Gas-Chromatographic Analyses of the Subcaudal Gland Secretion of the European Badger (Meles meles) Part I: Chemical Differences Related to Individual Parameters

In many species, chemical signals are important in the context of intraspecific communication. European badgers (Meles meles) use the secretion of their subcaudal gland to mark both the environment and conspecifics. In this paper, we investigated the chemical composition of subcaudal gland secretions and how it varies among individuals according to group membership, season, sex, age, body condition, and reproductive status. We analyzed 66 samples by gas chromatography using a mass-spectrometer as detector. We found 110 different components, of which 21 were present in every profile. The chemical composition of the secretions proved to be highly individual-specific, but no single peak was found to be typical for one of the investigated categories (season, sex, etc.). Analyses of the relative area (% area) that every peak contributed to the overall profile area showed that, in general, group members have more similar profiles than do badgers from different groups. Composition varied over seasons and between sexes and was influenced by age, body condition, and reproductive status. We, therefore, conclude that the secretion not only encodes group membership and individuality as previously assumed, but might also convey information about fitness-related parameters.     

Designing amino acid sequences to fold with good hydrophobic cores

We present two methods for designing amino acid sequences ofproteins that will fold to have good hydrophobic cores. Giventhe coordinates of the desired target protein or polymer structure,the methods generate sequences of hydrophobic (H) and polar(P) monomers that are intended to fold to these structures.One method designs hydrophobic inside, polar outside; the otherminimizes an energy function in a sequence evolution process.The sequences generated by these methods agree at the levelof 60–80% of the sequence positions in 20 proteins inthe Protein Data Bank. A major challenge in protein design isto create sequences that can fold uniquely, i.e. to a singleconformation rather than to many. While an earlier lattice-basedsequence evolution method was shown not to design unique folders,our method generates unique folders in lattice model tests.These methods may also be useful in designing other types offoldable polymer not based on amino acids     

β-Carotene transport in human lipoproteins. Comparisons with a-tocopherol

The purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal relationships of the transport of β-carotene in human lipoproteins. We administered 60 mg β-carotene with breakfast to nine fasting subjects, then blood samples were collected at intervals of up to 75 h, lipoproteins were isolated, and β-carotene was quantitated. β-Carotene concentrations in chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) peaked at 6 and 9 h, respectively. Nonetheless, at all time points the majority of plasma β-carotene was contained in low density lipoproteins (LDL), while high density lipoproteins (HDL) carried a smaller portion (at 24 h, 73±8% in LDL as compared with 23±5% in HDL). In three subjects, transport of β-carotene was compred with the results of earlier studies on the transport of stereoisomers of α-tocopherol. Unlike plasmaRRR-α-tocopherol concentrations, which are maintained by the preferential incorporation ofRRR-α-tocopherol into VLDL by the liver, β-carotene increased and decreased in VLDL similarly toSRR-α-tocopherol, a stereoisomer whose concentrations are not maintained in plasma. In conclusion, β-carotene is primarily transported in the plasma in LDL, but its incorporation by the liver into lipoproteins does not appear to be enhanced.     

Efficient Reduction of NO x by H2 Under Oxygen-Rich Conditions over Pd/TiO2 Catalysts: An in situ DRIFTS Study

The H₂/NO/O₂ reaction under lean-burn conditions has been studied by means of in situ DRIFTS, reactor measurements and temperature-programmed desorption with the aim of understanding the very different behavior of Pd/TiO₂ and Pd/Al₂O₃ catalysts. The former deliver very high NO _x conversions (70-80%) with good N₂ selectivity whereas the latter show very low activity. In addition, PdTiO₂ exhibits two distinct NO _x reduction pathways, thus greatly extending the useful temperature range. It is shown that the PdTiO₂ low-temperature channel involves adsorption and subsequent dissociation of NO on reduced (Pd⁰) metal sites. The low activity of PdAl₂O₃ is a consequence of palladium remaining in an oxidized state under reaction conditions. The high-temperature NO reduction channel found with PdTiO₂ is associated with the generation and subsequent reaction of NH _x species.     

