Activation of action rules in action observation.

Visually perceiving an action may activate corresponding motor programs. This automatic motor activation can occur both for higher level (i.e., the goal of an action) and for lower level (i.e., the specific effector with which it is executed) aspects of an action. The authors used a tool-use action paradigm to experimentally dissociate priming effects for observing the target, the movement, or the target-to-movement mapping of a tool-use action. In 3 experiments, participants took turns in acting, observing the tool-use action of another person in trial n-1, and executing an action in trial n. Trial transitions from n-1 to n were manipulated in 4 conditions with (a) mapping repeated and movement and target changed, (b) target repeated and movement and mapping changed, (c) movement repeated and target and mapping changed, or (d) all components repeated. Results indicate priming effects for repeating the target-to-movement mapping (i.e., the action rule) of a tool-use action and suggest that a rather abstract action schema is activated during action observation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

IR spectroscopic study of Pt/Kl zeolites using adsorption of CO as a molecular probe

FTIR spectra of CO adsorbed on Pt/KL catalysts show that the relative band intensities and the total dispersion markedly depend on the catalyst preparation method (ion exchange, incipient wetness impregnation or co-impregnation with KCl). The CO stretching frequency of the dominant band for linear CO is shifted to higher wavenumbers, parallel with the proton concentration in the reduced catalyst, which is derived independently from the intensity of the IR bands of the OH groups. The results are in accordance with the model that electron-deficient platinum particles are platinum-proton adducts.On leave from: N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences, Moscow, USSR.     

Information technology support in the chemical process design life cycle

Information technology has been becoming increasingly important in all areas of engineering during the last few years. Much of the progress achieved in chemical engineering would not have been possible without the enabling methods and tools provided by information technology. This trend will continue in the future but most likely with a considerably wider scope. While individual software tools and services have been in focus until recently, their integration into engineering work processes is an emerging and challenging area of research and development. This contribution attempts to highlight state of the art and future trends in supporting the activities during the life cycle of a chemical process by means of information technology. Emphasis will be largely on the process and plant design process rather than on procurement, manufacturing, and distribution of materials in the supply chain.     

6-Phospho-{beta}-galactosidases of Gram-positive and 6-phospho-{beta}-glucosidase B of Gram-negative bacteria: comparison of structure and function by kinetic and immunological methods and mutagenesis of the lacG gene of staphylococcus aureus

The 6-phospho-ß-galactosidase of Staphylococcus aureus,Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus casei and 6-phospho-ßglucosidaseB of Escherichia coli build a subfamily inside a greater enzymefamily, named the glycosal hydrolase family 1, which, hi addition,contains nine ß-glycosidases of different origins.Kinetic and immunological evidence is provided in this reportwhich strengthens the relationship of the four 6-phospho-ß-glycosidases.It is shown that the 6-phospho-ß-galactosidases and6-phospho-ß-glucosidase B are able to split aromaticß-galactoside phosphates and ß-glucosidephosphates. The turnover numbers of hydrolysis of substrateswith different epimerization at C-4 of the glycon vary up to15-fold only. Two polydonal antisera, one derived against thenative 6-phospho-ß-galactosidase from S.aureus andthe other derived against the 6-phospho-ß-glucosidaseB, cross-reacted with both enzymes. Peptides of the proteinswere separated by reverse phase HPLC. The cross-reacting peptideswere sequenced and shown to be localized at almost the sameposition in the aligned primary structures of both enzymes.An insertion of nine amino adds near these antigenic domainsis unique for the 6-phospho-ß-glycosidases and missingwithin the sequences of the ß-glycoside-specific membersof the family. The lacG gene of a 6-phospho-ß-galactosidasenegative S.aureus mutant was doned into E.coli and sequenced.In the totally inactive mutant protein only the glycine at position332 was changed to an arginine. This amino acid is part of thesequence insertion near the antigenic domain reacting with bothantisera. These data support the assumption that the regionis of great importance for the function of the enzymes and thatit is possible it determines the specificity of the phosphorylatedform of the substrates. In addition, the 6-phospho-ß-galactosidaseof S.aureus was modified by sitedirected mutagenesis of thecorresponding lacG gene hi order to replace residues Glul60and Glu375, which were suspected of being involved hi the generalacid catalysis of substrate hydrolysis, with glutamine residues.The mutant protein 160EQ retained some catalytic activity whilethe protein 375EQ was totally inactive. Glu375 is the activesite nudeophile of the 6-phospho-ß-galactosidase ofS.aureus. It is located in the sequence motif ENG where Glu358was identified as the catalytkally active nudeophile hi theß-glucosidase of Agrobacterium.     

Artificial added mass instabilities in sequential staggered coupling of nonlinear structures and incompressible viscous flows

Within this paper the so-called artificial added mass effect is investigated which is responsible for devastating instabilities within sequentially staggered Fluid-structure Interaction (FSI) simulations where incompressible fluids are considered.A discrete representation of the added mass operator M_A is given and ‘instability conditions’ are evaluated for different temporal discretisation schemes. It is proven that for every sequentially staggered scheme and given spatial discretisation of a problem, a mass ratio between fluid and structural mass density can be found at which the coupled system becomes unstable. The analysis is quite general and does not depend upon the particular spatial discretisation schemes used. However here special attention is given to stabilised finite elements employed on the fluid partition. Numerical investigations further highlight the results.     

A hybrid finite element method for near bodies of revolution (EM scattering)

A genetic formulation for a hybrid finite element solution for three-dimensional electromagnetic scattering is given using the equivalent current approach. The major computational tasks involved in monostatic scattering calculations are analyzed and compared as a function of the method of implementing the near-field radiation condition, i.e. method of moments, model expansion, and body of revolution (BOR). A method utilizing a BOR formulation that addresses these computational issues is given. This BOR implementation utilizes Hermite cubic basis functions and a variable number of modes per basis function in order to achieve the greatest efficiency. The combined field integral equation formulation is used to eliminate nonphysical resonance of the mesh boundary. Examples are given showing the efficiency and accuracy of this BOR code by itself, and as part of this hybrid finite-element method.<>