Environmental toxins and behavioral development: A new role for psychological research.

Presents a new multiple-effects model that emphasizes subtle behavioral alteration as an early sign of toxicity and as evidence that a particular chemical agent may produce long-term impairment in susceptible individuals. The permeability of the placenta to a variety of chemical agents and the special sensitivity of the fetus to some of these agents draws attention to prenatal exposure and the need for prospective longitudinal studies of affective, social, and cognitive development in exposed individuals. The multiple-effects model provides a role for the psychologist in teratological diagnosis and research since the measurement of behavioral variation has developed primarily in psychology. Limitations inherent in both experimental animal research and correlational human studies of toxic effects make it necessary for these methodologies to be used in a complementary fashion. The implications of behavioral teratology for the study of human development and the design of protective social policies are discussed. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of ultrafiltration and nanofiltration of an industrial fish protein hydrolysate on its bioactive properties

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have demonstrated that in vitro controlled enzymatic hydrolysis of fish and shellfish proteins leads to bioactive peptides. Ultrafiltration (UF) and/or nanofiltration (NF) can be used to refine hydrolysates and also to fractionate them in order to obtain a peptide population enriched in selected sizes. This study was designed to highlight the impact of controlled UF and NF on the stability of biological activities of an industrial fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) and to understand whether fractionation could improve its content in bioactive peptides. RESULTS: The starting fish protein hydrolysate exhibited a balanced amino acid composition, a reproducible molecular weight (MW) profile, and a low sodium chloride content, allowing the study of its biological activity. Successive fractionation on UF and NF membranes allowed concentration of peptides of selected sizes, without, however, carrying out sharp separations, some MW classes being found in several fractions. Peptides containing Pro, Hyp, Asp and Glu were concentrated in the UF and NF retentates compared to the unfractionated hydrolysate and UF permeate, respectively. Gastrin/cholecystokinin‐like peptides were present in the starting FPH, UF and NF fractions, but fractionation did not increase their concentration. In contrast, quantification of calcitonin gene‐related peptide (CGRP)‐like peptides demonstrated an increase in CGRP‐like activities in the UF permeate, relative to the starting FPH. The starting hydrolysate also showed a potent antioxidant and radical scavenging activity, and a moderate angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE)‐1 inhibitory activity, which were not increased by UF and NF fractionation. CONCLUSION: Fractionation of an FPH using membrane separation, with a molecular weight cut‐off adapted to the peptide composition, may provide an effective means to concentrate CGRP‐like peptides and peptides enriched in selected amino acids. The peptide size distribution observed after UF and NF fractionation demonstrates that it is misleading to characterize the fractions obtained by membrane filtration according to the MW cut‐off of the membrane only, as is currently done in the literature. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Particulate platform for bioluminescent immunosensing

The present study examines pyruvate kinase-conjugated antibodies for potential use in ELISA applications. The conjugates had an acceptable stability, and the coupling inflicted only minor impairment on the kinase activity. To mimic the setup of an immunoassay under development, a test antigen (BSA) was attached to polystyrene nanoparticles. This arrangement was found to be suitable as solid support for presentation of antigens in sensitive bioluminescence assays. The nanoparticles were well characterized in terms of protein surface load and were used to establish the number of conjugate complexes needed to generate a detectable signal. Under the biochemical conditions employed here, the detection limit of the pyruvate kinase conjugate lies in the femtomole range.     

Microwave-hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of nanostructured copper substituted ZnM2O4 (M = Al, Ga) spinels as precursors for thermally stable Cu catalysts

Nanostructured Cu(x)Zn(1-x)Al(2)O(4) with a Cu:Zn ratio of ?:? has been prepared by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis at 150 °C and used as a precursor for Cu/ZnO/Al(2)O(3)-based catalysts. The spinel nanoparticles exhibit an average size of approximately 5 nm and a high specific surface area (above 250 m(2) g(-1)). Cu nanoparticles of an average size of 3.3 nm can be formed by reduction of the spinel precursor in hydrogen and the accessible metallic Cu(0) surface area of the reduced catalyst was 8 m(2) g(-1). The catalytic performance of the material in CO(2) hydrogenation and methanol steam reforming was compared with conventionally prepared Cu/ZnO/Al(2)O(3) reference catalysts. The observed lower performance of the spinel-based samples is attributed to a lack of synergetic interaction of the Cu nanoparticles with ZnO due to the incorporation of Zn(2+) in the stable spinel lattice. Despite its lower performance, however, the nanostructured nature of the spinel catalyst was stable after thermal treatment up to 500 °C in contrast to other Cu-based catalysts. Furthermore, a large fraction of the re-oxidized copper migrates back into the spinel upon calcination of the reduced catalyst, thereby enabling a regeneration of sintered catalysts after prolonged usage at high temperatures. Similarly prepared samples with Ga instead of Al exhibit a more crystalline catalyst with a spinel particle size around 20 nm. The slightly decreased Cu(0) surface area of 3.2 m(2) g(-1) due to less copper incorporation is not a significant drawback for the methanol steam reforming.     

