatments. Additionally, changes in the state of the matrix are probed through measurements of matrix hardness by Vickers indentation and through the determination of the matrix Young's modulus, using the measured composite moduli coupled with classical laminate theory. The study reveals that, despite evidence of some strengthening of the matrix and the fiber,matrix interfaces during aging, the key tensile properties in the 0°/90° orientation, including strength and failure strain, are unchanged. This strengthening is manifested to a more significant extent in the composite properties in the ±45° orientation, wherein the modulus and the tensile strength each exhibit a twofold increase after the 1200°C aging treatment. It also results in a change in the failure mechanism, from one involving predominantly matrix damage and interply delamination to one which is dominated by fiber fracture. Additionally, salient changes in the mechanical response beyond the maximum load suggest the existence of an optimum matrix strength at which the fracture energy in the ±45° orientation attains a maximum. The implications for long-term durability of this class of composite are discussed. [source] High-Temperature Rheology of Calcium Aluminosilicate (Anorthite) Glass-Ceramics under Uniaxial and Triaxial LoadingJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 11 2001Balakrishnan G. Nair The high-temperature creep behavior of two fine-grained (,3 ,m) anorthite-rich glass-ceramics was characterized at ambient pressure and under a confining pressure of ,300 MPa. Experiments were done at differential stresses of 15,200 MPa and temperatures of 1200°,1320°C. Of the two materials, one had a tabular (lathlike) grain structure with finely dispersed second phase of mullite, mostly in the form of ,3,5 ,m grains comparable to that of the primary anorthite phase, whereas the other had an equiaxed grain morphology with fine (,400 nm) mullite precipitates concentrated at the anorthite grain boundaries. The results of creep experiments at ambient pressure showed that the material with the tabular grain structure had strain rates at least an order of magnitude faster than the equiaxed material. Creep in the tabular-grained material at ambient pressure was accompanied by a significant extent of intergranular cavitation: pore-volume analysis before and after creep in this material suggested that >75% of the bulk strain was due to growth of these voids. The equiaxed material, in contrast, showed a smooth transition from Newtonian (n= 1) creep at low stresses to non-Newtonian behavior at high stresses (n > 2). Under the high confining pressure, the microstructures of both materials underwent significant changes. Grain-boundary mullite precipitates in the undeformed, equiaxed-grain material were replaced by fine (,100 nm), intragranular precipitates of silliminate and corundum because of a pressure-induced chemical reaction. This was accompanied by a significant reduction in grain size in both materials. The substantial microstructural changes at high confining pressure resulted in substantially lower viscosities for both materials. The absence of mullite precipitates at the grain boundaries changed the behavior of the equiaxed material to non-Newtonian (n= 2) at a pressure of ,300 MPa, possibly because of a grain-boundary sliding mechanism; the tabular-grained material showed Newtonian diffusional creep under similar conditions. [source] A composite material model for improved bone formationJOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, Issue 7 2010Silvia Scaglione Abstract The combination of synthetic polymers and calcium phosphates represent an improvement in the development of scaffolds for bone-tissue regeneration. Ideally, these composites provide both mechanically and architecturally enhanced performances; however, they often lack properties such as osteoconductivity and cell bioactivation. In this study we attempted to generate a composite bone substitute maximizing the available osteoconductive surface for cell adhesion and activity. Highly porous scaffolds were prepared through a particulate leaching method, combining poly-,-caprolactone (PCL) and hydroxyapatite (HA) particles, previously coated with a sucrose layer, to minimize their embedding by the polymer solution. Composite performances were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. In PCL,sucrose-coated HA samples, the HA particles were almost completely exposed and physically distinct from the polymer mesh, while uncoated control samples showed ceramic granules massively covered by the polymer. In vivo results revealed a significant extent of bone deposition around all sucrose-coated HA granules, while only parts of the control uncoated HA granules were surrounded by bone matrix. These findings highlight the possibility of generating enhanced osteoconductive materials, basing the scaffold design on physiological and cellular concepts. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Weed vegetation of arable land in Central Europe: Gradients of diversity and species compositionJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 3 2004Z. Lososová Abstract: Question: What are the main broad-scale spatial and temporal gradients in species composition of arable weed communities and what are their underlying environmental variables? Location: Czech Republic and Slovakia. Methods: A selection of 2653 geographically stratified relevés sampled between 1954,2003 was analysed with direct and indirect ordination, regression analysis and analysis of beta diversity. Results: Major changes in weed species composition were associated with a complex gradient of increasing altitude and precipitation and decreasing temperature and base status of the soils. The proportion of hemicryptophytes increased, therophytes and alien species decreased, species richness increased and beta diversity decreased with increasing altitude. The second most important gradient of weed species composition was associated with seasonal changes, resulting in striking differences between weed communities developed in spring and summer. In summer, weed communities tended to have more neophytes, higher species richness and higher beta diversity. The third gradient reflected long-term changes in weed vegetation over past decades. The proportion of hemicryptophytes and neophytes increased, while therophytes and archaeophytes decreased, as did species richness over time. The fourth gradient was due to crop plants. Cultures whose management involves less disturbances, such as cereals, harboured less geophytes and neophytes, and had higher species richness but lower beta diversity than frequently disturbed cultures, such as root crops. Conclusions: Species composition of Central European weed vegetation is mainly influenced by broad-scale climatic and edaphic factors, but its variations due to seasonal dynamics and long-term changes in agricultural management are also striking. Crop plants and crop-specific management affect it to a lesser, but still significant extent. [source] Foliar demand and resource economy of nutrients in dry tropical forest speciesJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 1 2001C.B. Lal Important phenological activities in seasonally dry tropical forest species occur within the hot-dry period when soil water is limiting, while the subsequent wet period is utilized for carbon accumulation. Leaf emergence and leaf area expansion in most of these tree species precedes the rainy season when the weather is very dry and hot and the soil cannot support nutrient uptake by the plants. The nutrient requirement for leaf expansion during the dry summer period, however, is substantial in these species. We tested the hypothesis that the nutrients withdrawn from the senescing leaves support the emergence and expansion of leaves in dry tropical woody species to a significant extent. We examined the leaf traits (with parameters such as leaf life span, leaf nutrient content and retranslocation of nutrients during senescence) in eight selected tree species in northern India. The concentrations of N, P and K declined in the senescing foliage while those of Na and Ca increased. Time series observations on foliar nutrients indicated a substantial amount of nutrient resorption before senescence and a ,tight nutrient budgeting'. The resorbed N-mass could potentially support 50 to 100% and 46 to 80% of the leaf growth in terms of area and weight, respectively, across the eight species studied. Corresponding values for P were 29 to 100% and 20 to 91%, for K 29 to 100% and 20 to 57%, for Na 3 to 100% and 1 to 54%, and for Ca 0 to 32% and 0 to 30%. The species differed significantly with respect to their efficiency in nutrient resorption. Such interspecific differences in leaf nutrient economy enhance the conservative utilization of soil nutrients by the dry forest community. This reflects an adaptational strategy of the species growing on seasonally dry, nutrient-poor soils as they tend to depend more or less on efficient internal cycling and, thus, utilize the retranslocated nutrients for the production of new foliage biomass in summer when the availability of soil moisture and nutrients is severely limited. [source] The Structure of Wages in the Netherlands, 1986,98LABOUR, Issue 3 2003Bas Ter Weel For many OECD countries an increase in wage inequality has been documented since the early 1980s. This is often attributed to a general rise in the demand for skilled workers resulting from recent technological change. Using the Organization for Strategic Labour Market Research (OSA) Labour Supply data, this paper studies the wage structure in the Netherlands over the period 1986,98 and demonstrates that wage inequality did not increase to any significant extent in the Netherlands. Using the accounting framework proposed by Juhn et al. (Journal of Political Economy 101: 410,442, 1993), it is shown that the relatively stable wage structure until at least the late 1990s can be attributed mainly to returns to observable components, such as education and experience, while residual wage inequality is found to be of minor importance in explaining the Dutch wage structure. These estimates suggest that the demand for skill in the Netherlands is likely not to have been rising to the extent it did in many other countries over this period. [source] Investigation of physical and bathymetric characteristics of Lakes Abaya and Chamo, Ethiopia, and their management implicationsLAKES & RESERVOIRS: RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2006Seleshi Bekele Awulachew Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical parameters of Lakes Abaya and Chamo in the Ethiopian rift lakes system, including such physical characteristics as depth, water resources capacity, hydrology, water balances, and impacts of water use and degradation of their watersheds. These parameters have not previously been studied for these two lakes to any significant extent. This study describes the bathymetry survey undertaken for these two lakes, and the morphometric characteristics derived from it. This study is part of a research project developed to provide further details on