Exceptional convergent evolution in a virus

Replicate lineages of the bacteriophage phiX 174 adapted to growth at high temperature on either of two hosts exhibited high rates of identical, independent substitutions. Typically, a dozen or more substitutions accumulated in the 5.4-kilobase genome during propagation. Across the entire data set of nine lineages, 119 independent substitutions occurred at 68 nucleotide sites. Over half of these substitutions, accounting for one third of the sites, were identical with substitutions in other lineages. Some convergent substitutions were specific to the host used for phage propagation, but others occurred across both hosts. Continued adaptation of an evolved phage at high temperature, but on the other host, led to additional changes that included reversions of previous substitutions. Phylogenetic reconstruction using the complete genome sequence not only failed to recover the correct evolutionary history because of these convergent changes, but the true history was rejected as being a significantly inferior fit to the data. Replicate lineages subjected to similar environmental challenges showed similar rates of substitution and similar rates of fitness improvement across corresponding times of adaptation. Substitution rates and fitness improvements were higher during the initial period of adaptation than during a later period, except when the host was changed.     

A comprehensive approach to the solution of direct-coupledmultislice model of skewed rotor induction motors using time-steppingeddy-current finite element method

Normally a complicated three-dimensional (3-D) approach is needed to study the field pattern of induction machines with skewed rotor bars. In this paper, a time-stepping two-dimensional (2-D) eddy-current finite element method, based on multislice technique, is described to study the steady-state operation and the starting process of skewed rotor induction machines. The fields of the multislices are being solved en bloc simultaneously, and thus, the effects of the eddy current and saturation can be taken into account directly. New forms of the governing equations for the multislice model are derived, which allow the meshes of multislices to be taken as one 2-D mesh so that the algorithm is very similar to that of general 2-D problems. Special techniques required for the mesh generation in the multislice model and the salient structures of the software are also described. The results obtained by using the program being developed have very good correlation with test data     

Extraction of halide quaternary salts in an organic solvent/water system: Hydrodynamics and mass transfer

The hydrodynamic characteristics and mass transfers of halide quaternary salts between two immiscible phases in a stirred membrane permeation cell were investigated. The concentration of quaternary salt, temperature, solvent and the four kinds of halide quaternary salts were evaluated to achieve the extractive optimum condition. The diffusivity, overall mass‐transfer coefficients and individual mass‐transfer coefficients were determined and correlated in terms of the conventional Sh‐Re‐Sc relationship. The transfer time of quaternary salts across the membrane and the thickness of the hydrodynamic diffusion boundary layer were determined as well, so as to characterize the extractive phenomenon of quaternary salts between the two phases that is useful in phase‐transfer catalysis.     

Preparation of core–shell type nanoparticles of diblock copolymers of poly(L‐lactide)/poly(ethylene glycol) and their characterization in vitro

Core–shell type nanoparticles of poly(L ‐lactide)/poly(ethylene glycol) (LE) diblock copolymer were prepared by a dialysis technique. Their size was confirmed as 40–70 nm using photon correlation spectroscopy. The ¹H‐NMR analysis confirmed the formation of core–shell type nanoparticles and drug loading. The particle size, drug loading, and drug release rate of the LE nanoparticles were slightly changed by the initial solvents that were used. The drug release behavior of LE core–shell type nanoparticles showed an initial burst during the first 12 h and then a sustained release until 100 h. The degradation behavior of LE block copolymer nanoparticles was divided into three phases: the initial rapid degradation phase, the stationary phase, and the rapid degradation phase until complete degradation. It was suggested that lidocaine release kinetics were predominantly governed by the diffusion mechanism in the initial burst phase and after that by both of the diffusion and degradation mechanisms. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 2625–2634, 2002     

Changes in identity and self-organization in psychotherapy of multiple personality disorder.

Studied change in client identity and self-organization during the treatment of a 38-yr-old man with multiple personality disorder. Assessment measures were administered to the host personality and 2 secondary personalities before and after 12 wks of intensive treatment. Measures included the MMPI and the Bell Object Relations Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI). Therapy focused on the posttraumatic aspects of the patient's early childhood sexual abuse. A cognitive-affective approach combined psychoanalytically informed psychotherapy with abreactive-hypnotic work for recovering and reexamining traumatic memories. A greater degree of intrapsychic awareness and interpersonal sensitivity was suggested by changes in BORRTI ratings. The magnitude of observed changes in self-organization was substantial. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Capacity and power control for CDMA microcells

Capacity and power control issues are considered for urban CDMA microcells that operate on channels characterized by log-normal shadowing and Nakagami fading. The effects of fading on the desired and interfering signals, variations in the shadow standard deviation, imperfect power control, and the requiredE _b /N _o for satisfactory link operation are investigated. It is shown that the reverse channel is relatively insensitive, and the forward channel very sensitive, to shadow and fading variations. Power control error is shown to significantly degrade reverse channel capacity. Twobiased forward channel power control strategies are introduced to enhance existing unbiasedbalancing forward channel power control algorithms.This research has been supported by BNR Inc.     

Experience with Applying Formal Methods to Protocol Specification and System Architecture

In the last three years or so we at Enterprise Platforms Group at Intel Corporation have been applying formal methods to various problems that arose during the process of defining platform architectures for Intel's processor families. In this paper we give an overview of some of the problems we have worked on, the results we have obtained, and the lessons we have learned. The last topic is addressed mainly from the perspective of platform architects.     

Nephelometric study of salivary protein–tannin aggregates

Grape seed procyanidins were fractionated through different degrees of polymerisation, and human saliva was purified and separated into two fractions: one was mostly α‐amylase and the other was essentially proline‐rich proteins (PRPs). The interaction of these proteins with the procyanidin compounds was assayed using nephelometry, and the influence of several factors was investigated, such as degree of polymerisation, pH and concentrations of both protein and tannin. The same experiments were performed with bovine serum albumin (BSA). The amount of insoluble aggregates, resulting from the formation of polyphenol–protein aggregates, increased quickly up to a maximum value which thereafter remained practically unchanged. pH was set at 5.0 for all further assays, since it was the nearest value to that encountered in human saliva (pH 5.6–7.9), where proteins were stable and had a maximum ability to bind and precipitate procyanidin oligomers. These proteins were shown to have a strong affinity for procyanidin oligomers and were unable to resolubilise the polyphenol–protein aggregates when present in excess. PRPs required a much lower content to bind all the tannins (400 µg of procyanidin oligomers) than BSA and especially α‐amylase (48, 60 and 132 µg respectively). The procyanidin's ability to bind PRPs, BSA and α‐amylase increased with its average molecular weight. This ability increased regularly for PRPs up to 4500 Da, whereas the ability to bind the globular proteins decreased beyond 3400 Da. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry