Purification of Somatostatin from Frog Brain: Coisolation with Retinal Somatostatin-Like Immunoreactivity

Somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) was purified from frog brain and retina, and the structure of the brain peptide was determined. Frog brain (101 g) and retinal (45 g) tissues were extracted with 3% acetic acid, yielding 9.6 and 0.44 nmol of SLI, respectively. SLI was further purified by chromatography on a somatostatin immunoaffinity column followed by sequential application to reverse-phase C-18 HPLC columns. The brain and retinal peptides, purified roughly 100,000-fold with net yields of 7.5 and 2.3%, respectively, appeared identical in the final steps of purification. The amino acid sequence of brain SLI, as determined by a gas-phase automated Edman degradation technique, was as follows: Ala-Gly (Cys)-Lys-Asn-Phe-Phe-Trp-Lys-Thr-Phe-Thr-Ser- (Cys). Our data indicate that despite structural variations in somatostatins of other lower vertebrates, the amino acid sequence of frog brain and, by deduction, retinal SLI is identical to that of somatostatin tetradecapeptide. These findings support the physiological relevance of studies directed at elucidating the neurotransmitter function of somatostatin using the well-established models of frog brain and retina.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66215/1/j.1471-4159.1985.tb10545.x.pd

Improving implementation of evidence-based practice in mental health service delivery: protocol for a cluster randomised quasi-experimental investigation of staff-focused values interventions

BACKGROUND: There is growing acceptance that optimal service provision for individuals with severe and recurrent mental illness requires a complementary focus on medical recovery (i.e., symptom management and general functioning) and personal recovery (i.e., having a ‘life worth living’). Despite significant research attention and policy-level support, the translation of this vision of healthcare into changed workplace practice continues to elude. Over the past decade, evidence-based training interventions that seek to enhance the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of staff working in the mental health field have been implemented as a primary redress strategy. However, a large body of multi-disciplinary research indicates disappointing rates of training transfer. There is an absence of empirical research that investigates the importance of worker-motivation in the uptake of desired workplace change initiatives. ‘Autonomy’ is acknowledged as important to human effectiveness and as a correlate of workplace variables like productivity, and wellbeing. To our knowledge, there have been no studies that investigate purposeful and structured use of values-based interventions to facilitate increased autonomy as a means of promoting enhanced implementation of workplace change. METHODS: This study involves 200 mental health workers across 22 worksites within five community-managed organisations in three Australian states. It involves cluster-randomisation of participants within organisation, by work site, to the experimental (values) condition, or the control (implementation). Both conditions receive two days of training focusing on an evidence-based framework of mental health service delivery. The experimental group receives a third day of values-focused intervention and 12 months of values-focused coaching. Well-validated self-report measures are used to explore variables related to values concordance, autonomy, and self-reported implementation success. Audits of work files and staff work samples are reviewed for each condition to determine the impact of implementation. Self-determination theory and theories of organisational change are used to interpret the data. DISCUSSION: The research adds to the current knowledge base related to worker motivation and uptake of workplace practice. It describes a structured protocol that aims to enhance worker autonomy for imposed workplace practices. The research will inform how best to measure and conceptualise transfer. These findings will apply particularly to contexts where individuals are not ‘volunteers’ in requisite change processes. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN: ACTRN12613000353796

Books in Arabic Script

The chapter approaches the book in Arabic script as the indispensable means for the transmission of knowledge across Eurasia and Africa, within cultures and across cultural boundaries, since the seventh century ad. The state of research can be divided into manuscript and print studies, but there is not yet a history of the book in Arabic script that captures its plurilinear development for over fourteen hundred years. The chapter explores the conceptual and practical challenges that impede the integration of the book in Arabic script into book history at large and includes an extensive reference list that reflects its diversity. The final published version was slightly updated, and includes seven illustrations of six Qurans from the holdings of Columbia University Libraries, four manuscripts and two printed versions. Moreover, the illustrations are images of historical artifacts which are in the public domain - despite Wiley's copyright claim

A new method for the detection of early contamination of red wine by Brettanomyces bruxellensis using Pseudomonas putida 4-ethylphenol methylene hydroxylase (4-EPMH)

