Psychiatric Manifestation of Vitamin B-12 Deficiency: An Update

Psychiatric manifestations of vitamin B-12 deficiency are reviewed from 1986 to the present. Specific clinical entities reviewed include depression, organic psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, childhood manifestations and dementia. We recommend that consideration be given to B-12 deficiency as an etiological factor in some cases of depression, organic psychosis, certain childhood disorders and dementia. Routine screening of people overage 65 is addressed

Canonical Transformations and Path Integral Measures

This paper is a generalization of previous work on the use of classical canonical transformations to evaluate Hamiltonian path integrals for quantum mechanical systems. Relevant aspects of the Hamiltonian path integral and its measure are discussed and used to show that the quantum mechanical version of the classical transformation does not leave the measure of the path integral invariant, instead inducing an anomaly. The relation to operator techniques and ordering problems is discussed, and special attention is paid to incorporation of the initial and final states of the transition element into the boundary conditions of the problem. Classical canonical transformations are developed to render an arbitrary power potential cyclic. The resulting Hamiltonian is analyzed as a quantum system to show its relation to known quantum mechanical results. A perturbative argument is used to suppress ordering related terms in the transformed Hamiltonian in the event that the classical canonical transformation leads to a nonquadratic cyclic Hamiltonian. The associated anomalies are analyzed to yield general methods to evaluate the path integral's prefactor for such systems. The methods are applied to several systems, including linear and quadratic potentials, the velocity-dependent potential, and the time-dependent harmonic oscillator.Comment: 28 pages, LaTe

Enteric coated spheres produced by extrusion/spheronization provide effective gastric protection and efficient release of live therapeutic bacteria

We present a novel but simple enteric coated sphere formulation containing probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus casei). Oral delivery of live bacterial cells (LBC) requires live cells to survive firstly manufacturing processes and secondly GI microbicidal defenses including gastric acid. We incorporated live L. casei directly in the granulation liquid, followed by granulation, extrusion, spheronization, drying and spray coating to produce dried live probiotic spheres. A blend of MCC, calcium-crosslinked alginate, and lactose was developed that gave improved live cell survival during manufacturing, and gave excellent protection from gastric acid plus rapid release in intestinal conditions. No significant loss of viability was observed in all steps except drying, which resulted in approximately 1 log loss of viable cells. Eudragit coating was used to protect dried live cells from acid, and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was combined with sodium alginate to achieve efficient sphere disintegration leading to rapid and complete bacterial cell release in intestinal conditions. Viability and release of L. casei was evaluated in vitro in simulated GI conditions. Uncoated spheres gave partial acid protection, but enteric coated spheres effectively protected dried probiotic LBC from acid for 2 h, and subsequently released all viable cells within 1h of transfer into simulated intestinal fluid

Atlas of the shallow-water benthic habitats of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands

Digital maps of the shallow (<~30m deep) coral reef ecosystems of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, were created through visual interpretation of remote sensing imagery acquired between 2004 and 2006. Reef ecosystem features were digitized directly into a Geographic Information System. Benthic features were categorized according to a classification scheme with attributes including zone (location such as lagoon or forereef, etc.), structure (bottom type such as sand or patch reef, etc.) and percent hard bottom. This atlas consists of 27 detailed maps displaying reef zone and structure of coral ecosystems around Majuro. Adjacent maps in the atlas overlap slightly to ensure complete coverage. Maps and associated products can be used to support science and management activities on Majuro reef ecosystems including inventory, monitoring, conservation, and sustainable development applications. Maps are not to be used for navigation

Equilibrium and stability properties of a coupled two-component Bose-Einstein condensate

The equilibrium and stability properties of a coupled two-component BEC is studied using a variational method and the one-dimensional model of Williams and collaborators. The variational parameters are the population fraction, translation and scaling transformation of the condensate densities, assumed to have a Gaussian shape. We study the equilibrium and stability properties as a function of the strength of the laser field and the traps displacement. We find many branches of equilibrium configurations, with a host of critical points. In all cases, the signature of the onset of criticality is the collapse of a normal mode which is a linear combination of the out of phase translation and an in phase breathing oscillation of the condensate densities. Our calculations also indicate that we have symmetry breaking effects when the traps are not displacedComment: 13 pages,3 figure

