Sodium Phenobarbital In Prevention of Electroconvulsive Shock-Induced Disruption of Taste-Illness Association

Male Holtzman rats injected with a toxic solution of lithium chloride (US) 30 minutes after drinking saccharin flavored water (CS) learned to avoid that taste upon subsequent encounter. Electroconvulsive shock (ECS) interpolated temporarily between the pairing of a novel taste (CS) and an induced gustatory illness (US) prevents the taste from being associated with the illness (Kral, 1971). The purpose of the present experiment was to determine if sodium phenobarbital pretreatment would protect the association of taste with illness, against the normally interfering effects of ECS in the interpolated intervention paradigm. This question was investigated with a 2 (sodium phenobarbital vs. saline) x 2 (ECS vs. sham shock) x 2 (conditioned vs. nonconditioned) x 2 (conditioning day vs. test day) analysis of variance design. Results suggest sodium phenobarbital pretreatment to be ineffective in preventing against ECS disruption of the taste-illness association. Conditioning of the taste aversion and ECS disruption occurred in both drug and non drug groups

On the Thermoelectric Effect of Interface Imperfections

Ordinary thermocouples use the well-known Seebeck effect to measure the temperature at the junction of two different conductors. The electromotive force generated by the heat depends on the difference between the respective thermoelectric powers of the contacting metals and the junction temperature. Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of the thermoelectric measurement as most often used in nondestructive materials characterization. One of the reference electrodes is heated by electrical means to a preset temperature of 100 – 300 °C, pretty much like the tip of a temperature-stabilized soldering iron, and connected to the inverting (−) input of the differential amplifier driving the indicator. The other electrode is left cold at essentially room temperature and connected to the non-inverting (+) input. The measurement is done quickly in a few seconds to assure (i) that the hot reference electrode is not cooled down perceivably by the specimen and (ii) that the rest of the specimen beyond the close vicinity of the contact point is not warmed up perceivably. Ideally, regardless of the temperature difference between the junctions, only thermocouples made of different materials, i.e., materials of different thermoelectric power, will generate thermoelectric signal. This unique feature makes the simple thermoelectric tester one of the most sensitive material discriminators used in nondestructive inspection

Comparative transcriptomic analysis of Porphyromonas gingivalis biofilm and planktonic cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Porphyromonas gingivalis </it>in subgingival dental plaque, as part of a mature biofilm, has been strongly implicated in the onset and progression of chronic periodontitis. In this study using DNA microarray we compared the global gene expression of a <it>P. gingivalis </it>biofilm with that of its planktonic counterpart grown in the same continuous culture.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Approximately 18% (377 genes, at 1.5 fold or more, <it>P</it>-value < 0.01) of the <it>P. gingivalis </it>genome was differentially expressed when the bacterium was grown as a biofilm. Genes that were down-regulated in biofilm cells, relative to planktonic cells, included those involved in cell envelope biogenesis, DNA replication, energy production and biosynthesis of cofactors, prosthetic groups and carriers. A number of genes encoding transport and binding proteins were up-regulated in <it>P. gingivalis </it>biofilm cells. Several genes predicted to encode proteins involved in signal transduction and transcriptional regulation were differentially regulated and may be important in the regulation of biofilm growth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study analyzing global gene expression provides insight into the adaptive response of <it>P. gingivalis </it>to biofilm growth, in particular showing a down regulation of genes involved in growth and metabolic activity.</p

Autonomic Nervous System Function Following Prenatal Opiate Exposure

In utero exposure to opiates may affect autonomic functioning of the fetus and newborn. We investigated heart rate variability (HRV) as a measure of autonomic stability in prenatal opiate-exposed neonates (n = 14) and in control term infants (n = 10). Electrocardiographic data during both non-nutritive and nutritive sucking were evaluated for RR intervals, heart rate (HR), standard deviation of the consecutive RR intervals (SDRR), standard deviation of the differences of consecutive RR intervals (SDDRR), and the power spectral densities in low and high frequency bands. In controls, mean HR increased significantly, 143-161 per min (p = 0.002), with a trend toward a decrease in RR intervals from non-nutritive to nutritive sucking; these measures did not change significantly among exposed infants. Compared to controls, exposed infants demonstrated significantly greater HRV or greater mean SDRR and SDDRR during non-nutritive period (p \u3c 0.01), greater mean SDDRR during nutritive sucking (p = 0.02), and higher powers in the low and high frequency bands during nutritive feedings. Our findings suggest that prenatal opiate exposure may be associated with changes in autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning involving both sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. Future studies are needed to examine the effects of prenatal opiate exposure on ANS function

BIMA Millimeter-Wave Observations of the Core-Jet and Molecular Gas in the FR I Radio Galaxy NGC 3801

We present BIMA 3 mm observations of the radio continuum source and the molecular gas disk in the radio loud Fanaroff & Riley Type I (FR I) galaxy NGC 3801. We have detected a continuum source in the nucleus and determined that it has a flat millimeter-wave spectrum, suggesting that the emission is non-thermal and due to an AGN; the radio core is not evident in existing VLA observations. We also map the extended 3 mm emission from the previously known radio jets. In addition, we detect CO (1–0) emission associated with the dust disk observed in previous HST images. A velocity gradient is observed, indicating a two kpc radius rotating gas ring or disk oriented roughly perpendicular to the radio jets. The inferred molecular gas mass of the disk is M(H2) = 3×108M⊙, about 1% of the dynamical mass. We also find a 108 M⊙ molecular gas clump not associated with the gas disk. There is evidence that this gas is associated with a merger and is infalling. This suggests that FR I type activity is related to merger activity, as is thought to be the case for FR II type radio galaxies. We also find indications that one of the radio jets is entraining gas from the infalling molecular gas