such parameters as hydrology, water quality, sediment inflows and deposition, lake hydrodynamics and consumptive water uses. The bathymetric survey was conducted, utilizing a combination of global positioning system (GPS) and echo sounder. To calculate the morphometric characteristics, the background lake map was digitized, and the surveyed primary data were developed as digital values. The digital values were interpolated, generating grids of the elevation surface. The elevation area and elevation volume curves (capacity curves) of the two lakes were developed from the digital values, describing the water resources capacity of the lake water basins. The results of this study increase our understanding of the water resources of these two lakes, as well as provide better understanding of their vulnerability to human activities because of their shallow depths. Immediate application of the results, as a basis for continuation of this study, also is highlighted. [source] QTc interval and QTc dispersion during haemodiafiltrationNEPHROLOGY, Issue 6 2004FULVIO FLOCCARI SUMMARY: Background and Aim: Our aim was to evaluate QTc interval and QTc dispersion in 27 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing Acetate Free Biofiltration (AFB) in order to ascertain any correlations between the electrrocardiographic (ECG) parameters, serum Na+, K+, Ca++, Mg++ and intraerythrocytic Mg++ (Mg++e) concentrations. All measures were made at t0 (session beginning), t1 (first hour), t2 (second hour), t3 (third hour), and t4 (session end). Results: Blood pressure, heart rate, bodyweight and total ultrafiltration in the three dialysis sessions were constant. A significant progressive increase occurred in serum Ca++ during the sessions, while there was a significant diminution in serum K+. The pattern for Mg++ concentrations in serum and erythrocytes differed: in serum it decreased, whereas Mg++e increased. At t4, the QTc interval was reduced to a significant extent with respect to the baseline value. QTc dispersion significantly increased at t1 without there being significant variations at other times with respect to t0. At t2, t3 and t4, values promptly returned to baseline levels. QTc had a negative correlation with serum Ca++ levels at t4. In contrast, an inverse correlation was found between QTc dispersion and serum K+ at t1. No other correlations could be found between any other electrolytes, QTc interval or QTc dispersion. Conclusion: In conclusion, the decrease observed in the QTc interval at the end of an AFB session was inversely related to serum Ca++ concentrations. Moreover, an increase in QTc dispersion occurred during the first hour of the session, and was negatively correlated with serum K+. [source] Progress, epistemology and human health and welfare: what nurses need to know and whyNURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2005Clinton E. Betts RN BSc BScN MEd Abstract, Human Progress is often understood to be a rather natural and obvious truth of human existence. That this is not necessarily so, is indicative of the pervasive social, psychological, and educational inculcation that sustains its ubiquitous acceptance. Moreover, the uncritical and ill-informed understanding of Progress as an unquestioned expression of human beneficence has serious consequences for those concerned with the health and welfare of people. It is argued in this paper that, much of what we might consider deleterious in the socio-political milieu that now confronts us is, to a significant extent, a matter of progressive ideological epistemology and its ensuing manner of human institutionalization. Part one contends that the current socio-political structure of the current postmodern affairs is in reality that of a pervasive postmodern economic ideology. Part two provides a brief overview of the historical and philosophical development of Progress as an idea, including some of the profound effects wrought by it on human affairs in the contemporary world. Finally, Part three presents a discussion of the influential effects of the philosophy of Progress on the epistemology of human health and welfare intervention, specifically that of nursing and its claim to a holistic ethic of Caring. [source] Sizing of throttling device for gas/liquid two-phase flow part 1: Safety valvesPROCESS SAFETY PROGRESS, Issue 4 2004Ralf Diener The calculation of the mass flow rate through throttling devices is difficult when handling two-phase flow, especially when boiling liquids flow into these fittings. Safety valves are typically oversized by a significant extent, if sizing methods like the ,-method (originally developed by J. Leung), are used in case of low-quality inlet flow. Within this method the boiling delay of the liquid and the influence of the boiling delay on the mass flow rate are not considered. In this paper the HNE-DS model is proposed, where the compressibility coefficient , is extended by adding a boiling delay coefficient. It includes the degree of thermodynamic nonequilibrium at the start of the nucleation of small mass fractions of vapor upstream of the fitting. In Part 1 the sizing of safety valves is described. Additionally, the derivation of the HNE-DS method is given in detail. Part 2 considers the mass flow rate through short nozzles, orifices, and control valves. The HNE-DS model can be used for all those fittings. A comparison with experimental results on safety valves with steam/water and air/water flow has emphasized the excellent accuracy of the new model. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2004 [source] Observations on the detection of b- and y-type ions in the collisionally activated decomposition spectra of protonated peptidesRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 10 2009King Wai Lau Tandem mass spectrometric data from peptides are routinely used in an unsupervised manner to infer product ion sequence and hence the identity of their parent protein. However, significant variability in relative signal intensity of product ions within peptide tandem mass spectra is commonly observed. Furthermore, instrument-specific patterns of fragmentation are observed, even where a common mechanism of ion heating is responsible for generation of the product ions. This information is currently not fully exploited within database searching strategies; this motivated the present study to examine a large dataset of tandem mass spectra derived from multiple instrumental platforms. Here, we report marked global differences in the product ion spectra of protonated tryptic peptides generated from two of the most common proteomic platforms, namely tandem quadrupole-time-of-flight and quadrupole ion trap instruments. Specifically, quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectra show a significant under-representation of N-terminal b-type fragments in comparison to quadrupole ion trap product ion spectra. Energy-resolved mass spectrometry experiments conducted upon test tryptic peptides clarify this disparity; b-type ions are significantly less stable than their y-type N-terminal counterparts, which contain strongly basic residues. Secondary fragmentation processes which occur within the tandem quadrupole-time-of-flight device account for the observed differences, whereas this secondary product ion generation does not occur to a significant extent from resonant excitation performed within the quadrupole ion trap. We suggest that incorporation of this stability information in database searching strategies has the potential to significantly improve the veracity of peptide ion identifications as made by conventional database searching strategies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Quantitatively resolving mixtures of isobaric compounds using chemical ionization mass spectrometry by modulating the reactant ion compositionRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 16 2008E. C. Fortner Acrolein (C3H4O) and 1-butene (C4H8) can both be individually detected by proton transfer chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CI-MS). However, because these compounds are isobaric, mixtures of these two compounds cannot be resolved since both compounds react with H3O+ via a proton-transfer reaction to form a protonated molecule that is detected at a nominal mass-to-charge ratio of 57 (m/z 57). While both compounds react with H3O+ only acrolein reacts to any significant extent with H3O+(H2O). Recognizing that the electrical potential applied to a drift tube reaction mass spectrometer provides a simple and effective means for varying the relative intensity of the H3O+ and H3O+(H2O) reactant ions we have developed a method whereby we make use of this reactivity difference to resolve mixtures of these two compounds. We demonstrate a technique where the individual contributions of acrolein and 1-butene within a mixture can be quantitatively resolved by systematically changing the reagent ion from H3O+ to H3O+(H2O) through control of the electric potential applied to the drift tube reaction region of a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Enhanced post-source decay and cross-ring fragmentation of oligosaccharides facilitated by conversion to amino derivativesRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 13 2004Jan Muzikar Post-source decay (PSD) fragmentation of chemically or enzymatically produced aminoglycans has been evaluated through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Conversion of native glycans to their respective aminoglycan derivatives improved detection sensitivity of the usual fragments and promoted cross-ring fragmentation of linear oligosaccharides, facilitating linkage recognition. The cross-ring fragmentations for both dextrin and dextran oligosaccharides were not limited to the reducing-end glucose moiety, as they were extended throughout the entire molecule. When the amino group was generated for N-glycans derived from three different glycoproteins, an enhancement of PSD was observed, without a significant extent of cross-ring fragmentation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Parental failure in captive cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus Oedipus)AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2001Massimo Bardi Abstract Several New World monkey species experience high rates of infant mortality in captivity, and parental failure in the form of infant neglect and abuse is often regarded as one of the leading causes of this problem. We explored a large archival database to assess environmental, familial, and biological variables identified as significant for parental success in previous studies of captive tamarins, through several generations and across several dozen pedigrees. Using a stepwise multiple regression analysis we developed a model including the fewest variables able to identify statistically significant predictors of infant outcome. We found that seven independent variables could predict infant outcome in the colony. The most important appeared to be the presence of helpers with whom parents could share infant carrying. Mother's experience and litter size were two other variables that contributed to a significant extent to explaining parental failure. Moreover, the model showed that there is a measurable contribution to infant outcome due to the health status of both parents. Finally, we found a distinct role for mothers and fathers, and that parental failure follows different patterns for abuse and rejection. Am. J. Primatol. 