Ultrastructure of nerve plexus in flatworms. III. The infra-epithelial nervous system

In addition to a submuscular and subepithelial nerve plexus an infra-epithelial nerve-net also occurs in Notoplana acticola. It contains naked nerve cells which lie between the bases of epithelial cells. Individual neurites occur separately or in small tracts. Synapses contain clear spherical vesicles and are polarized. Post-synaptic neurites tend to be flat and ribbon-like. Rhabdite and mucus secreting cells in the epithelium have synapses associated with them. Neurites ending on the rhabdites appear to originate in the subepithelial plexus. The "sensory-free nerve endings" of earlier workers are reinterpreted as being motor terminals on epithelial secretory cells.     

SMARTINT: using mined attribute dependencies to integrate fragmented web databases

Many web databases can be seen as providing partial and overlapping information about entities in the world. To answer queries effectively, we need to integrate the information about the individual entities that are fragmented over multiple sources. At first blush this is just the inverse of traditional database normalization problem—rather than go from a universal relation to normalized tables, we want to reconstruct the universal relation given the tables (sources). The standard way of reconstructing the entities will involve joining the tables. Unfortunately, because of the autonomous and decentralized way in which the sources are populated, they often do not have Primary Key–Foreign Key relations. While tables may share attributes, naive joins over these shared attributes can result in reconstruction of many spurious entities thus seriously compromising precision. Our system, SmartInt is aimed at addressing the problem of data integration in such scenarios. Given a query, our system uses the Approximate Functional Dependencies (AFDs) to piece together a tree of relevant tables to answer it. The result tuples produced by our system are able to strike a favorable balance between precision and recall.     

Preparation and characterization of polyvinylidene fluoride hollow fiber membranes for ultrafiltration

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membranes were prepared using the solvent spinning method. N,N-dimethylacetamide was the solvent and ethylene glycol was employed as non-solvent additive. The effect of the concentration of ethylene glycol in the PVDF spinning solution as well as the effect of ethanol either in the internal or the external coagulant on the morphology of the hollow fibers was investigated. The prepared membranes were characterized in terms of the liquid entry pressure of water measurements, the gas permeation tests, the scanning electron microscopy, the atomic force microscopy, and the solute transport experiments. Ultrafiltration experiments were conducted using polyethylene glycol and polyethylene oxides of different molecular weights cut-off as solutes. A comparative analysis was made between the membrane characteristic parameters obtained from the different characterization techniques.     

Postnatal survival and growth of mouse irradiated in utero with low dose

In order to investigate radiation risks associated with low dose and low dose-rates, pregnant Swiss albino mice were exposed to gamma rays, 0.80 Gy from a cobalt-60 source at two different dose-rates (0.0795 and 0.0012 Gy/min) on 18 day post conception. In females exposed to lower dose-rate (0.0012 Gy/min), litter size was found to be decreased, while those exposed to higher dose-rate (0.0795 Gy/min), it remained unaltered. In both groups, appearance of fur and development of complete fur were delayed, whereas gait was delayed only in higher dose-rate group. Male offspring exhibited a biphasic mode of weight loss, while female offspring after an initial weight loss at 1 week, displayed a continuous recovery, but could not attain the normal weight till 12 weeks of age. It appears that higher dose-rate is more effective in delaying the appearance of physiological markers and weight loss, while in terms of litter size lower dose-rate (0.0012 Gy/min) is more effective.     

Nitric oxide-producing neurons remain intact after small bowel transplantation

This study documents the fate of nitric oxide neurons following small bowel transplantation. Heterotopic, syngeneic small bowel transplants were performed in five male Lewis rats. The grafts were harvested 7, 36, 55, 60, and 65 days postoperatively, together with the native bowel for comparison. NADPH diaphorase staining of cryostat sections was used to identify the nitric oxide-producing neurons. NADPH diaphorase activity was concentrated in the myenteric plexus, deep muscular, and submucous plexus. No differences were detected between the transplanted and native bowel at any time after transplantation. This suggests that nitric-oxide-producing neurons are well preserved after transplantation and that posttransplant dysmotility is probably not related to interrupted nitric oxide innervation.     

Lichtenstein herniotomy

All standard methods of hernia repair involve suturing together tissues which are not normally in apposition. This violates the basic surgical principle that tissue must never be approximated under tension and accounts for an unacceptable number of failures. Total reinforcement of the inguinal floor with a sheet of suitable biomaterial and employment of a "tension-free" technique is a more effective approach. Since June 1984, 3250 primary inguinal hernias have been repaired at the Lichtenstein Hernia Institute by the open tension-free technique using Marlex mesh. All operations were performed under local anesthesia. Patients were discharged from the hospital within two or four hours after the operation. The patients were followed from one to 8 years by physician examination. The follow-up rate was 87%. There were four recurrences. The causes of recurrence and how to avoid them are discussed.     

Effect of polymerization temperature and time on the residual monomer content of denture base polymers

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of polymerization time and polymerization temperature on the residual methyl methacrylate (MMA) content of two heat-cured and two autopolymerized denture base polymers. Gas chromatography was used to determine the residual MMA content of three test specimens of each type of polymer. Increasing the polymerization temperature for the autopolymerized denture base resins from 30 degrees C to 60 degrees C decreased the residual MMA content of the polymer from an average of 4.6 wt% to 3.3 wt%. With the heat-cured denture base resins, a curing cycle at a polymerization temperature of 70 degrees C followed by a period at 100 degrees C significantly reduced the residual monomer content of the polymer when compared with a resin cured at 70 degrees C only. Polymerizing the heat-cured denture base resin at 100 degrees C only for various lengths of time significantly affected the residual MMA content of the polymer. The lowest residual MMA content (0.07 wt%) was obtained by polymerizing the heat-cured denture base resin at 100 degrees C for 12 h. The results of this study suggest that the polymerization temperature and polymerization time considerably affect the residual MMA content of denture base polymers.     

Harnessing the sun for an evergreen revolution: a study of solar-powered irrigation in Bihar,India

In 2012, the government of Bihar revived 34 non-functioning public tubewells using solar panels. The performance of 16 of these wells over 12 months was tracked and analyzed using data from tubewell operators and 240 farmers. Access to affordable irrigation from solar pumps led to a 9–10% increase in productivity of rice and wheat. Furthermore, in a severe drought, farmers could grow paddy in the entire area irrigated by solar pumps, when nearly 40% of other land was left fallow. Solar pumps can help increase crop productivity, reduce the cost of irrigation, and make agriculture more resilient to climate change.