Risk algorithm using serial biomarker measurements doubles the number of screen-detected cancers compared with a single-threshold rule in the United Kingdom collaborative trial of ovarian cancer screening

PURPOSE: Cancer screening strategies have commonly adopted single-biomarker thresholds to identify abnormality. We investigated the impact of serial biomarker change interpreted through a risk algorithm on cancer detection rates. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the United Kingdom Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening, 46,237 women, age 50 years or older underwent incidence screening by using the multimodal strategy (MMS) in which annual serum cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) was interpreted with the risk of ovarian cancer algorithm (ROCA). Women were triaged by the ROCA: normal risk, returned to annual screening; intermediate risk, repeat CA-125; and elevated risk, repeat CA-125 and transvaginal ultrasound. Women with persistently increased risk were clinically evaluated. All participants were followed through national cancer and/or death registries. Performance characteristics of a single-threshold rule and the ROCA were compared by using receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: After 296,911 women-years of annual incidence screening, 640 women underwent surgery. Of those, 133 had primary invasive epithelial ovarian or tubal cancers (iEOCs). In all, 22 interval iEOCs occurred within 1 year of screening, of which one was detected by ROCA but was managed conservatively after clinical assessment. The sensitivity and specificity of MMS for detection of iEOCs were 85.8% (95% CI, 79.3% to 90.9%) and 99.8% (95% CI, 99.8% to 99.8%), respectively, with 4.8 surgeries per iEOC. ROCA alone detected 87.1% (135 of 155) of the iEOCs. Using fixed CA-125 cutoffs at the last annual screen of more than 35, more than 30, and more than 22 U/mL would have identified 41.3% (64 of 155), 48.4% (75 of 155), and 66.5% (103 of 155), respectively. The area under the curve for ROCA (0.915) was significantly (P = .0027) higher than that for a single-threshold rule (0.869). CONCLUSION: Screening by using ROCA doubled the number of screen-detected iEOCs compared with a fixed cutoff. In the context of cancer screening, reliance on predefined single-threshold rules may result in biomarkers of value being discarded

Legal determinants of external finance revisited : the inverse relationship between investor protection and societal well-being

This paper investigates relationships between corporate governance traditions and quality of life as measured by a number of widely reported indicators. It provides an empirical analysis of indicators of societal health in developed economies using a classification based on legal traditions. Arguably the most widely cited work in the corporate governance literature has been the collection of papers by La Porta et al. which has shown, inter alia, statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for investor protection. We show statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for societal health. Our comparative evidence suggests that the interests of investors may not be congruent with the interests of wider society, and that the criteria for judging the effectiveness of approaches to corporate governance should not be restricted to financial metrics

DNA strand break repair and neurodegeneration.

A number of DNA repair disorders are known to cause neurological problems. These disorders can be broadly characterised into early developmental, mid-to-late developmental or progressive. The exact developmental processes that are affected can influence disease pathology, with symptoms ranging from early embryonic lethality to late-onset ataxia. The category these diseases belong to depends on the frequency of lesions arising in the brain, the role of the defective repair pathway, and the nature of the mutation within the patient. Using observations from patients and transgenic mice, we discuss the importance of double strand break repair during neuroprogenitor proliferation and brain development and the repair of single stranded lesions in neuronal function and maintenance

VAST: An ASKAP Survey for Variables and Slow Transients

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will give us an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the transient sky at radio wavelengths. In this paper we present VAST, an ASKAP survey for Variables and Slow Transients. VAST will exploit the wide-field survey capabilities of ASKAP to enable the discovery and investigation of variable and transient phenomena from the local to the cosmological, including flare stars, intermittent pulsars, X-ray binaries, magnetars, extreme scattering events, interstellar scintillation, radio supernovae and orphan afterglows of gamma ray bursts. In addition, it will allow us to probe unexplored regions of parameter space where new classes of transient sources may be detected. In this paper we review the known radio transient and variable populations and the current results from blind radio surveys. We outline a comprehensive program based on a multi-tiered survey strategy to characterise the radio transient sky through detection and monitoring of transient and variable sources on the ASKAP imaging timescales of five seconds and greater. We also present an analysis of the expected source populations that we will be able to detect with VAST.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures. Submitted for publication in Pub. Astron. Soc. Australi

Thermo-Electric Detection of Early Fatigue Damage in Metals

There are numerous nondestructive inspection methods which can be used to detect and quantitatively characterize advanced fatigue damage following crack initiation. However, crack nucleation occurs at a much smaller microstructural scale following a more or less extended period of gradual material degradation which remains beyond the reach of known eddy current, ultrasonic, and other inspection methods. Before crack initiation, fatigue degradation remains an elusive process leading to distributed crystal defects on the scale of individual grains and grain boundary imperfections. This gradual evolution of early fatigue damage first results in increasing dislocation density, formation of slip bands, microplasticity, cold work, etc., then leads to crack nucleation at multiple sites. Following crack nucleation the growing microcracks ultimately coalesce into larger detectable fatigue cracks, but current NDE methods cannot detect the often quite serious preexisting fatigue damage in the material before this point