Contribution of beta-lactamase production to the resistance of mycobacteria to beta-lactam antibiotics

Changes in motor function were assessed in male rats after injecting graded doses (100, 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg, IP) of ammonium chloride and ammonium acetate. The effects were correlated with the concentrations of ammonia and glucose in the brain and blood. Spontaneous motor activity and motor coordination were inhibited after injecting 100 and 200 mg/kg, whereas with 400 and 800 mg/kg the animals exhibited convulsive movements. A dose-dependent increase was found in the concentrations of ammonia and glucose in both blood and brain. These were restored, 25 min after treatment, to control levels in the blood and not in the brain. A correlation was found between the time courses of inhibitory motor events and a rise in brain ammonia levels. Convulsant action of ammonium salts was accompanied by a marked elevation of ammonia and glucose concentration in the brain. The findings suggest that detoxication of diffused ammonia is a rate-limiting process in the brain and that ammonia, at toxic concentrations, decreases glucose utilization in the brain, resulting in an inhibition of motor function. A very high concentration of ammonia in the brain, although inhibiting glucose utilization, produces clonic convulsions probably by activating directly the motor neurons.     

Planning the GMAW process by constraint propagation

Although the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process is widely used for joining metals, its planning is still a cumbersome task. The planning procedure involves many complex interrelationships among the process variables and depends heavily on empirical knowledge. Therefore, a solution method that allows a convenient way to represent the domain knowledge and evaluate the process variable relationships is needed. Further, the lack of a strong domain theory to quantify these interrelationships is a deficiency in the planning of the GMAW process. This paper presents a solution method that overcomes this deficiency and introduces a convenient knowledge representation scheme. The solution method considers the planning procedure to be a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP). The AC-4 algorithm is used to obtain arc consistency among nodes in the constraint network and the PC-4 algorithm is applied to obtain path consistency in the network. A modified version of the AC-4 algorithm is developed to reduce the search space and correspondingly reduce the computation time. An example is presented to demonstrate the capability of the method and its potential to reduce lead time.     

Grain boundary migration during heating of an ensemble of small molybdenum particles

Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 6(354), pp. 83–89, June, 1992.     

Calculation and design of vibrational mills

Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftyanoe Mashinostroenie, No. 1, pp. 14–15, January, 1992.     

Selection of Protector Parameters for Right Bidirectional Transducers

The paper compares experimental and calculated pulse shapes and spectra of signals for bidirectional right transducers with radically different protectors, namely, those from epoxy glue with a filler and ceramic. The new data support the previously made conclusion (from calculated parameters of emitted pulses) that in protectors from composite materials (with low propagation velocities of longitudinal elastic waves) signal spectra can have several pronounced peaks, and their waveforms can exhibit beats (oscillating amplitude modulation).     

Free spanning ductile vierendeel frame: A system for high-rise buildings in seismic areas

The paper has described the composition and structural behavior of a free spanning ductile frame system to be used in seismic areas. The inelastic performance, ductility, and redundancy of the system is compared with a conventional ductile moment resisting frame. It is shown that the structural performance of the system is equal or better than the conventional system. The paper also describes successful application of the system to commercial high-rise buildings.     

Determination of the residual life of welded metal structures

Translated from Fiziko-Khimicheskaya Mekhanika Materialov, No. 3, pp. 111–112, May–June, 1992.     

Change in the structure and mechanical properties of complex glass fibres during dyring

Stekloplastik—Sertifikat Corporation Moscow. Translated from Khimicheskie Volokna, No. 2, pp. 58–59, March–April, 1994.     

Tuning a three-loop steam temperature regulation system using the method of evolutionary simulation

We present the results from tuning a PI controller and two differentiators for a three-loop steam temperature regulation system with two leading speed signals. The calculation was carried out with a numerical method using a simulation model and with the application of the authors’ version of the evolutionary optimization algorithm.