A prospective study of the early postsurgical psychiatric associations of epilepsy surgery

OBJECTIVES: To examine prospectively the frequency and nature of psychiatric symptoms seen in patients during the first three months after temporal lobe surgery for chronic intractable epilepsy and in addition to study the relation between presurgical mental state, laterality of surgery, and postsurgical seizure and psychiatric course. METHOD: A consecutive series of 60 patients being assessed for temporal lobe surgery for intractable epilepsy were studied. They were interviewed before surgery and at six weeks and again at three months after operation. RESULTS: At six weeks after surgery half of those with no psychopathology preoperatively had developed symptoms of anxiety or depression and 45% of all patients were noted to have increased emotional lability. By three months after surgery emotional lability and anxiety symptoms had diminished whereas depressive states tended to persist. Patients with a left hemispheric focus were more likely to experience persisting anxiety. CONCLUSION: The early months after surgery for epilepsy are characterised by the relatively common presence of psychiatric symptoms. It is proposed that presurgical and early postsurgical neuropsychiatric involvement in programmes of surgery for epilepsy will help to improve the quality of the treatment package offered to patients.     

Primary socialization theory: culture, ethnicity, and cultural identification. The links between culture and substance use. IV

Ethnicity, perceived membership in a cultural group, and cultural identification, the strength of one's affiliation with a group, develop primarily through interactions with the primary socialization sources, the family, the school, and peer clusters. Cultural norms for substance use are also transmitted as part of these interactions. Substance use differs across cultures; in different cultures some forms of substance use are culturally required, others are tolerated, and others are sanctioned. Ethnicity and cultural identification, therefore, should relate to substance use. However, primary socialization theory indicates that simple relationships are not likely to be found for a number of reasons: 1) All members of an ethnic group do not have the same level of cultural identification and may not, therefore, have the same conformance to substance use norms. 2) Primary socialization,sources are embedded in subcultures, and subcultures have norms that may differ from those of the larger ethnic group. 3) The individual may experience and report differing levels of cultural identification and different substance use norms in different social contexts. 4) For an individual, ethnicity and cultural identification may derive from different primary socialization sources than drug use norms.     

Fatty acid composition of backfat in large white pigs selected for low backfat thickness

Samples of midback fat were taken from 157 Large White boars and analysed for fatty acid composition and melting point of lipid. Seventy-seven boars were from a line showing fast efficient growth and low backfat depth (selection line) and 80 from a random-mated control line. All were performance-tested from 27 to 87 kg liveweight on ad libitum feeding.

Selection line pigs required 6 % less feed per kilogramme liveweight gain and had thinner backfat at each point of measurement (16–27 %) than the controls but there was no line difference in daily liveweight gain. Selection line pigs had ‘eye muscles’ which were slightly paler and had a greater drip loss than the controls.

The fatty acid composition and melting point of the lipid extracted from backfat was similar between the lines except that the concentration of linoleic acid (C18:2) in both inner and outer layers was some 14% higher in the selection line. There were significant negative correlations between the concentration of C18:2 and the various backfat measurements. Positive correlations were found between some backfat measurements and the concentration of stearic acid (C18:0), particularly in the selection line.

Variation in melting point in both layers was more strongly related to variation in the concentration of C18:0 than to that of any other fatty acid.     

Solution structure of the C-terminal SH2 domain of the human tyrosine kinase Syk complexed with a phosphotyrosine pentapeptide

BACKGROUND: Recruitment of the intracellular tyrosine kinase Syk to activated immune-response receptors is a critical early step in intracellular signaling. In mast cells, Syk specifically associates with doubly phosphorylated immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs) that are found within the IgE receptor. The mechanism by which Syk recognizes these motifs is not fully understood. Both Syk SH2 (Src homology 2) domains are required for high-affinity binding to these motifs, but the C-terminal SH2 domain (Syk-C) can function independently and can bind, in isolation, to the tyrosine-phosphorylated IgE receptor in vitro. In order to improve understanding of the cellular function of Syk, we have determined the solution structure of Syk-C complexed with a phosphotyrosine peptide derived from the gamma subunit of the IgE receptor. RESULTS: The Syk-C:peptide structure is compared with liganded structures of both the SH2 domain of Src and the C-terminal SH2 domain of ZAP-70 (the 70 kDa zeta-associated protein). The topologies of these domains are similar, although significant differences occur in the loop regions. In the Syk-C structure, the phosphotyrosine and leucine residues of the peptide ligand interact with pockets on the protein, and the intervening residues are extended. CONCLUSIONS: Syk-C resembles other SH2 domains in its peptide-binding interactions and overall topology, a result that is consistent with its ability to function as an independent SH2 domain in vitro. This result suggests that Syk-C plays a unique role in the intact Syk protein. The determinants of the binding affinity and selectivity of Syk-C may reside in the least-conserved structural elements that comprise the phosphotyrosine- and leucine-binding sites. These structural features can be exploited for the design of Syk-selective SH2 antagonists for the treatment of allergic disorders and asthma.     