Evaluating and optimizing oral formulations of live bacterial vaccines using a gastro-small intestine model

Gastrointestinal (GI) models that mimic physiological conditions in vitro are important tools for developing and optimizing biopharmaceutical formulations. Oral administration of live attenuated bacterial vaccines (LBV) can safely and effectively promote mucosal immunity but new formulations are required that provide controlled release of optimal numbers of viable bacterial cells, which must survive gastrointestinal transit overcoming various antimicrobial barriers. Here, we use a gastro-small intestine gut model of human GI conditions to study the survival and release kinetics of two oral LBV formulations: the licensed typhoid fever vaccine Vivotif comprising enteric coated capsules; and an experimental formulation of the model vaccine Salmonella Typhimurium SL3261 dried directly onto cast enteric polymer films and laminated to form a polymer film laminate (PFL). Neither formulation released significant numbers of viable cells when tested in the complete gastro-small intestine model. The poor performance in delivering viable cells could be attributed to a combination of acid and bile toxicity plus incomplete release of cells for Vivotif capsules, and to bile toxicity alone for PFL. To achieve effective protection from intestinal bile in addition to effective acid resistance, bile adsorbent resins were incorporated into the PFL to produce a new formulation, termed BR-PFL. Efficient and complete release of 4.4x107 live cells per dose was achieved from BR-PFL at distal intestinal pH, with release kinetics controlled by the composition of the enteric polymer film, and no loss in viability observed in any stage of the GI model. Use of this in vitro GI model thereby allowed rational design of an oral LBV formulation to maximize viable cell release

Determinants of species richness in the Park Grass experiment

The Park Grass Experiment at Rothamsted in southeast England was started in 1856, making it the longest-running experiment in plant ecology anywhere in the world. Experimental inputs include a range of fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and organic manures) applied annually, with lime applied occasionally, and these have led to an increase in biomass and, where nitrogen was applied in the form of ammonium sulfate, to substantial decreases in soil pH. The number of species per plot varies from three to 44 per 200 m2, affording a unique opportunity to study the determinants of plant species richness and to estimate the effect sizes attributable to different factors. The response of species richness to biomass depends on the amount and type of nitrogen applied; richness declined monotonically with increasing biomass on plots receiving no nitrogen or receiving nitrogen in the form of sodium nitrate, but there was no relationship between species richness and biomass on plots acidified by ammonium sulfate application. The response to lime also depended on the type of nitrogen applied; there was no relationship between lime treatment and species richness, except in plots receiving nitrogen in the form of ammonium sulfate, where species richness increased sharply with increasing soil pH. The addition of phosphorus reduced species richness, and application of potassium along with phosphorus reduced species richness further, but the biggest negative effects were when nitrogen and phosphorus were applied together. The analysis demonstrates how multiple factors contribute to the observed diversity patterns and how environmental regulation of species pools can operate at the same spatial and temporal scale as biomass effects

Square Patterns and Quasi-patterns in Weakly Damped Faraday Waves

Pattern formation in parametric surface waves is studied in the limit of weak viscous dissipation. A set of quasi-potential equations (QPEs) is introduced that admits a closed representation in terms of surface variables alone. A multiscale expansion of the QPEs reveals the importance of triad resonant interactions, and the saturating effect of the driving force leading to a gradient amplitude equation. Minimization of the associated Lyapunov function yields standing wave patterns of square symmetry for capillary waves, and hexagonal patterns and a sequence of quasi-patterns for mixed capillary-gravity waves. Numerical integration of the QPEs reveals a quasi-pattern of eight-fold symmetry in the range of parameters predicted by the multiscale expansion.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages, 8 figure

Prospectus, October 4, 1989

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1989/1022/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, October 11, 1989

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1989/1023/thumbnail.jp