Energy expenditure in workers who install plastic and metal pipes for water supplies and sewage

Since 1985, many drug abuse treatment centers and health care providers have implemented special education programs for individuals who inject drugs. They focus primarily on increasing awareness of the threat of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) being spread through drug injection equipment and by sexual activities. As part of the Drug Abuse Treatment for AIDS-Risk Reduction (DATAR) project, the AIDS/HIV Risk Reduction Module was designed to meet these special intervention needs. This study examined program impact on 110 methadone treatment clients. Results indicated that for those in treatment less than 4 months, the AIDS intervention program enhanced specialized knowledge about AIDS, aided in the reduction of AIDS-risky behaviors, and enhanced attitudes toward achieving and maintaining abstinence from drug use. Thus, AIDS education and intervention programs appear to be effective and should be emphasized in the early phase of drug abuse treatment.     

A new inrush detection method for transformer differential protection

Contents The long-used restraining principle, based on the detection of 2nd harmonics in the currents, can not always satisfactorily meet the demand of blocking the transformer differential protection for all three phases, because the line currents are not the direct image of the core saturation. The differential protection may become inadequate. A transformer can however be switched on for all cases, without the false or fail-safe tripping, when the harmonic restraint is derived from the magnetic field strength of the core.If a delta-connected winding is present, the magnetic field strengths can not be easily recognized in the line currents, because their zero-sequence component is distorted. A new method is presented, which can estimate the fundamental and the 2nd harmonic of this zero-sequence component. The components of the magnetic field strength can therefore be determined in currents only, whose ratio is known to be characteristic for the core saturation.The proposed method was implemented on an industrial protection system based on a microprocessor and was tested on data obtained from computer-simulation and a model transformer in a laboratory. It turned out that the proposed method performed well on all cases.

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Eine neue Methode der Einschalterkennung für den Transformator-Differentialschutz

Übersicht Die üblicherweise benützte Blockierung beim Einschalten eines Transformators beruht auf der Bewertung der zweiten Harmonischen in den Strömen. Dieses Prinzip kann nicht immer den Transformatorvergleichsschutz in allen drei Phasen blockieren. Dagegen kann ein Transformator in allen Fällen ohne Fehlauslösung eingeschaltet werden, wenn die Blockierung aus der Harmonischen der magnetischen Feldstärke des Kerns abgeleitet wird.Eine neue Methode wird vorgestellt, wie die Homopolarkomponente der Grundschwingung und der zweiten Harmonischen näherungsweise berechnet werden kann. Die benötigten Anteile der Feldstärken können damit aus den Differenzströmen ermittelt werden.Das vorgeschlagene Verfahren wurde auf einer industriell gefertigten Schutzkarte implementiert. Die Überprüfung des Verfahrens erfolgte mit Berechnungsverfahren und durch Messungen im Labor.

     

Development of rapid tolerance to pentobarbital and cross-tolerance to ethanol on a motor performance test with intoxicated practice

Male Wistar rats given a single moderate dose (1.7 mg/kg, IP) of pentobarbital (PB), followed by six trials on the moving belt apparatus during the next hour, showed tolerance to the motor-impairing effects of a second dose of 17 mg/kg given 24 h later. A control group that received saline before the first test showed the usual initial sensitivity when tested with PB 24 h later. Three weeks later, the first group showed cross-tolerance to the effects of ethanol (1.7 g/kg, IP) on the same test, while the second group did not. These findings support the suggestion that rapid tolerance is closely similar to chronic tolerance and that the contribution of intoxicated practice results in a long-lasting component that applies to cross-tolerance to ethanol on the same test.     

Relatively immediate relaxant effects of cholera toxin on isolated rabbit blood vessels

A study was made on the relatively immediate relaxant effect of cholera toxin (CTX) on the isolated ear artery, thoracic aorta and saphenous vein of the rabbit. Both preparations of CTX, containing sodium azide (NaN3) and azide-free, showed no effect on the non-precontracted artery, but CTX containing NaN3 relaxed the moderately precontracted blood vessels with methoxamine promptly, i.e., with a time course of min order. However, the immediate relaxation produced by CTX containing NaN3 was attributed mainly to NaN3. Azide-free CTX, on the other hand, at 1-10 micrograms/ml gradually produced concentration-dependent relaxation of the precontracted vessels. The relaxant effects of CTX on the vessels were slow and long-lasting, i.e., with a time course of 10 min order. The relaxation induced by CTX was not influenced by the removal of endothelium nor by pretreatment with 10 microM indomethacin, 3 microM atropine or 3 microM propranolol. Activation of protein kinase C by a phorbol ester inhibited the relaxant effect of CTX. These results indicate that CTX relaxes the blood vessels by directly acting on the smooth muscles, without mediation by known endogenous relaxing factor, such as endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF = NO) or prostaglandin I2 (prostacyclin) and by muscarinic receptor or beta-adrenoceptor.     

Fine structure of transverse tubules and the sarcoplasmic reticulum at the myotendinous junction of stretched muscle fibers of the rat

The transverse (T) tubules and the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) at the myotendinous junction of stretched rat skeletal muscle were examined by conventional and intermediate voltage electron microscopy. Stretching induced a large cytoplasmic space devoid of myofibrils at the ends of lengthening fibers. In this space, irregularly running tubular elements were seen. They were connected both with subsarcolemmal caveolae and with T tubules traversing to the A-I junctional level of the preexisting myofibrils. The SR was arranged at regular intervals which were narrower than those of the adult sarcomere. This orderly spacing of the SR seems to indicate that they may play some role(s) in myofibril assembly and/or T tubule arrangement.     

An antigenic polysaccharide from Campylobacter coli serotype O:30. Structure of a teichoic acid-like antigenic polysaccharide associated with the lipopolysaccharide

A water-soluble antigenic polysaccharide of high M(r) associated with the lipopolysaccharide has been isolated from phenol-water extraction of cells of Campylobacter coli serotype O:30. The polysaccharide and oligosaccharide degradation products formed on O-dephosphorylation and by periodate oxidation followed by reduction have been investigated by one- and two-dimensional 1H, 13C, and 31P NMR. It is concluded that the antigenic polysaccharide has a teichoic acid-like structure with a poly-Ribitol phosphate, [5-Ribitol-1-P]n, backbone with side chains at O-2 of O-(6-deoxy-beta-D-talo-heptopyranosyl)-(1-->4)-(2-acetylamino-2-deoxy-beta-D- glucopyranosyl) units. The structure is unusual in Gram-negative bacteria and is unique in possessing 6-deoxy-D-talo-heptose as a constituent sugar. Evidence for the relationship of the antigenic polysaccharide to the lipopolysaccharide of low M(r) is discussed.     

Analysis of secretion and expression of platelet-derived growth factor in cultured endothelial cells from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat

1. We characterized the endothelial cell-derived growth factors of SHRSP and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY), respectively and found that platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B chain related growth factor constituted a major portion of the mitogenic activity of the conditioned media of endothelial cells from both animals. There were no remarkable qualitative differences between the endothelial cell-derived growth factors of SHRSP and WKY. 2. Northern analysis revealed that the expression of PDGF-B chain was 2-4-fold enhanced in cultured aortic endothelial cells of SHRSP. This enhanced expression of PDGF-B chain, which may be induced under chronic hypertensive conditions, is suggested to contribute to the increase in endothelial cell-derived growth factors reported in this animal.