Permeation of gases through modified polymer films. V. Permeation and diffusion of helium,nitrogen, methane,ethane, and propane through γ-ray crosslinked polyethylene

The permeation and diffusion of helium, nitrogen, methane, ethane, and propane through γ-irradiated polyethylene films were investigated. These studies were carried out with two objectives in mind: (1) to determine the effect of crosslinking by γ irradiation on permeability and diffusivity using the gas molecules as molecular probes; and (2) to study the plasticizing effects of the low hydrocarbons on the polyethylene film. The γ-ray-induced crosslinking efficiency of polyethylene was investigated in the following irradiation atmospheres: vacuum, acetylene, and nitrogen–acetylene mixtures. Results showed that irradiation in acetylene decreased the crosslinking efficiency while an acetylene–nitrogen atmosphere increased the efficiency compared to irradiation in vacuum. Both the permeation constants and the diffusion coefficients were found to decrease with increasing irradiation dose while the activation energies increased. The permeation constants of the organic gases through polyethylene increased with molecular diameter while the diffusion coefficients decreased. This increase in permeability was attributed to an increase in the solubility due to solubilization of the membrane by the penetrant. For example, the molecular diameter of propane is 4.397 Å compared with 2.807 Å for methane; however, propane permeated the polyethylene film at a rate twice that of methane. Nitrogen and methane have approximately the same molecular diameters—2.7085 and 2.807 Å, respectively—but owing to the plasticizing effect of methane, it permeated the film at a rate three times greater than that of nitrogen. It is interesting to note that the stronger the plasticizing ability of the penetrant, the greater the effect of the irradiation dose. The permeability of propane decreased by 40.7%, while the permeability of helium decreased by 6.4% after an irradiation dose of 50 Mrad.     

脉冲涡流和电磁声换能器双探头无损检测

在许多情况下，只应用一种NDT技术存在不足，这就迫使NDT操作人员使用一种以上的技术以保证检测出危害被检物使用寿命或功能的缺陷。但分别实施多种技术的检测，就会延长检验时间。介绍了一种新的NDT设施，采用两种不同的非接触无损检测技术进行互补，即电磁声换能器（EMAT）和脉冲涡流（PEC）探头。检测结果表明，脉冲涡流和电磁声换能器因是非接触，所以可应用于材料生产过程中的自动在线检验，也可用于在役检验。     

Driving a Wedge Between Evidence and Beliefs: How Online Ideological News Exposure Promotes Political Misperceptions

This article has 2 goals: to provide additional evidence that exposure to ideological online news media contributes to political misperceptions, and to test 3 forms this media‐effect might take. Analyses are based on representative survey data collected during the 2012 U.S. presidential election (N = 1,004). Panel data offer persuasive evidence that biased news site use promotes inaccurate beliefs, while cross‐sectional data provide insight into the nature of these effects. There is no evidence that exposure to ideological media reduces awareness of politically unfavorable evidence, though in some circumstances biased media do promote misunderstandings of it. The strongest and most consistent influence of ideological media exposure is to encourage inaccurate beliefs regardless of what consumers know of the evidence.     

Towards the generation of dialogue acts in socio-affective ECAs: a corpus-based prosodic analysis

We present a corpus-based prosodic analysis with the aim of uncovering the relationship between dialogue acts, personality and prosody in view to providing guidelines for the ECA Greta’s text-to-speech system. The corpus used is the SEMAINE corpus, featuring four different personalities, further annotated for dialogue acts and prosodic features. In order to show the importance of the choice of dialogue act taxonomy, two different taxonomies were used, the first corresponding to Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts and the second, inspired by Bunt’s DIT++, including a division of directive acts into finer categories. Our results show that finer-grained distinctions are important when choosing a taxonomy. We also show with some preliminary results that the prosodic correlates of dialogue acts are not always as cited in the literature and prove more complex and variable. By studying the realisation of different directive acts, we also observe differences in the communicative strategies of the ECA depending on personality, in view to providing input to a speech system.     

Developing Faculty ICT Competencies Inside and Outside the Library

Despite all the financial resources that are directed to support and acquire learning technologies, the results have been generally disappointing. Faculty are eager to use technology but lack the technical skills, ability, and experience. Library staff includes a talent tool rich in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)/WEB 2.0 technical expertise and experience. In terms of content sourcing and procurement, library technical services and selection staff have broad knowledge of the marketplace for online information and content as well as experience in licensing access. They have a firm grasp of the transaction process, workflows, pricing, and licensing negotiations. Content development and sourcing inevitably involves access management, online storage, copyright, and licensing—things at which libraries are good. ICT deployment is changing teaching and learning on campuses, and the roles of those involved in teaching and learning are also changing. Whether formally through mandated library services, or informally through back channels, library staff are supporting faculty new technology use as well as faculty teaching materials content sourcing and procurement.