Fast Positive Feedback Between the Adrenocortical Stress Response and a Brain Mechanism Involved in Aggressive Behavior.

Aggressive behavior induces an adrenocortical stress response, and sudden stressors often precipitate violent behavior. Experiments in rats revealed a fast, mutual, positive feedback between the adrenocortical stress response and a brain mechanism controlling aggression. Stimulation of the aggressive area in the hypothalamus rapidly activated the adrenocortical response, even in the absence of an opponent and fighting. Hypothalamic aggression, in turn, was rapidly facilitated by a corticosterone injection in rats in which the natural adrenocortical stress response was prevented by adrenalectomy. The rapidity of both effects points to a fast, mutual, positive feedback of the controlling mechanisms within the time frame of a single conflict. Such a mutual facilitation may contribute to the precipitation and escalation of violent behavior under stressful conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ring‐opening polymerization of lactones initiated by diphenylzinc–coinitiator systems

Diphenylzinc, alone or in combination with water and butanone as coinitiators, was used as a polymerization initiator system for a variety of lactones at varying temperatures. The resulting data indicate that the course of the polymerization is greatly influenced by the lactone structure, as well as by the molar ratio of coinitiator to diphenylzinc. When used alone, diphenylzinc exhibited high activity as an initiator in δ‐valerolactone polymerizations, although it was less efficient when used in the β‐butyrolactone and the β‐propiolactone polymerizations. Activity in the polymerization of β‐lactones was increased by adding small amounts of butanone or water. It was also observed that the diphenylzinc–butanone combination was more effective than the diphenylzinc–water mixture in the polymerizations of β‐butyrolactone and β‐propiolactone. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Catalytic aminolysis of epoxide by alumina prepared from amine-protected Al precursor

The catalytic activities of alumina prepared from an Al alkoxide-amine adduct monomer for the reaction of cyclopentene oxide with piperidine was determined after various pretreatments, including calcination and exposure to moisture. They were compared with the activity of alumina prepared by the conventional hydrolysis method. It was found that the as-prepared sample from the alkoxide-amine monomer preparation was five times more active than a conventional preparation, suggesting that it has a higher density of surface Lewis acid sites. However, its activity was much more severely suppressed by exposure to moisture.     

A decision support system for interactive decision making - Part II: analysis and output interpretation

For pt.I see ibid., p.42-55 (2003). The development of a comprehensive decision support system, GMCR II, for the systematic study of real-world interactive decision problems is presented. The companion paper (Part I), discusses how GMCR II elicits, stores, and manages conflict models; here (Part II), the focus is on GMCR IIs analysis and output interpretation subsystems. Specifically, this paper describes the powerful and efficient analysis engine contained in GMCR II, its informative output presentation and interpretation facilities, and a number of follow-up analyses. Furthermore, an illustrative case study is used to demonstrate how GMCR II can be conveniently applied in practice.     

Control system design on a power-split CVT for high-power agricultural tractors

The problem considered in this paper is the design and tuning of the control system of a power-split continuously variable transmission (CVT) used in high-power tractors. Power-split CVTs are characterized by the combination of a traditional mechanical transmission and by a continuously-variable transmission. This guarantees, at the same time, smooth variations of the transmission-ratio and high efficiency of the overall transmission system. The control architecture of an hydrostatic power-split CVT is constituted by three main parts: 1) servo-controller on the current of the valve which drives the hydraulic transmission; 2) a servo-controller on the hydraulic transmission-ratio; and 3) a synchronizer which coordinates the hydraulic and the mechanical parts of the CVT. In this work, these three controllers are fully developed, including: design, implementation, and evaluation on an experimental system.