Brettanomyces/Dekkera bruxellensis is a cause of major concern for the winemaking industry worldwide. If a slight presence of this spoilage yeast in red wine adds a Brett character, a strong contamination has irreversible and detrimental effects on the organoleptic qualities due to the production of volatile phenols such as 4-ethylphenol. Time is a key factor in the treatment of B. bruxellensis contaminations. Nowadays, the diagnostic and quantification resources available are time consuming and too expensive, making them either inadequate or inaccessible to most of the winemakers. This study was focused on a new, easy to use, inexpensive method that could allow winemakers to directly detect B. bruxellensis contamination in red wine at an early stage, hence, reducing wine spoilage. In this work, the ability of Pseudomonas putida 4-ethylphenol methylene hydroxylase was tested in order to catabolize the 4-ethylphenol and to elaborate an enzymatic assay with the purpose of detecting early contaminations by B. bruxellensis in red wine. We have developed a colorimetric enzymatic assay, based on the redox state of the 4-ethylphenol methylene hydroxylase co-factor, cytochrome C, that can detect and quantify low concentrations of 4-ethylphenol. The range of concentrations detected is well below the level detectable by the human nose. Combined to an enrichment step, this method allows the detection of B. bruxellensis at an initial concentration of less than 10 cells per ml

Measurement of the W-pair cross section in e+e−e^+ e^- collisions at 172 GeV

The e+e- --> W+W- cross section is measured in a data sample collected by ALEPH at a mean centre--of--mass energy of 172.09 GEV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.65 pb-1. Cross sections are given for the three topologies, fully leptonic, semi-leptonic and hadronic of a W-pair decay. Under the assumption that no other decay modes are present, the W-pair cross section is measured to be 11.7 +- 1.2 (stat.) +- 0.3 (syst.) pb. The existence of the triple gauge boson vertex of the Standard Model is clearly preferred by the data. The decay branching ratio of the W boson into hadrons is measured to be B(W --> hadrons) = 67.7 +- 3.1 (stat.) +- 0.7 (syst.)%, allowing a determination of the CKM matrix element |Vcs|= 0.98 +- 0.14 (stat.) +- 0.03 (syst.)

Measurement of the W mass in e+e−e^+e^- collisions at production threshold

In June 1996, the LEP centre-of-mass energy was raised to 161 GeV. Pair production of W bosons in e+e- collisions was observed for the first time by the LEP experiments. An integrated luminosity of 11 pb-1 was recorded in the ALEPH detector, in which WW candidate events were observed. In 6 events both Ws decay leptonically. In 16 events, one W decays leptonically, the other into hadrons. In the channel where both Ws decay into hadrons, a signal was separated from the large background by means of several multi-variate analyses. The W pair cross-section is measured to be sigma_WW = 4.23 +-0.73 (stat.) +- 0.19 (syst.) pb From this cross-section, the W mass is derived within the framework of the Standard Model: MW = 80.14 +- 0.34 (stat.) +- 0.09 (syst.) +- 0.03 (LEP~energy) GeV/c2

Measurement of the tau lepton lifetime with the three-dimensional impact parameter method.

A new method is presented for the measurement of the mean $\tau$ lepton lifetime using events in which $\tau$'s are pair-produced and both $\tau$'s decay to hadrons and $\nu_\tau$. Based on the correlation between the two $\tau$'s produced at a symmetric $e^+ e^-$ collider, the 3DIP method relies on the three-dimensional information from a double-sided vertex detector and on kinematic constraints for the precise measurement of the $\tau$ decay angles. Using the data collected from 1992 to 1994 with the ALEPH detector at LEP, a $\tau$ lifetime of $288.0 \pm 3.1 \pm 1.3$\fs is obtained from the sample in which both $\tau$'s decay to one charged track, and $292.8 \pm 5.6 \pm 3.0$\fs from the sample in which one $\tau$ decays to one prong and the other to three prongs. The results show small statistical correlations with those derived from other methods. When combined with the previously published ALEPH measurements, the resulting $\tau$ lifetime is $291.2 \pm 2.0 \pm 1.2$\fs

Measurement of the tau lepton lifetime with the three-dimensional impact parameter method.

A new method is presented for the measurement of the mean $\tau$ lepton lifetime using events in which $\tau$'s are pair-produced and both $\tau$'s decay to hadrons and $\nu_\tau$. Based on the correlation between the two $\tau$'s produced at a symmetric $e^+ e^-$ collider, the 3DIP method relies on the three-dimensional information from a double-sided vertex detector and on kinematic constraints for the precise measurement of the $\tau$ decay angles. Using the data collected from 1992 to 1994 with the ALEPH detector at LEP, a $\tau$ lifetime of $288.0 \pm 3.1 \pm 1.3$\fs is obtained from the sample in which both $\tau$'s decay to one charged track, and $292.8 \pm 5.6 \pm 3.0$\fs from the sample in which one $\tau$ decays to one prong and the other to three prongs. The results show small statistical correlations with those derived from other methods. When combined with the previously published ALEPH measurements, the resulting $\tau$ lifetime is $291.2 \pm 2.0 \pm 1.2$\fs