The effects of L-deprenyl treatment, alone and combined with GM1 ganglioside, on striatal dopamine content and substantia nigra pars compacta neurons

A novel amperometric HPLC detection method for the cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) peptide toxins microcystin-LR, -YR and -RR was developed. Purified microcystins and cyanobacterial extracts were chromatographed using an internal surface reversed-phase column with acetate- and phosphate-based mobile phase systems. Electrochemical oxidation reactions at 1.20 V vs. Ag/AgCl (glassy carbon working electrode) were show to originate in arginine and tyrosine residues of microcystins.     

Local mobility within villin 14T probed via heteronuclear relaxation measurements and a reduced spectral density mapping

Villin 14T, a representative domain from the actin severing and bundling protein villin, binds calcium ions and actin monomers. To begin to understand the contributions of mobility to the villin-calcium and villin-actin interactions, relaxation rates for magnetization involving the amide nitrogens and protons have been measured for 15N-labeled villin 14T in solution. Although we have measured the complete set of rates required for a full spectral density map, difficulties in the accurate measurement of relaxation rates for antiphase coherence and two-spin order led us to consider a reduced mapping formalism. From the reduced spectral density map, a model-free analysis, or directly from the measured Nx,y relaxation rates, local variations in mobility along the backbone of villin 14T have been revealed. Fast motions are evident not only at the amino and carboxyl termini but also in the turn between strands beta 4 and beta 5 of the central beta-sheet and in the turn between helix alpha 3 and strand beta 7. Slower motions are suggested for the turn between strands beta 2 and beta 3. Motions on the microsecond to millisecond time scale have been probed directly by examining the dependence of the proton transverse relaxation rate on the spin-locking field strength. Leu11 shows a strong dependence on field strength, implying conformational exchange with a time constant of 125 +/- 69 microseconds. The backbone at the actin-binding interface appears to be rather rigid.     

Cholesterol screenings: is there a return on investment?

Community outreach programs like health screenings will face increasing scrutiny as attempts to reconcile expenses and revenues intensify. If you cannot supply evidence that a screening program can generate new revenue, that program might be written off as a loser. Providing the evidence is not as difficult as you might think; it requires planning and the resourceful use of software you may already have available.     

The role of visual complexity and prototypicality regarding first impression of websites: Working towards understanding aesthetic judgments

This paper experimentally investigates the role of visual complexity (VC) and prototypicality (PT) as design factors of websites, shaping users' first impressions by means of two studies. In the first study, 119 screenshots of real websites varying in VC (low vs. medium vs. high) and PT (low vs. high) were rated on perceived aesthetics. Screenshot presentation time was varied as a between-subject factor (50 ms vs. 500 ms vs. 1000 ms). Results reveal that VC and PT affect participants' aesthetics ratings within the first 50 ms of exposure. In the second study presentation times were shortened to 17, 33 and 50 ms. Results suggest that VC and PT affect aesthetic perception even within 17 ms, though the effect of PT is less pronounced than the one of VC. With increasing presentation time the effect of PT becomes as influential as the VC effect. This supports the reasoning of the information-processing stage model of aesthetic processing (Leder et al., 2004), where VC is processed at an earlier stage than PT. Overall, websites with low VC and high PT were perceived as highly appealing.     

Towards practical anisotropic adaptive FEM on triangular meshes: a new refinement paradigm

Adaptive anisotropic refinement of finite element meshes allows one to reduce the computational effort required to achieve a specified accuracy of the solution of a PDE problem. We present a new approach to adaptive refinement and demonstrate that this allows one to construct algorithms which generate very flexible and efficient anisotropically refined meshes, even improving the convergence order compared to adaptive isotropic refinement if the problem permits.     

Is LRP2 Involved in Leptin Transport over the Blood-Brain Barrier and Development of Obesity?

The mechanisms underlying the transport of leptin into the brain are still largely unclear. While the leptin receptor has been implicated in the transport process, recent evidence has suggested an additional role of LRP2 (megalin). To evaluate the function of LRP2 for leptin transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), we developed a novel leptin-luciferase fusion protein (pLG), which stimulated leptin signaling and was transported in an in vitro BBB model based on porcine endothelial cells. The LRP inhibitor RAP did not affect leptin transport, arguing against a role of LRP2. In line with this, the selective deletion of LRP2 in brain endothelial cells and epithelial cells of the choroid plexus did not influence bodyweight, body composition, food intake, or energy expenditure of mice. These findings suggest that LRP2 at the BBB is not involved in the transport of leptin into the brain, nor in the development of obesity as has previously been described.     

High solids content emulsions. III. Synthesis of concentrated latices by classic emulsion polymerization

Two different methods of producing bi‐ and trimodal latices of a mixture of methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, and small amounts of acrylic acid were tested. It is shown that a combination of concentrating blends of seed particles by semibatch reaction, followed by a nucleation of small particles plus a second semibatch phase allowed us to obtain stable latices with solids contents over 65% and viscosities of below 2500 mPa s^?1 with little coagulum formation. The key parameter in determining latex stability, coagulum formation, and viscosity appears to be the the particle size distribution, and especially its modification attributed to secondary nucleation. Because it is not possible to eliminate water‐soluble monomers from the polymerization recipe, secondary (homogeneous) nucleation must be minimized by careful addition of the free‐radical initiator and choice of monomer feed flow rates. The nucleation of the third population in the trimodal latices is best accomplished with a mixed surfactant system because renucleation by anionic surfactant alone leads to detrimental changes in the particle size distribution (PSD) resulting from excessive flocculation of particles. In addition, it was found that the viscosity of the final products was not sensitive to small changes in the ionic strength of the latex, although neutralization to a pH of 6 effectively doubles the final latex viscosity. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 1916–1934, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10513     

Interactions in compatible polymer systems

Summary Dynamic mechanical measurements on polystyrene — poly(vinylmethylether) blends are demonstrating that the relaxation processes in the blends are mainly connected with the motions of the poly(vinylmethylether) chain.Concerning the effect of mixing on topological properties of the blends, an increase of the polydispersity of the relaxation processes is detected in blends with high molecular weight polystyrene while low molecular weight polystyrene exerts an effect of dilution upon the relaxation of the high molecular poly(vinylmethylether) chains.From these measurements as well as from thermoanalytical data it results that the energetic interaction is more pronounced in the blends with oligomeric than with high molecular weight polystyrene. The glass transition temperature shows a larger deviation from additivity for blends with high molecular polystyrene than for those with oligomeric polystyrene.Herrn Prof. Dr. M. Kryszewski zum 60. Geburtstag herzlichst gewidmet     

Managing knowledge on communication and information flow in global software projects

Communication is a key success factor of distributed software projects. Poor communication has been identified as a main obstacle to successful collaboration. Global projects are especially endangered by information gaps between collaborating sites. Different communication styles, technical equipment, and missing awareness of each other can cause severe problems. Knowledge about actual and desired channels, paths, and modes of communication is required for improving communication in a globally distributed project. However, many project participants know little about communication and information flow in their projects. In this contribution, we focus on knowledge about communication and information flow. It is acquired by modelling on‐going and desired flows of information, including documented and non‐documented channels of information flow. We analyzed a distributed software project from the information flow perspective. Based on the findings, we developed specific techniques to improve information flow in distributed software development according to the FLOW Method. In a second distributed project, we evaluated one of the techniques. We found the FLOW mapping technique to be suitable for effectively spreading knowledge about communication and information flow in global software projects.