Effect of thyrotropin-releasing hormone on Na(+)-K(+)-Adenosine triphosphatase activity following experimental spinal cord trauma

The mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus (Vme) neurons are primary sensory neurons transmitting orofacial proprioceptive sensation. The neurons innervating the periodontal ligaments and the masticatory muscles are intermingled with each other in the caudal part of the Vme. After fluorescent tracers, propridium iodide and bisbenzimide were applied to the inferior alveolar nerve and the masseter nerve on the same side of the rat, and a doubled-labeled neurons were observed in ipilateral Vme, mainly in the caudal part, and a few in the middle, rostral part. This reflects simultaneous innervation of both the periodontal ligaments and the masseter spindles by collaterals of peripheral process of single Vme neurons.     

Microbial quality, and effect of cooking on survival of Salmonella, in Kokariç

A special preparation from the small intestine of lamb, called kokariç, is widely consumed in Turkey. In this study, Salmonella was not isolated from raw kokariç. Conventional ways of cooking, except precooking, destroyed Salmonella in artificially contaminated kokariç. The microbial quality of cooked kokariç bought from street sellers was not safe for public health consumption because of environmental contamination.     

Fuzzy clustering complex-valued neural network to diagnose cirrhosis disease

In this study, fuzzy clustering complex-valued neural network (FCCVNN) was proposed to classify portal vein Doppler signals recorded from 54 patients with cirrhosis and 36 healthy subjects. This proposed neural network is a new model for biomedical pattern classification. The FCCVNN was composed of three phases: fuzzy clustering, calculation of FFT values and complex-valued neural network (CVNN). In first phase, fuzzy clustering was done to reduce the number of segments in training pattern. After that, FFT values of Doppler signals were calculated for pre-processing and then obtained values, which include real and imaginary components, were used as the inputs of the CVNN for classification of Doppler signals. Classification results of FCCVNN were evaluated by the different performance evaluation criterion in literature. It shows that Doppler signals were classified successfully with 100% correct classification rate using the proposed method. Moreover, the rates of sensitivity and specificity were calculated as 100% using FCCVNN method. These results were seen to be appropriate with the expected results that are derived from physician’s direct diagnosis. This method would be assisted the physician to make the final decision.     

Variations in a construct: Quantitative and qualitative differences in children's locus of control.

Examined differences in locus of control scores and factor patterns among normal and nonnormal groups and male and female normals using the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Multidimensionality of the locus of control construct in children was supported by separate factor analyses of emotionally disturbed, delinquent, and elementary public school children. Qualitative differences in factor patterns between normals and nonnormals raised questions about interpreting inventory scores as reflecting the same construct for differing S groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adsorption of phenol by MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB: Equilibrium,kinetic, and thermodynamic study

In this study, the phenol adsorption capacity of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide modified clays (MMT-CTAB) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide modified pulp tea (WPT-CTAB) were studied. In batch adsorption experiments performed with MMT-CTAB, the effects of parameters such contact time, phenol concentration, pH of solution and adsorbent dosage were investigated. The effect of temperature on phenol adsorption onto MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB was examined; equilibrium and thermodynamic studies were completed. The highest phenol removal was found at pH 4.0 for MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB. To analyze the kinetics of phenol adsorption onto MMT-CTAB, the pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetic models were applied. The kinetic data fitted better to the pseudo second-order model than the pseudo first-order kinetic model for MMT-CTAB. The characterization of adsorbents in phenol adsorption was clarified with the FTIR technique. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔH°, ΔS° and ΔG° were calculated for each adsorption process. The adsorption process was found to be exothermic and spontaneous for phenol adsorption by MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB. The results were analyzed with the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Harkins–Jura equations using linearized correlation coefficients at different temperatures. The Langmuir equation was found to best represent the equilibrium data for phenol adsorption onto MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB.     

3D‐Printed Microrobotic Transporters with Recapitulated Stem Cell Niche for Programmable and Active Cell Delivery

Poor retention rate, low targeting accuracy, and spontaneous transformation of stem cells present major clinical barriers to the success of therapies based on stem cell transplantation. To improve the clinical outcome, efforts should focus on the active delivery of stem cells to the target tissue site within a controlled environment, increasing survival, and fate for effective tissue regeneration. Here, a remotely steerable microrobotic cell transporter is presented with a biophysically and biochemically recapitulated stem cell niche for directing stem cells towards a pre‐destined cell lineage. The magnetically actuated double‐helical cell microtransporters of 76 µm length and 20 µm inner cavity diameter are 3D printed where biological and mechanical information regarding the stem cell niche are encoded at the single‐cell level. Cell‐loaded microtransporters are mobilized inside confined microchannels along computer‐controlled trajectories under rotating magnetic fields. The mesenchymal stem cells are shown retaining their differentiation capacities to commit to the osteogenic lineage when stimulated inside the microswimmers in vitro. Such a microrobotic approach has the potential to enable the development of active microcarriers with embedded functionalities for controlled and precisely localized therapeutic cell delivery.     

Kinetic study of the thermal decomposition of (2‐phenyl‐1,3‐dioxolane‐4‐yl) methyl methacrylate and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate copolymers

The kinetics of nonisothermal decomposition of (2‐phenyl‐1,3‐dioxolane‐4‐yl) methyl methacrylate (PDMMA), 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and vinyl‐pyrrolidone (VPy) copolymers were investigated by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The data indicated that the major weight loss occurs in the range of 270 to 450°C. The decomposition characteristics showed essentially two regimes and varied depending on the temperature and the copolymer composition. The apparent kinetic parameters of the decompositions were estimated from both TG and DTA data by using the alternative calculation methods. The results suggest that the weight loss rates may be represented, depending on the type of sample, by a reaction model of overall order 1.0 to 1.6, with an activation energy of approximately 65–95 kJ mol^?1. The DTA data estimated considerably higher values for the overall activation energies, around 198–240 kJ mol^?1. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 1500–1508, 2005     

Synthesis of oil based hyperbranched resins and their modification with melamine-formaldehyde resin

In this research hyperbranched resins containing fatty acid residues were synthesized. Dipentaerythritol which has six hydroxyl groups was used as the core molecule, and it was transesterified with (i) castor oil, and (ii) a mixture of castor oil and linseed oil at 240 °C. The resulting molecule had hydroxyl containing ricinoleic acid residue coming from castor oil. It was then esterified with dimethylol propionic acid at 140 °C in the presence of para-toluene sulfonic acid used as catalyst. The hyperbranched resin thus produced was then mixed with melamine-formaldehyde resin to improve its properties. The resins were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, and the thermal properties were determined by DSC. The resins were thermally stable up to 316 °C. The viscosity of the resin that was synthesized by using only castor oil was 3.0 Pa s, while the one synthesized by using 50% linseed oil had a viscosity of 1.0 Pa s. When reacted with dimethylol propionic acid the viscosity of the former resin increased to 7.0 Pa s, and that of the second to 3.7 Pa s. The hyperbranched resins showed excellent adhesion, gloss, flexibility, and formability. The mixed resin (i.e. hyperbranched and melamine-formaldehyde) had higher hardness values but lower gloss, adhesion, and bending resistance. Both types of resins also had good impact and abrasion resistances.     

Finite element based hybrid evolutionary optimization approach to solving rigid pavement inversion problem

This paper focuses on the development of a new backcalculation method for concrete road structures based on a hybrid evolutionary global optimization algorithm, namely shuffled complex evolution (SCE). Evolutionary optimization algorithms are ideally suited for intrinsically multi-modal, non-convex, and discontinuous real-world problems such as pavement backcalculation because of their ability to explore very large and complex search spaces and locate the globally optimal solution using a parallel search mechanism as opposed to a point-by-point search mechanism employed by traditional optimization algorithms. SCE, a type of evolutionary optimization algorithms based on the tradeoff of exploration and exploitation, has proved to be an efficient method for many global optimization problems and in some cases it does not suffer the difficulties encountered by other evolutionary computation techniques. The SCE optimization approach is hybridized with a neural networks surrogate finite-element based forward pavement response model to enable rapid computation of global or near-global pavement layer moduli solutions. The proposed rigid pavement backcalculation model is evaluated using field non-destructive test data acquired from a full-scale airport pavement test facility.