Charge heterogeneity of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in human liver and breast tissue

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an ubiquitous protein playing various immunological and hormonal roles. Theoretical electrophoretic coordinates calculated from protein sequence in the SWISS-PROT database (AC P14174) are 12 kDa and pI 8.24. Using two-dimensional (2-D) immunoblotting, we have detected isoelectric forms at ca. 11.9 kDa, with pI values of 7.8 and 6.98 in human liver tissue, breast tissue and a cell line and in preparations of human MIF expressed in E. coli. This evidence suggests that MIF charge heterogeneity originates from a post-translational modification not requiring eukaryote-specific enzymes. We have also detected in human liver a minor immunoreactive spot at pI 6.23, which coincides with the MIF spot in the liver map in SWISS-2DPAGE. The pI 6.23 isoform also conceivably derives from post-translational modification, as MIF is known to be encoded in the human genome by a single copy gene.     

Vocal interruptions in dyadic communication as a function of speech and social anxiety.

The relation between a speaker's personality and his/her propensity to interrupt was examined in 30-min unstructured conversations for 36 dyads of undergraduates (12 male, 12 female, and 12 mixed sex). Two predictions were tested: (a) interruptive behavior is inversely related to speech anxiety and positively related to confidence as a speaker, and (b) interruptive behavior is inversely related to social anxiety (avoidance–distress; fear of negative evaluation). A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed, controlling for the systematic effects of sex, the conversational partner's personality and amount of speech, and the speaker's use of back-channel responses. These hypotheses were confirmed for rate of total interruptions and rate of successful interruptions, for percentage of successful interruptions, and for mean duration of interruptions; the results withstood cross-validation analysis. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prototype experimental plant for the interseasonal storage of solar energy for the winter heating of buildings: Description of plant and its functions

The definitive version of an experimental heating plant for buildings which uses thermal energy extracted from an underground water tank heated solely by the sun with interseasonal storage is presented. The entire plant was planned and its functions simulated using calculus codes established at the University of Calabria. The prototype, now in use, consists of a solar radiation collecting field of 91.2 m², a storage tank of 500 m³, and a building of 1750 m³ which has a thermal requirement of 111 GJ for winter heating. This article describes the constructed prototype of the plant, the procedures carried out that allow the plant to function automatically, and the use, instrumentation, acquisition of experimental data.     

Improved sensitivity of tunable far-infrared spectroscopy: application to the detection of HBr in the ? = 1 state

We report the first detection of the pure rotational spectra of H79 Br and H81 Br in the first excited vibrational state at room temperature. We recorded the spectra with a tunable far-infrared spectrometer equipped with an optimized Ge:Ga photodetector and an improved multiple-pass gas cell to enhance the overall sensitivity. In particular, a minimum detectable absorption of better than 10-7 cm-1 was achieved. We measured a total of 60 frequencies for the two isotopomers with an accuracy of a few parts in 108 . The hyperfine structure was observed at the lower J values. The derived spectroscopic parameters, which include nuclear and quadrupole hyperfine constants, reproduce the assigned transitions within their experimental errors.     

A comparison of schedulability analysis methods using state and digraph models for the schedulability analysis of synchronous FSMs

Real-Time Systems - Synchronous reactive models are widely used in the development of embedded software and systems. The schedulability analysis of tasks obtained as the code implementation of...     

A Model-based approach for the synthesis of software to firmware adapters for use with automatically generated components

This paper presents the MDE process in use at Elettronica SpA (ELT) for the development of complex embedded systems integrating software and firmware. The process is based on the adoption of SysML as the system-level modeling language and the use of Simulink for the refinement of selected subsystems. Implementations are generated automatically for both the software (C++ code) and firmware parts, and communication adapters are automatically generated from SysML using a dedicated profile and open-source tools for modeling and code generation. The process starts from a SysML system model, developed according to the platform-based design paradigm, in which a functional model of the system is paired to a model of the execution platform. Subsystems are refined as Simulink models or hand-coded in C++. An implementation for Simulink models is generated as software code or firmware on FPGA. Based on the SysML system architecture specification, our framework drives the generation of Simulink models with consistent interfaces, allows the automatic generation of the communication code among all subsystems (including the HW–FW interface code). In addition, it provides for the automatic generation of connectors for system-level simulation and of test harnesses and mockups to ease the integration and verification stage. We provide early results on the time savings obtained by using these technologies in the development process.     

Patient visits in poorly developed territories: a case study with community health workers

In this paper, we study the effects of poor conditions of territories in patient visits performed by community health workers and the consequences to primary care policies. We carried a case study with community health workers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, including ethnographic observations in two primary healthcare clinics. Moreover, we present an analysis of the collected data with the support of the function resonance analysis method and we point out relations between the findings and the execution of the primary healthcare policy in a systemic approach. Thus, our study highlights the impacts of work situations in the health assistance of poorly developed communities, indicating how community health workers cope with adverse conditions, and how such situations affect the effectiveness of primary care policies.     

Identifying routes and organizational practices for resilient performance: a study in the construction industry

Cognition, Technology & Work - Modern organizations live in a context of political, economic, technological, social and environmental changes for which they need to be prepared to adapt and...     

A neuro-fuzzy approach for increasing productivity in gas metal arc welding processes

This paper focusses on a study carried out in order to increase productivity in gas metal arc welding (GMAW) processes by optimising the deposition rate of the filler metal. To reach this aim, a possible solution was found in developing an adaptive system that is able to control and keep the wire feed speed constant at a desired and optimal value. This control has been accomplished by regulating an opportune variable typical of the welding process; in this case, the attention was focussed on the welding current intensity. Typical difficulties of GMAW processes, due above all to the great number of main variables and to their interdependence, suggested the possible solution by modelling a fuzzy-logic-based system, whose elements were determined by training an artificial neural network (ANN) with experimental data, obtained from bead on plate welds. At the same time, mathematical models, based on multiple regression analysis, were developed from the same data, in order to provide a comparison term and to assess the effectiveness of the neuro-fuzzy approach versus the mathematical methods. The results of this study confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed approach in the development of an integrated welding system in order to increase productivity.