54:159,169, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Memory T-Cell Predominance Following T-Cell Depletional Therapy Derives from Homeostatic Expansion of Naive T CellsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 11 2009A. Sener T-cell depletion reportedly leads to alterations in the T-cell compartment with predominant survival of memory phenotype CD4 T cells. Here, we asked whether the prevalence of memory T cells postdepletion results from their inherent resistance to depletion and/or to the homeostatic expansion of naive T cells and their phenotypic conversion to memory, which is known to occur in lymphopenic conditions. Using a ,mosaic memory' mouse model with trackable populations of alloreactive memory T cells, we found that treatment with murine antithymocyte globulin (mATG) or antilymphocyte serum (ALS) effectively depleted alloreactive memory CD4 T cells, followed by rapid homeostatic proliferation of endogenous CD4 T cells peaking at 4 days postdepletion, with no homeostatic advantage to the antigen-specific memory population. Interestingly, naive (CD44lo) CD4 T cells exhibited the greatest increase in homeostatic proliferation following mATG treatment, divided more extensively compared to memory (CD44hi) CD4 T cells and converted to a memory phenotype. Our results provide novel evidence that memory CD4 T cells are susceptible to lymphodepletion and that the postdepletional T-cell compartment is repopulated to a significant extent by homeostatically expanded naive T cells in a mouse model, with important important implications for immune alterations triggered by induction therapy. [source] Effects of histamine receptor blockade on cardiovascular changes induced by 35 GHz radio frequency radiation heatingAUTONOMIC & AUTACOID PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 1 2004J. R. Jauchem Summary 1 The role of histamine in heat-induced cardiovascular changes is uncertain. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of histamine H-1- and H-2-antagonism on heart rate, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), localized body temperature changes, survival times, and lethal body temperatures that occur during the exposure of anaesthetized rats to 35 GHz radio frequency radiation (RFR). 2 Forty-eight ketamine-anaesthetized Sprague,Dawley rats were exposed, in several different treatment groups (n = 8 in each), to 35 GHz RFR at a level that resulted in significant body heating and subsequent death. During irradiation, a continuous increase in heart rate and a biphasic response in blood pressure (initial increase followed by a decrease) were observed in all groups of animals. 3 An H-1-antagonist, diphenhydramine (1 mg kg,1 body wt) and an H-2-antagonist, cimetidine (5 mg kg,1), administered after sustained RFR exposure, failed to reverse the RFR-induced hypotension. High doses of the drugs (5 and 10 mg kg,1, respectively) also did not alter the response. Post-RFR survival time was significantly decreased in the high-dose drug-treated group, compared with vehicle-treated (0.9% NaCl, 50% ethanol and 50% D5W) controls. 4 In experiments in which the two drugs were administered prior to RFR exposure, MAP in animals receiving high-dose antihistamines was significantly depressed compared with that of vehicle-treated animals during the first 35 min of RFR exposure. Antihistamine pretreatment, however, did not alter the total RFR exposure time required for death to occur. 5 In summary, pharmacological blockade of H-1 and H-2 receptors is not beneficial in anaesthetized rats made hypotensive by RFR exposure. This indicates that activation of H-1 and H-2 receptors by histamine does not occur to any significant extent and does not mediate the hypotensive response developed in this model of hyperthermia. [source] Drug metabolism and pharmacogenetics: the British contribution to fields of international significanceBRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY, Issue S1 2006John Caldwell The branch of pharmacology we now call ,drug metabolism', the consideration of the enzymes and procesess determining the disposition of drugs in the body, emerged in the 1840s on the continent of Europe, but British science made little or no contribution until the 1920s. From this point on, the development of the field through the 20th century was shaped to a very significant extent by a series of influential British workers, whose contributions were of global significance and who can now be seen as fathers of the subject. Since the 1950s, and gaining pace inexorably from the 1970s, the significance of drug metabolism to human therapeutics has been greatly added to by the emergence of pharmacogenetics, clinically important hereditary variation in response to drugs, which underpins the current emphasis on personalised medicine. This review examines the British contributions to both these fields through the lives of seven key contributors and attempts to place their work both in the context of its time and its lasting influence. British Journal of Pharmacology (2006) 147, S89,S99. