Bathing premature infants: physiological and behavioral consequences

Phytoestrogen effects on estrogen action and tyrosine kinase activity have been proposed to contribute to cancer prevention. To study these mechanisms, a number of phytoestrogens and related compounds were evaluated for their effects on DNA synthesis (estimated by thymidine incorporation analysis) in estrogen-dependent MCF-7 cells in the presence of estradiol (E2), tamoxifen, insulin, or epidermal growth factor. We observed that 1) at 0.01-10 microM, genistein and coumestrol enhanced E2-induced DNA synthesis, as did 10 microM enterolactone. Chrysin at 1.0-10 microM and 10 microM luteolin or apigenin inhibited E2-induced DNA synthesis, as did all compounds at > 10 microM, 2) tamoxifen enhanced genistein-induced DNA synthesis but inhibited DNA synthesis induced by all other compounds, and 3) genistein enhanced insulin- and epidermal growth factor-induced DNA synthesis at 0.1-1.0 and 0.1-10 microM, respectively. At higher concentrations, inhibition was observed. Similar effects were seen with coumestrol. In conclusion, the effects of phytoestrogens in the presence of E2 or growth factors are concentration dependent and variable. At low concentrations, genistein and coumestrol significantly enhanced E2-induced and tyrosine kinase-mediated DNA synthesis; at high concentrations, inhibition was observed. Differing effects were observed with the other compounds. The variable effects of phytoestrogens on DNA synthesis must be considered when their roles in cancer prevention or treatment are evaluated.     

A note on the estimation of variances in state-space models using the maximum a posteriori procedure

This note examines an estimation procedure for the unknown parameters in a state-space model proposed by Tsang, Glover, and Bach. The method is based on the maximum a posteriori (MAP) principle. Contrary to the claims of Tsang et al. it is shown that the algorithm performs very poorly compared to maximum likelihood. Some insight into the shortcomings of the MAP procedure is obtained by comparing it to the computation of maximum likelihood estimators by the EM algorithm.     

Dyestuffs for synthetic polymer fibres: 4-N-morpholinoazobenzenes

A series of monoazo disperse dyes derived from the coupling to N-phenylmorpholine of diazotised anilines and aminothiazole derivatives is described. The colour, dyeing and fastness properties of the dyes is compared to those of the analogous dyes based on N-ethyl-N-β-hydroxy-ethylaniline. Dyes from the ring closed heterocyclic coupling components dye synthetic-polymer fibres in deep colours of good fastness properties and show significant hypsochromic colour shifts compared to the uncyclised derivatives.     

Encoding mechanical design features for recognition via neural nets

Within mechanical computer-aided design (CAD), pattern-recognition techniques are fundamental to feature recognition. The use of neural net software as the pattern-recognition element depends upon encoding schemes which extract critical information from candidate geometric subsets. The trained memory can then determine if a particular candidate geometric subset corresponds to a feature of interest. Successful experiments with particular encoding schemes over a restricted class of features will be presented. Neural nets were chosen with the long-term view toward a feature-recognition architecture where the end-user could customize the domain of features that can be recognized. The training of the neural net memory would be achieved through a graceful graphics interface. Extensive programming and knowledge bases would be avoided. This envisioned architecture will be presented to provide a context for the encoding schemes.     

Einfluß von Restaustenit auf die Korngröße des Austenits nach der Reaustenitisierung von Stählen für schwere Schmiedestücke

Die Korngröße des Austenits nach der Reaustenitisierung von Stählen für schwere Schmiedestücke wurde in Abhängigkeit von der Art des Ausgangsgefüges, den Wiedererwärmungsbedingungen und den chemischen Zusammensetzungen untersucht. Besonders wurde der Einfluß von Restaustenit im Ausgangsgefüge auf die Korngröße des Austenits nach erneuter Austenitisierung betrachtet. Nach den Ergebnissen bleibt das Austenitkorn bei der Reaustenitisierung von Gefügen der Martensitstufe und der unteren Bainitstufe grob, wenn bei der Wiedererwärmung werkstoffabhängige Grenzerwärmungsgeschwindigkeiten unterschritten werden. Maßgeblich für eine mit zunehmender Erwärmungsgeschwindigkeit – in Abhängigkeit auch von den örtlichen chemischen Zusammensetzungen – mögliche Austenitkornverfeinerung ist das zeitabhängige Wachsen von Restaustenitfilmen zwischen den Kristalliten des Ausgangsgefüges in Konkurrenz zu den Anlaufzeiten für Keimbildung und -wachstum an den Grenzflächen Carbid/Ferrit. Ist wenig oder kein Restaustenit vorhanden, wie in einigen Gefügen der Bainit- bzw. der Perlitstufe, so entsteht der Austenit unabhängig von den Wiedererwärmungsbedingungen durch Neubildung und Wachsen von Austenitkeimen an den Grenzflächen Ferrit/Carbid. Unter den gegebenen Versuchsbedingungen entstand dabei immer ein feines Austenitkorn.