On the Ergodicity of First‐Order Threshold Autoregressive Moving‐Average Processes

We introduce a certain Markovian representation for the threshold autoregressive moving‐average (TARMA) process with which we solve the long‐standing problem regarding the irreducibility condition of a first‐order TARMA model. Under some mild regularity conditions, we obtain a complete classification of the parameter space of an invertible first‐order TARMA model into parametric regions over which the model is either transient or recurrent, and the recurrence region is further subdivided into regions of null recurrence or positive recurrence, or even geometric recurrence. We derive a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the ergodicity of invertible first‐order TARMA processes.     

Transmission electron microscopy studies of nanophase TiO2

The chemical and microstructural properties of nanosized TiO₂, obtained by sol—gel procedure, were investigated. The samples were characterized by analytical electron microscopy combining electron diffraction, high resolution electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. These methods were supported by X-ray diffraction and thermal analysis. The chemical and structural properties, as well as the size of grains, depended on the temperature of TiO₂ preparation. In the temperature range between 293 and 820 K the TiO₂ grains consisted of anatase, as the dominant phase, and brookite. High resolution electron microscopy showed that the sample heated at 573 K had grain sizes from 2 to 10 nm, the average being (5 ± 1) nm, and the pore sizes from 4.5 to 12 nm. The sample heated at820 K revealed larger grain sizes, from 7 to 12 nm, the average being (9 ± 1) nm, and the pore sizes from 6 to 10 nm. These values were confirmed by X-ray diffraction broadening.     

Decoupling Theranostics with Rare Earth Doped Nanoparticles

Theranostic nanoagents targeted for personalized medicine provide a unified platform for therapeutics and diagnostics. To be able to discretely control each individually, allows for safer, more precise, and truly multifunctional theranostics. Rare earth doped nanoparticles can be rationally tailored to best match this condition with the aid of core/shell engineering. In such nanoparticles, the light‐mediated theranostic approach is functionally decoupled—therapeutics or diagnostics are prompted on‐demand, by wavelength‐specific excitation. These decoupled rare earth nanoparticles (dNPs) operate entirely under near‐infrared (NIR) excitation, for minimized light interference with the target and extended tissue depth action. Under heating‐free 806 nm irradiation, dNPs behave solely as high‐contrast NIR‐to‐NIR optical markers and nanothermometers, visualizing and probing the area of interest without prompting the therapeutic effect beforehand. On the contrary, 980 nm NIR irradiation is upconverted by the dNPs to UV/visible light, which triggers secondary photochemical processes, e.g., generation of reactive oxygen species by photosensitizers coupled to the dNPs, causing damage to cancer cells. Additionally, integration of NIR nanothermometry helps to control the temperature in the vicinity of the dNPs avoiding possible overheating and quenching of upconversion (UC) emission, harnessed for photodynamic therapy. Overall, a new direction is outlined in the development of state‐of‐the‐art rare earth based theranostic nanoplatforms.     

ON THE LAGRANGE MULTIPLIER TEST FOR AUTOREGRESSIVE MOVING-AVERAGE MODELS

Abstract. This paper examines the score or Lagrange multiplier statistic for testing the adequacy of a fitted autoregressive moving-average model and gives a simple closed-form expression for this test statistic. Some singularities arising as the order of the alternative model is increased are examined.     

“At Your Own Risk”: Narratives of Migrant Sex Workers in Johannesburg

Existing evidence indicates that cross-border migrant women sex workers in South Africa are often marginalized by state and non-state actors professing to assist them. Trafficking discourses frequently conflate migrant sex workers with trafficking victims, denying them agency and silencing the women under discussion. This paper emphasizes the voices of the women themselves, drawing from the first academic research employing creative writing workshops as a methodology with migrant women sex workers in Johannesburg, South Africa. This work responds to calls for more innovative methodologies to reach marginalized or “invisible” groups and adds to the “voices” of urban poor migrants to provide more information about the lived experiences of migrant sex workers in Johannesburg. Narratives from five Zimbabwean sex workers in Johannesburg reveal representations of sex work that are paradoxically both “good” and “bad”—ambiguous in a way the polarized discussions around sex work rarely reflect and in a way that might be best expressed through creative writing. In a country increasingly concerned with issues of (anti-)immigration and (anti-)trafficking, these women are often positioned as vulnerable and misidentified as trafficked; however, their self-representations portrayed complex women calculating and making decisions, especially related to their health and safely. This paper concentrates on letters the participants wrote to young sex workers, which highlight the participatory aspect of this method and show the complexities an arts-based method can reveal.