Synaptic MAGUK multimer formation is mediated by PDZ domains and promoted by ligand binding

To examine the scaffolding properties of PSD-95, we have taken advantage of established ligand/PDZ domain interactions and developed a cell-based assay for investigating protein complex formation. This assay enables quantitative analysis of PDZ domain-mediated protein clustering using bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). Two nonfluorescent halves of EYFP were fused to C-terminal PDZ ligand sequences to generate probes that sense for PDZ domain binding grooves of adjacent (interacting) molecules. When these probes are brought into proximity by the PDZ domains of a multiprotein scaffold, a functional fluorescent EYFP molecule can be detected. We have used this system to examine the properties of selected PSD-95 variants and thereby delineated regions of importance for PSD-95 complex formation. Further analysis led to the finding that PSD-95 multimerization is PDZ domain-mediated and promoted by ligand binding

INFLUENCE OF SITTING ORIENTATION ON UPPER EXTREMITY FUNCTION IN NORMAL CHILDREN BETWEEN 5 TO 16 YEARS USING NINE HOLE PEG TEST

Background: This study was to measure the upper extremity performance time on Nine Hole Peg Test in two different sitting orientations relative to vertical plane. Aim: To find out the influence of sitting orientation on upper extremity motor function using NHPT. Methods: 100 children with the mean age 11year (53 male, 47 female) participated in the study. Children were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Age groups were re-established for data representation purposes as: 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16. Each one was briefly interviewed prior to the test, procedure explained and statistical analysis was done for the final results. Results: Gender wise relation revealed non-significant difference in performance time on NHPT in 90o upright and 15o anterior sitting orientation. Performance time on NHPT with dominant and non-dominant hand in 90o upright & 15o anterior sitting orientation shows significant difference. The mean performance time with dominant hand on NHPT was slightly lesser in 15o anterior sitting orientation than 90o upright orientations. According to age wise distribution the performance time on NHPT reveals that as the age increases the performance time decreases from 5-11 year. The performance time becomes constant from 11-16 years of age. Conclusion: Result of this study suggest that trunk orientation does not affect upper extremity performance on NHPT. As it implies that 15o anterior trunk orientation is equivalent to upright sitting orientation. Hence both the trunk orientation can be used to train patients for upper extremity hand function

INFLUENCE OF SITTING ORIENTATION ON UPPER EXTREMITY FUNCTION IN NORMAL CHILDREN BETWEEN 5 TO 16 YEARS USING NINE HOLE PEG TEST

Background: This study was to measure the upper extremity performance time on Nine Hole Peg Test in two different sitting orientations relative to vertical plane. Aim: To find out the influence of sitting orientation on upper extremity motor function using NHPT. Methods: 100 children with the mean age 11year (53 male, 47 female) participated in the study. Children were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Age groups were re-established for data representation purposes as: 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16. Each one was briefly interviewed prior to the test, procedure explained and statistical analysis was done for the final results. Results: Gender wise relation revealed non-significant difference in performance time on NHPT in 90o upright and 15o anterior sitting orientation. Performance time on NHPT with dominant and non-dominant hand in 90o upright & 15o anterior sitting orientation shows significant difference. The mean performance time with dominant hand on NHPT was slightly lesser in 15o anterior sitting orientation than 90o upright orientations. According to age wise distribution the performance time on NHPT reveals that as the age increases the performance time decreases from 5-11 year. The performance time becomes constant from 11-16 years of age. Conclusion: Result of this study suggest that trunk orientation does not affect upper extremity performance on NHPT. As it implies that 15o anterior trunk orientation is equivalent to upright sitting orientation. Hence both the trunk orientation can be used to train patients for upper extremity hand function

Thermal emission spectroscopy of the middle atmosphere

The general objective of this research is to obtain, via remote sensing, simultaneous measurements of the vertical distributions of stratospheric temperature, ozone, and trace constituents that participate in the catalytic destruction of ozone (NO(sub y): NO, NO2, NO3, HNO3, ClONO2, N2O5, HNO4; Cl(sub x): HOCl), and the source gases for the catalytic cycles (H2O, CH4, N2O, CF2Cl2, CFCl3, CCl4, CH3Cl, CHF2Cl, etc.). Data are collected during a complete diurnal cycle in order to test our present understanding of ozone chemistry and its associate catalytic cycles. The instrumentation employed is an emission-mode, balloon-borne, liquid-nitrogen-cooled Michelson interferometer-spectrometer (SIRIS), covering the mid-infrared range with a spectral resolution of 0.020 cm(exp -1). Cryogenic cooling combined with the use of extrinsic silicon photoconductor detectors allows the detection of weak emission features of stratospheric gaseous species. Vertical distributions of these species are inferred from scans of the thermal emission of the limb in a sequence of elevation angles. The fourth SIRIS balloon flight was carried out from Palestine, Texas on September 15-16, 1986 with 9 hours of nighttime data (40 km). High quality data with spectral resolution 0.022 cm(exp -1), were obtained for numerous limb sequences. Fifteen stratospheric species have been identified to date from this flight: five species from the NO(sub y) family (HNO3, NO2, NO, ClONO2, N2O5), plus CO2, O3, H2O, N2O, CH4, CCl3F, CCl2F2, CHF2Cl, CF4, and CCl4. The nighttime values of N2O5, ClONO2, and total odd nitrogen have been measured for the first time, and compared to model results. Analysis of the diurnal variation of N2O5 within the 1984 and 1986 data sets, and of the 1984 ClONO2 measurements, were presented in the literature. The demonstrated ability of SIRIS to measure all the major NO(sub y) species, and therefore to determine the partitioning of the nitrogen family over a continuous diurnal cycle, is a powerful tool in the verification and improvement of photochemical modeling

Systematic Selection of Green Solvents and Process Optimization for the Hydroformylation of Long-Chain Olefines

Including ecologic and environmental aspects in chemical engineering requires new methods for process design and optimization. In this work, a hydroformylation process of long-chain olefines is investigated. A thermomorphic multiphase system is employed that is homogeneous at reaction conditions and biphasic at lower temperatures for catalyst recycling. In an attempt to replace the toxic polar solvent N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), ecologically benign alternatives are selected using a screening approach. Economic process optimization is conducted for DMF and two candidate solvents. It is found that one of the green candidates performs similarly well as the standard benchmark solvent DMF, without being toxic. Therefore, the candidate has the potential to replace it

Incorporating Radial Flow in the Lattice Gas Model for Nuclear Disassembly

We consider extensions of the lattice gas model to incorporate radial flow. Experimental data are used to set the magnitude of radial flow. This flow is then included in the Lattice Gas Model in a microcanonical formalism. For magnitudes of flow seen in experiments, the main effect of the flow on observables is a shift along the $E^*/A$ axis.Comment: Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C, Rapid Communicatio

Beable trajectories for revealing quantum control mechanisms

The dynamics induced while controlling quantum systems by optimally shaped laser pulses have often been difficult to understand in detail. A method is presented for quantifying the importance of specific sequences of quantum transitions involved in the control process. The method is based on a ``beable'' formulation of quantum mechanics due to John Bell that rigorously maps the quantum evolution onto an ensemble of stochastic trajectories over a classical state space. Detailed mechanism identification is illustrated with a model 7-level system. A general procedure is presented to extract mechanism information directly from closed-loop control experiments. Application to simulated experimental data for the model system proves robust with up to 25% noise.Comment: Latex, 20 pages, 13 figure