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706466 [source] Role of EHEC O157:H7 virulence factors in the activation of intestinal epithelial cell NF-,B and MAP kinase pathways and the upregulated expression of interleukin 8CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 10 2002M. Cecilia Berin Summary Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EHEC) is a gastrointestinal pathogen that is generally non-invasive for intestinal epithelial cells, yet causes acute intestinal inflammation, diarrhoea, haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemic syndrome. To study signal transduction pathways activated in human intestinal epithelial cells by EHEC, we took advantage of EHEC O157:H7 and isogenic mutants deficient in the major EHEC virulence factors, intimin (eae,) and Shiga toxin (stx,). Infection with wild-type EHEC activated p38 and ERK MAP kinases and the nuclear translocation of the transcription factor NF-,B. Downstream, this was accompanied by increased expression of mRNA and protein for the neutrophil chemoattractant IL-8. Isogenic eae, and stx, mutants also activated p38 and ERK MAP kinases, and NF-,B and stimulated increases in IL-8 protein secretion similar to those of wild-type EHEC. Further, inhibition of either p38, ERK or NF-,B activation abrogated the IL-8 response induced by wild-type EHEC and the mutants. Epithelial cell MAP kinase and NF-,B pathways leading to IL-8 secretion were also activated by isolated EHEC H7 flagellin, which was active when added to either the apical or basolateral surface of polarized human intestinal epithelial cells. We conclude that EHEC interacting with intestinal epithelial cells activates intracellular signalling pathways and an epithelial cell proinflammatory response independent of either Shiga toxin or intimin, two of the major known virulence factors of EHEC. The activation of proinflammatory signals in human colon epithelial cells in response to this non-invasive pathogen appears to depend to a significant extent on H7 flagellin. [source] "Natural restoration" can generate biological complexityCOMPLEXITY, Issue 2 2005Emile ZuckerkandlArticle first published online: 16 DEC 200 Abstract Factor complexes engaged in transcriptional regulation of gene expression and their cognate DNA elements recurrently suffer mutational damage that can result in deadaptations in the mutual fit of interacting macromolecules. Such mutations can spread in populations by drift if their functional consequences are not severe. Mutational restorations of the damaged complexes may ensue and can take many forms. One of these forms would represent spontaneous increases in gene interaction complexity and correlated aspects of organismic complexity. In this particular mode of restoration, restabilization of a factor/factor/DNA complex occurs through the binding of an additional factor. Factors added under such circumstances to regulatory kits of individual genes are thought to be at the origin of a slow but persistent "complexity drive." This drive seems to be resisted in many forms whose developmental outcome has reached a finish line difficult to pass, but imposes itself along other lines of phylogenetic descent. In the process of restoration by an additional factor, the chances are significant that the original regulatory control of a target gene is not recovered exactly and that the restored gene expression has novel spatial, temporal, or quantitative characteristics. These new characteristics, which represent a functional transfer of the gene to a new domain of activity, may be selectable, even when the physicochemical properties of the gene product have remained largely unchanged. As a consequence of such activity transfers under quasi-constancy of the molecular properties of the protein encoded by the regulation's target gene, the activity domain originally covered by that target gene may be left at least in part functionally vacant. At that point, an unmodified duplicate of the target gene and of its original regulatory dependencies probably becomes in turn selectable. A causal link is therefore predicted between the regulatory specialization and selection of one of two duplicates and the regulatory maintenance and selection of the other. A conserved increase in gene number would result indirectly from the regulatory shift in paralogs, and the organism's complexity would be increased in this sense also, complexity as number of genes in addition to complexity as number of regulatory factors per gene. It is thus proposed that increased biological complexity, innovation in the gene regulatory network, and the development of a novel evolutionary potential can be the result, counterintuitively, of conservative forces that intervene when mutations play a survivable form of havoc with the system of gene regulation. Increasing complexity, then, could be seen as one of the side effects of "natural restoration." This phrase designates the mutational re-establishment in the gene whose regulation has been damaged of a functionally effective activity pattern, albeit, perhaps, with changes in its mode of expression in regard to location, time, and rate. The higher complexity, innovation in the gene regulatory network, of higher organisms,their very character of higher organisms,would to a significant extent be a side effect of episodes of natural selection aimed at functional restoration, not at complexity itself. Regulatory impairment, the point of departure of the process outlined, represents a controller gene disease. It thus may well be the case that molecular diseases, the effects on the individual of inheritable structural decay, are among the conditions of the evolution of higher organisms. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 11: 14,27, 2005 [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||