A 13C nuclear magnetic resonance study of free fatty acid incorporation in acylated lipids in differentiating predipocytes

To understand the role of free fatty acid (FFA) incorporation in the accumulation of lipids in the adipocyte and ultimately in the development of obesity, ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance was used to study lipid metabolism in differentiating preadipocytes. The incorporation of ¹³C=O-labeled FFA into cellular lipids in primary cultured rat preadipocytes and 3T3L1 preadipocytes at different stages of differentiation was monitored by the ¹³C carbonyl chemical shift. Significant incorporation of palmitic acid into phosphatidylcholine in both the α and β acyl chain positions was found in cells at early stages of differentiation. At later differentiation stages or after extended incubation periods, most of the ¹³C=O signals were found in the triacylglycerol (TG) molecules. Unsaturated ¹³C=O-labeled acyl chains were detected in the TG molecules when cells were incubated with saturated ¹³C=O-labeled FFA, indicating that intracellular dehydrogenation had occurred in the ¹³C=O-labeled palmitoyl chain. By using ¹³C-labeled methyl myrisfate as an internal intensity reference, incorporation of ¹³C FFA into each acyl chain position of the major intracellular lipids was determined quantitatively.     

Urban Social Tapestries

Urban Tapestries is an exploration into the potential costs and benefits of public authoring, that is, mapping and sharing of local knowledge using pervasive user-generated media. The aim of this investigation is to reveal the potential of pervasive computing to create and support relationships that extend beyond established social and cultural boundaries and enable the development of new practices based around place, identity and community. In this paper, we report on the work carried out within UT since its inception in 2002 discussing all relevant aspects from its background, approach and its technical development. We also identify the main findings of this work related to the use of pervasive computing to support pervasive user-generated content and identify some of the main questions that require further investigation.     

Simultaneous process mean and process tolerance determination with asymmetrical loss function

Process design involves process mean and process tolerance determination. Process mean determination is finding the best settings for product quality, without affecting manufacturing cost. However, process tolerance determination is a manufacturing process selection which generally affects manufacturing cost and product quality. In this study, asymmetric quality loss is considered in measuring product quality, and tolerance cost is adopted in representing manufacturing cost. To reflect the combined effect of process mean and process tolerance completely, failure cost is added to the category of manufacturing cost. Then, based on the sum of these three costs, a simultaneous optimization of process mean and process tolerance is determined for process planning in the early stages of development.     

Maintenance of gains following experiential therapies for depression.

Follow-up data across an 18-month period are presented for 43 adults who had been randomly assigned and had responded to short-term client-centered (CC) and emotion-focused (EFT) therapies for major depression. Long-term effects of these short-term therapies were evaluated using relapse rates, number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic weeks, survival times across an 18-month follow-up, and group comparisons on self-report indices at 6- and 18-month follow-up among those clients who responded to the acute treatment phase. EFT treatment showed superior effects across 18 months in terms of less depressive relapse and greater number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic weeks, and the probability of maintaining treatment gains was significantly more likely in the EFT treatment than in the CC treatment. In addition, follow-up self-report results demonstrated significantly greater effects for EFT clients on reduction of depression and improvement of self-esteem, and there were trends in favor of EFT, in comparison with CC, on reduction of general symptom distress and interpersonal problems. Maintenance of treatment gains following an empathic relational treatment appears to be enhanced by the addition of specific experiential and gestalt-derived emotion-focused interventions. Clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Section 94 developer contributions and marginal cost pricing

Abstract Developer contributions for infrastructure are a major feature of the development scene in New South Wales. They are enabled under s. 94 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The second edition of the Section 94 Contributions Plans Revised Manual has now been in operation for three years. Although it incorporates important additional material compared to the first edition, it still does not address the problem of the efficient pricing of infrastructure through properly calculated s. 94 developer contributions. This paper sets out the case for using marginal cost pricing to determine the magnitude of developer contributions. It argues that the efficient pricing of local government service infrastructure should be viewed as part of the larger process of microeconomic reform in local government.     

An approach for product life functionality under component deterioration process

Product designers are always concerned that a newly developed product is properly performing its functionality for its intended life under consumer usage conditions. It is known that the failure rate is increased in the late time of product life cycle as the consequence of deterioration being built up. Namely, continuous changes may take place in the parameter values of product and the product application may be ended before expiration of its intended life. Hence, a design that considers parameter compensation to extend using time becomes an important factor in earlier stages of product design. Other than the parameter values, the tolerance values are an important element affecting the product performance, which are also needed to be decided appropriately. In this paper, an optimization model considers minimizing the total cost, which includes material cost, inspection cost, quality loss, failure cost, and tolerance cost by conducting concurrent optimization of the decision variables, initial setting, process mean, process tolerance, and using time. The design constraints are the restrictions resulting from process capability limits, functionality requirements, and quality necessities. The software GAMS was used to find optimal values for the decision variables of interest. Finally, an example of various components and subassemblies under deterioration process is presented to explain the proposed model and sensitivity analysis on some decision variables is performed. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Dae-Eun Kim Chien-Ping Chung received his B. S., M. S., and Ph. D. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Feng Chia University (Taiwan, ROC). Currently, he is a lecturer at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Systems Management at Feng Chia University, Taiwan. His research interests include Robust Design, Statistical Quality Control, and Design of Experiment. Angus Jeang received his B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Chun Yuan University (Taiwan, ROC) and received his M.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Kansas State University (USA). He was then employed by the Nuclear Division of Siemens Gammasonics, Inc. in Desplaines, Illinois (USA), serving as a manufacturing engineer. After he received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan (USA), he got a teaching position at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Systems Management at Feng Chia University, Taiwan. Then, he acted as head of department for a period of time. Currently, he is a full professor of this department.     

Quantitative analysis of protein phosphorylation in mouse brain by hypothesis-driven multistage mass spectrometry

Determination of site-specific changes in the levels of protein phosphorylation in mammals presents a formidable analytical challenge. Here, we demonstrate a strategy for such analyses utilizing a combination of stable isotope chemical labeling and tandem mass spectrometry. Phosphoproteins of interest are isolated from two sets of animals that have undergone differential drug treatments, separated by SDS-PAGE, excised, and subjected to in-gel enzymatic digestion. Using a simple chemical labeling step, we introduce stable, isotopically distinct mass tags into each of the two sets of peptides that originate from the samples under comparison, mix the samples, and subject the resulting mixture to a procedure based on our previously reported hypothesis-driven multistage MS (HMS-MS) method (Chang, E. J.; Archambault, V.; McLachlin, D. T.; Krutchinsky, A. N.; Chait, B. T. Anal. Chem. 2004, 76, 4472-4483). The method takes advantage of the dominant loss of H3PO4 during MS/MS from singly charged phosphopeptide ions produced by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) in the ion trap mass spectrometer. In the present work, quantitation is achieved by isolating the range of m/z values that include both isotopic forms of the putative phosphopeptide and measuring the relative intensities of the two resulting -98-Da fragment ion peaks. This MS/MS measurement can be repeated on the same MALDI sample for all potential phosphopeptide ion pairs that we hypothesize might be produced from the protein under study. Use of MS/MS for quantitation greatly increases the sensitivity of the method and allows us to measure relatively low levels of phosphorylation, phosphopeptides, or both that are not easily observable by single-stage MS. We apply the current method to the determination of changes in the levels of phosphorylation in DARPP-32 from the mouse striatum upon treatment of animals with psychostimulant drugs.