Oleuropein Inhibits LDL Oxidation Induced by Cooking Oil Frying By-products and Platelet Aggregation Induced by Platelet-Activating Factor

Oleuropein, a polyphenolic glucoside, constituent of olive fruit and oil, has been previously shown to exhibit, in vitro, potent properties as a biological antioxidant. In the present paper, two new properties are demonstrated in vitro as well, concerning its vascular protection activity, against the atheromatic lesion formation and its blood antithrombotic effect. Firstly, it was found that the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), induced by different quantities of total polar materials (TPM), was inhibited by 10 μ M (final concentration) of oleuropein, revealing approx. 50% protection. Secondly, platelet-rich human plasma aggregation, induced by either the platelet-activating factor or adenosine diphospate or arachidonic acid, was inhibited by oleuropein. The 10 μ M (final concentration) of oleuropein was proven to be the most effective among the tested concentrations against LDL oxidation, while an IC₅₀=0.41 mM was calculated for its inhibitory activity against platelet aggregation induced by 0.7 μ M platelet-activating factor.     

Diurnal and spatial variation of xylem dielectric constant in Norway Spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) as related to microclimate, xylem sap flow, and xylem chemistry

Spatial and temporal variations in vegetation dielectric properties strongly influence the microwave backscatter characteristics of forested landscapes. This paper examines the relationship between xylem tissue dielectric constant, xylem sap flux density, and xylem sap chemical composition as measured in the stems of two Norway Spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) trees in the Fichtelgebirge region of Northern Bavaria, Germany. Dielectric constant and xylem sap flux were monitored continuously from June through October 1995, at several heights along the tree trunks. At the end of the measurement series, each tree was harvested, and its xylem sap extracted and analyzed to determine the concentrations of amino acids and cations. Results show that the sap flux density was correlated with vapor pressure deficit (VPD) at all heights in the stem. In contrast, the xylem tissue dielectric constant is influenced by VPD but can exhibit a significant temporal lag relative to changes in VPD. This lag varies with position along the tree trunk. The temporal variability of the dielectric constant is compared with both trees at several positions along the tree trunks. Results of xylem sap chemical analysis are presented. We show that spatial and temporal variability in the xylem tissue dielectric constant is influenced not only by water content, but by variations in xylem sap chemistry as well. This has important implications for microwave remote sensing of forested landscapes, as useful information may be acquired regarding stand physiology and water relations and where variations in dielectric properties within individual trees and across geographic areas can be significant error sources for forest inventory mapping.     

D-AKAP2, a novel protein kinase A anchoring protein with a putative RGS domain

Subcellular localization directed by specific A kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) is a mechanism for compartmentalization of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA). Using a two-hybrid screen, a novel AKAP was isolated. Because it interacts with both the type I and type II regulatory subunits, it was defined as a dual specific AKAP or D-AKAP1. Here we report the cloning and characterization of another novel cDNA isolated from that screen. This new member of the D-AKAP family, D-AKAP2, also binds both types of regulatory subunits. A message of 5 kb pairs was detected for D-AKAP2 in all embryonic stages and in all adult tissues tested. In brain, skeletal muscle, kidney, and testis, a 10-kb mRNA was identified. In testis, several small mRNAs were observed. Therefore, D-AKAP2 represents a novel family of proteins. cDNA cloning from a mouse testis library identified the full length D-AKAP2. It is composed of 372 amino acids which includes the R binding fragment, residues 333-372, at its C-terminus. Based on coprecipitation assays, the R binding domain interacts with the N-terminal dimerization domain of RIalpha and RIIalpha. A putative RGS domain was identified near the N-terminal region of D-AKAP2. The presence of this domain raises the intriguing possibility that D-AKAP2 may interact with a Galpha protein thus providing a link between the signaling machinery at the plasma membrane and the downstream kinase.     

Ideal amplifier spacing for reduction of Gordon-Haus jitter indispersion-managed soliton communications

Based on a variational analysis, the authors demonstrate that the noise-induced Gordon-Haus timing jitter in a dispersion-managed soliton transmission system can be substantially reduced by appropriate placement of the amplifiers     

Elevated temperature performance of pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAsMODFETs

Parametric DC measurements on pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs modulation-doped field-effect transistors (MODFETs) were carried out over the 300-405 K temperature range. A gradual channel device model was developed to simulate the temperature dependent behavior and assist in the interpretation of the characteristics. The simulations are shown to provide good predictive ability and confirm the physical reasons why the zero temperature coefficient point of a MODFET occurs only for gate bias voltages below the threshold voltage     

Endometrioid carcinoma arising from endometriosis of the sigmoid colon during estrogenic treatment

A case of endometrioid carcinoma arising from endometriosis of the sigmoid colon is reported. The patient had been treated with unopposed continuous estrogen injection for twenty years after bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy because of severe endometriosis. The pathology, pertinent literature and implications of the present case are discussed.     

Impact of crosstalk in an arrayed-waveguide multiplexer onN×N optical interconnection

The impact of crosstalk in an arrayed-waveguide N×N wavelength multiplexer is investigated precisely in relation to its application to wavelength-routing N×N all optical networks. In such systems multiple crosstalk light which has the same wavelength as the signal results in signal-crosstalk beat noise. We confirm that the noise is Gaussian and obtain the relation between crosstalk and power penalty. It is shown that the crosstalk must be less than -38 dB for a 16×16 system to keep the power penalty below 1 dB at a bit error rate of 10^-9     

Multispectral data compression using bidirectional interbandprediction

The introduction of high spatial and spectral resolution sensors on-board remote-sensing spacecraft has increased, by orders of magnitude, the data rates which need to be sustained on the down-link or cross-link transmission channels. Since these channels are severely limited in capacity, the need arises to perform on-board compression to reduce the volume of data which would need to be down-linked. This paper discusses the development and refinement of a low complexity lossy spectral/spatial compression method which provides high compression ratios at low levels of distortion. The developed techniques uses pixels in adjacent bands to predict the intensity of pixels in the band being compressed via a simple linear prediction model. This prediction method when combined with a low-distortion discrete cosine transform (DCT) block coding method yields performance comparable to block-adaptive Karhunen-Loeve Transform (KLT)-DCT methods without incurring the complexity penalty of the KLT. The methods' performance suffers under misregistration. A fractional-pixel interpolation enhancement to the basic technique significantly improves the performance in the case of misregistered bands     

Position-sensitive superheated-liquid-droplet neutron dosimeter

The one-dimensional (1D) position-sensitive superheated-liquid-droplet dosimeter (SLDD) has been fabricated and tested in the laboratory. The 1D SLDD is fabricated from a 9.525-mm OD, 6.35-mm ID, 20-cm long, Plexiglas-walled tube filled with a mixture of superheated-liquid Freon droplets and host medium glycerol. Washer-shaped piezoelectric acoustic transducers are positioned at both ends of the tube; they determine the number and positions of the acoustic events when the superheated-liquid droplets evaporate upon neutron irradiation. The SLDD is irradiated with the ¹³⁷Cs and ⁶⁰Co γ-sources, as well as ²⁵²Cf neutron source to test for its radiation response and spatial resolution. The SLDD based on the Freon-134a superheated-liquid droplets operating at 20°C and 1 atm is found to be ideal for measuring absorbed neutron dose. This study also proves that the positions of the radiation-induced nucleation acoustic events can be linearly determined from the differences in the transmission times received by the acoustic transducers on the 1D SLDD. The spatial resolution of the neutron depth-dose is 1 mm due the finite response time (1 μs) of the piezoelectric acoustic transducers.