The Maia 384 detector array in a nuclear microprobe: A platform for high definition PIXE elemental imaging

Application of nuclear microprobe event-by-event data acquisition approaches to synchrotron elemental imaging is at the heart of the design of a large energy-dispersive detector array called Maia, under development by CSIRO and BNL for SXRF elemental imaging on the X-ray microprobe. A new project is aimed at harnessing this development to provide high throughput PIXE imaging on the CSIRO Nuclear Microprobe. Maia combines a 1.2 sr solid-angle 384 detector array, integrated scanning and real-time processing including spectral deconvolution of full-spectral data. Results using a Maia prototype demonstrate the potential using SXRF application data with elemental images of up 100 M pixels.     

电磁兼容设计实践 第三部分 印制电路板的电磁兼容设计

重视电路板布线是减少单层和多层印制电路板辐射的关键 如果你的电子系统电磁兼容性令你颇为头疼,不妨先检查一下印制电路板,因为许多引发电磁兼容性问题的器件都在印制电路板中。一个好的印制板设计方案可以在花费极少的情况下解决一些令人头疼的问题。……     

A new closed vessel for determining the ballistic performance of high energy solid and liquid gun propellants

Abstract

A new closed vessel, designed and build by Cranfield University under contract to the UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), is described. The jacketed vessel, which can be operated at high pressure (500 MPa) and has the capability of firing liquid monopropellants, is fitted with a single instrumented head and a detachable liner. The internal surface profile of the combustion chamber is shaped so as to prevent the build up of shock waves which can occur between parallel surfaces and this feature leads to improved output signal quality. Vessel venting following a firing is carried out by remote control via a proprietary air-actuated high pressure valve. The vessel can be fitted with optical windows or converted to a vented device for gas erosion studies.     

Sorption of phenanthrene by reference smectites

Fate and behavior of nonionic hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in the environment is mainly controlled by their interactions with various components of soils and sediments. Due to their large surface area and abundance in many soils, smectites may greatly influence the fate and transport of HOCs in the environment. We used phenanthrene as a probe to explore the potential of reference smectites to sorb HOCs from aqueous solution. Batch experiments were used to construct phenanthrene sorption isotherms, and possible sorption mechanisms were inferred from the shape of the isotherms. Our results demonstrate that smectites can retain large amounts of phenanthrene from water. Phenanthrene sorption capacities of the reference smectites investigated in this study were comparable to those of soil clays containing a considerable amount of organic matter. Hectorite exhibited the highest sorption affinity and capacity followed by Panther Creek montmorillonite. The lack of correlation between Freundlich sorption constants (K'f) and indices of charge or hydrophobicity suggests that sorption of phenanthrene by smectites is primarily a physical phenomenon. Capillary condensation into a network of nanoor micropores created by quasicrystals is likely to be a dominant mechanism of phenanthrene retention by smectites.     

A Research Prototype of an Inkbraille Reading Aid

A real-time microprocessor based information processing system to translate ink images of the braille code is described. This direct translation reading aid presents a tactile facsmile of the braille code to the reader's finger via a mechanical piezoelectrically activated display. This device will allow the reader to scan printed braille, called inkbraille, with one hand.     

Ferrofluidic adaptive mirrors

A magnetic liquid mirror based on ferrofluids was demonstrated. Magnetic liquid mirrors represent a major departure from solid mirror technology. They present both advantages and disadvantages with respect to established technologies. Stroke (from a fraction of a wave to several hundreds of micrometers), cost (a few dollars per actuator), and scalability (hundreds of thousands of actuators) are the main advantages. Very large mirrors having diameters of the order of a meter should be feasible. There are a few disadvantages. The most important disadvantage is the time response, which is of the order of a few milliseconds. Although this time response could be further decreased with additional technical developments, it is unlikely to match the speed of solid mirrors. The technology is still in its infancy, and considerable work must still be done. However, the advantages are such that the technology is worth pursuing.