Studie über die Rolle des Vitamin E als Nitritscavenger und N-Nitrosamine Inhibitor

Study on the Role of Vitamin E as Nitrite Scavenger and N-Nitrosamine Inhibitor N-nitrosamine are known for their powerful carcinogenicity. They may be formed under acidic conditions by interaction of nitrosable amino substrates and nitrosating agents such as nitrite, nitrate and nitroso gases. Several of recent investigations demonstrate that certain micronutrients such as vitamin A, C, and E and trace elements selenium and zinc play an important role in cancer prevention. Because of their strong antioxidative, nitrite scavenging and free radical quenching properties, vitamin C and E are capable of inhibiting the peroxidation and nitrosation reaction. This paper summarizes the research work done up to date in the field of inhibition of N-nitrosamine formation by vitamin E. It also includes the latest results of our in vitro study on the inhibitory influence of vitamin E and a mixture of tocopherols as well as the cumulative effect of vitamin C and E on the formation of N-nitroso-N-methylaniline (NMNA). α-tocopherol and the mixture of tocopherols are capable of reducing nitrite concentration in hydrophilic reaction medium and thus inhibits the formation of N-nitrosamine. Both vitamins together have a stronger nitrite scavenger effect than either of them alone. The results of research work done up to date strongly suggest that both vitamins may play an important role in reducing the health hazard of some carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds.     

Agens Faber: Toward a Theory of Artefacts for MAS

Human intelligence has evolved along with the use of more and more sophisticated tools, allowing Homo Faber (from Homo Habilis to Homo Sapiens Sapiens) to cope with environment changes, as well as to adapt the environment to his needs. Analogously, in this seminal paper we introduce the notion of Agens Faber, conveying the idea that agent intelligence should not be considered as separated by the agent ability to perceive and affect the environment—and so, that agent intelligence is strictly related to the artefacts that enable, mediate and govern any agent (intelligent) activity.

Along this line, we first discuss the notion of artefact for MAS in general, then we try to devise out the admissible / required / desirable features of an artefact for MAS. We elaborate on the many sorts of possible relations between agents and artefacts, focusing in particular on the issue of the rational exploitation of artefacts, and also rough out a possible taxonomy of artefacts for MAS.     

Biosensors and the clinical laboratory

Aside from the economic factors that make biosensors attractive, on-board signal conditioning and signal processing improve the limits of detection and simplify use of the devices. The present discussion summarizes the breadth of biosensor design and application, and the requirements of clinical assay detection. Current sensor research is aimed toward extending the lower limits of detection for nonradioactive immunoassays. The clinical laboratory is in a state of change; operating and instrumentation costs will affect the delivery of diagnostics. Technology will assume a major role in reshaping the clinical laboratory. Biosensors promise to deliver the diagnostic tools for the evolution that is now in progress. The clinical laboratory will no doubt continue to perform chemical profiling and the more specialized tests. The successful implementation of solid-state sensor technology promises to simplify immunoassay procedures, as the autoanalyzer did some 20 years ago for the profiling of blood metabolites. It is likely that more tests will be performed in physicians' offices with the advent of highly automated and cost-effective biosensors. By the use of this technology, practitioners of critical care medicine will be able to assume greater responsibility for diagnostic testing.     

Environment as a first class abstraction in multiagent systems

The current practice in multiagent systems typically associates the environment with resources that are external to agents and their communication infrastructure. Advanced uses of the environment include infrastructures for indirect coordination, such as digital pheromones, or support for governed interaction in electronic institutions. Yet, in general, the notion of environment is not well defined. Functionalities of the environment are often dealt with implicitly or in an ad hoc manner. This is not only poor engineering practice, it also hinders engineers to exploit the full potential of the environment in multiagent systems. In this paper, we put forward the environment as an explicit part of multiagent systems.We give a definition stating that the environment in a multiagent system is a first-class abstraction with dual roles: (1) the environment provides the surrounding conditions for agents to exist, which implies that the environment is an essential part of every multiagent system, and (2) the environment provides an exploitable design abstraction for building multiagent system applications. We discuss the responsibilities of such an environment in multiagent systems and we present a reference model for the environment that can serve as a basis for environment engineering. To illustrate the power of the environment as a design abstraction, we show how the environment is successfully exploited in a real world application. Considering the environment as a first-class abstraction in multiagent systems opens up new horizons for research and development in multiagent systems.     

Maternal depression and early positive parenting predict future conduct problems in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for adverse outcomes such as substance abuse and criminality, particularly if they develop conduct problems. Little is known about early predictors of the developmental course of conduct problems among children with ADHD, however. Parental psychopathology and parenting were assessed in 108 children who first met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for ADHD at 4-7 years old. When demographic variables and baseline ADHD and conduct problems were controlled, maternal depression predicted conduct problems 2-8 years following the initial assessment, whereas positive parenting during the structured parent- child interaction task predicted fewer future conduct problems. These findings suggest that maternal depression is a risk factor, whereas early positive parenting is a protective factor, for the developmental course of conduct problems among children with ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonpathological Lyapunov functions and discontinuous Carathéodory systems

Differential equations with discontinuous right-hand side and solutions intended in Carathéodory sense are considered. For these equations, sufficient conditions which guarantee both Lyapunov stability and asymptotic stability in terms of nonsmooth Lyapunov functions are given. An invariance principle is also proven.     

Biosorption of heavy metals by Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Effects of nutrient conditions

Studies took place to investigate the effects of different nutrient conditions on the biosorption ability and selectivity of heavy metals by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. After having grown in media supplemented with additional glucose, ammonium, phosphate or cysteine, the yeast was exposed to an equimolar solution of lead, cadmium, zinc and copper. Lead removal from a mixed solution was significantly higher than that of copper, followed by zinc and cadmium. Generally, yeasts from cysteine-rich media showed greatest sorption capacity whereas phosphate addition influenced zinc selectivity. In addition, glucose, fructose and sucrose as carbon sources were examined. Cultures grown in glucose had a better uptake than those cultivated with fructose at an incubation time of 30 min.     

An elementary proof of Sylvester’s double sums for subresultants

In 1853 Sylvester stated and proved an elegant formula that expresses the polynomial subresultants in terms of the roots of the input polynomials. Sylvester’s formula was also recently proved by Lascoux and Pragacz using multi-Schur functions and divided differences. In this paper, we provide an elementary proof that uses only basic properties of matrix multiplication and Vandermonde determinants.     

Hull-form stochastic optimization via computational-cost reduction methods

In this paper, analytical functions for the estimation of the temperature-dependent behaviors of poorly and highly dispersed graphene oxide reinforced nanocomposite (GORNC) materials are studied in the framework of a machine learning-based approach. The validity of the presented models is shown comparing the results achieved from this modeling with those reported in the open literature. Also, the application of the obtained functions in solving the thermal buckling problem of beams constructed from such nanocomposites is demonstrated based on an energy-based method incorporated with a shear deformable beam hypothesis. The verification of the results indicates that the presented mechanical model can approximate the buckling behaviors of nanocomposite beams with remarkable precision. It can be realized from the results that the temperature plays an indispensable role in the determination of the buckling load which can be endured by the nanocomposite structure.