Serum deprivation-induced apoptosis in cultured hippocampi is prevented by kainate

Serum deprivation of hippocampal organotypic cultures induced cell death within 6 h in dentate gyrus granule cells and hilar interneurons whereas neurons from other hippocampal regions were spared. Dying neurons exhibited condensed chromatin in the nuclei, as revealed by cresyl violet, Hoescht staining, and electron microscopy. Cell death was abolished by cycloheximide. KA, an agonist of AMPA/KA receptors that induces depolarization, also prevented neuronal death. This effect was antagonized by the AMPA/KA receptor antagonist DNQX, but not by APV, an antagonist of NMDA receptors. PTX, a GABA(A) receptor antagonist, reduced neuronal death by 50% after serum withdrawal. These data indicate that protein synthesis-dependent programmed cell death (PCD) occurs in the dentate gyrus upon trophic support withdrawal and suggest that neuronal activity contributes to cellular homeostasis.     

Molecular characterization of Ypi1, a novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae type 1 protein phosphatase inhibitor

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae open reading frame YFR003c encodes a small (155-amino acid) hydrophilic protein that we identified as a novel, heat-stable inhibitor of type 1 protein phosphatase (Ypi1). Ypi1 interacts physically in vitro with both Glc7 and Ppz1 phosphatase catalytic subunits, as shown by pull-down assays. Ypi1 inhibits Glc7 but appears to be less effective toward Ppz1 phosphatase activity under the conditions tested. Ypi1 contains a 48RHNVRW53 sequence, which resembles the characteristic consensus PP1 phosphatase binding motif. A W53A mutation within this motif abolishes both binding to and inhibition of Glc7 and Ppz1 phosphatases. Deletion of YPI1 is lethal, suggesting a relevant role of the inhibitor in yeast physiology. Cells overexpressing Ypi1 display a number of phenotypes consistent with an inhibitory role of this protein on Glc7, such as decreased glycogen content and an increased growth defect in a slt2/mpk1 mitogen-activated protein kinase-deficient background. Taking together, these results define Ypi1 as the first inhibitory subunit of Glc7 identified in budding yeast.     

Towards better software management through careful analysis of current application systems

Results are reported of empirical investigations into EDP applications in use. A model for connecting terms of the users of the applications to the consumed hardware resources is proposed. The properties of so-called “application profiling” are studied. Discussions are based on through analyses of a few EDP applications and one of them is abridged as a case study.     

Distinguishing the supervision needs of assessment and therapy trainees.

Responds to L. R. Prieto and C. D. Stoltenberg's (1997) commentary about H. Finklestein and A. Tuckman's (1997) developmental model of psychological assessment supervision. The authors address the claim that their model mimics the integrated developmental model (C. D. Stoltenberg and U. Delworth, 1987 and C. D. Stoltenberg et al, in press), and that it is out of line with known empirical data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acousto-optic Conversion of Laser Beams Into Flat-top Beams

Abstract

We employ computer-optimized synthetic acousto-optic holograms to convert a laser beam (not necessarily Gaussian) into a nearly uniform-intensity partially coherent field in the Fourier plane. The width of the flat-top region can be controlled electronically in real time.     

Heating rate dependence of disordering in αCu-AI alloys

Microcalorimetric experiments in pre-annealed and furnace cooled αCu-Al alloys containing 19,13, and 6.5 at. pct aluminum were performed at different heating rates. The features displayed by the differential scanning calorimetric traces were studied with reference to the rate of equilibration of the processes associated to a disperse order model (volume fraction and particle number adjustment, and domain dissolution). Such a comparison indicates that the observed features harmonize quite well with this model. The disordering reactions were found to be first order transitions. Volume fractions and radii of the ordered particles as well as latent and molar heats of dissolution were calculated. The decrease of the critical temperatureT _c with increasing Al content is explained through a combination of the lattice parameter and the quasichemical effects. The molar entropy of dissolution increases as the alloy becomes more concentrated, indicating that internal order within domains also increases correspondingly.     

Differential Scanning Calorimetry Evaluations in αCu-Al Alloys,Energetics

Microcalorimetric energy measurements associated with the different peaks involved during linear heating in αCu-Al alloys containing 19, 13, and 6.5 at. pct aluminum were performed employing both cold worked and quenched materials. Volume fractions of ordered particles and binding energies between an aluminum atom and a disperse ordered domain were calculated, as well as dislocation densities. An expression for the energy release due to the pinning of solute atoms to partial dislocations was developed. On the basis of this relation in conjunction with the data computed above, it was concluded that the energy accompanying the pinning process is similar to the observed energy difference between the deformed and the quenched materials during the exothermic peak designated as Stage 2. Nevertheless, it is proposed that additional dislocation induced order might take place as a consequence of the enhanced solute concentration around the partials, this effect being composition dependent.     

Explicit predictive control with non-convex polyhedral constraints

This paper proposes an explicit solution to the model predictive control of linear systems subject to non-convex polyhedral constraints. These constraints are modeled as the union of a finite number of convex polyhedra. The algorithm is based on calculating the explicit solution to a modified problem with linear constraints defined as the convex hull of the original ones and classifying its regions by their relation with the regions of the explicit solution to the original problem. Some of the regions are divided, and a procedure based on sum-of-squares programming is designed to determine which of the possible solutions are in fact optimal. Finally, the online algorithm is shown to be better in terms of computational cost and memory requirements than an algorithm based on obtaining and comparing the solutions of the problem using as constraints the polyhedra whose union forms the non-convex regions, both theoretically and by the results of an example.