Functional role of high-affinity anandamide transport, as revealed by selective inhibition

Anandamide, an endogenous ligand for central cannabinoid receptors, is released from neurons on depolarization and rapidly inactivated. Anandamide inactivation is not completely understood, but it may occur by transport into cells or by enzymatic hydrolysis. The compound N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)arachidonylamide (AM404) was shown to inhibit high-affinity anandamide accumulation in rat neurons and astrocytes in vitro, an indication that this accumulation resulted from carrier-mediated transport. Although AM404 did not activate cannabinoid receptors or inhibit anandamide hydrolysis, it enhanced receptor-mediated anandamide responses in vitro and in vivo. The data indicate that carrier-mediated transport may be essential for termination of the biological effects of anandamide, and may represent a potential drug target.     

Densification involved in the UV-based photosensitivity of silicaglasses and optical fibers

A comprehensive survey of photosensitivity in silica glasses and optical fiber is reviewed. Recent work on understanding the mechanisms contributing to germanium or aluminum doped fiber photosensitivity is discussed within the framework of photoelastic densification models     

Longitudinal weight changes, length of survival, and energy requirements of long-term care residents with dementia

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that institutionalized patients with dementia, who frequently have feeding problems and require supervised and assisted feeding, would lose more weight during their residency than nondemented, independently functioning residents and have compromised survival. To test this hypothesis, we examined the survival and longitudinal changes in weight of two cohorts of institutionalized residents with dementia and compared these cohorts with a cohort of nondemented residents. We also measured the resting energy expenditures of a subset of the subjects with dementia as an indicator of their energy needs. DESIGN: A longitudinal cohort study with retrospective baseline chart review and subsequent follow-up of monthly weights and mortality over 4 years. SETTING: A 725-bed long-term care institution with specified levels of care. SUBJECTS: Two cohorts of residents with dementia, one consisting of subjects who required total care throughout their institutional stay (n = 31) and another group who did not initially require total care (n = 48); these were compared with a cohort with normal mentation who were functionally independent in their daily activities (n = 26). The total number of subjects was 105. MEASUREMENTS: Demographics, medical problems, and medications by chart review; functional and mental status evaluations; longitudinal monthly weights and mortality for the 48-month study period; and resting energy expenditures by indirect calorimetry. MAIN RESULTS: Residents with dementia had lower weights on admission and throughout their stay than nondemented, independently functioning residents, and they were more likely to have a weight loss of 10 lbs or more at some point during the 4-year study period. However, their mean weights did not change during the study period. The mean survival from admission of those demented residents who died was more than 3 years. Resting energy expenditures of women residents with advanced dementia were 12% lower than predicted from the Harris Benedict equations. CONCLUSION: Dementia is not necessarily associated with unremitting weight loss during institutionalization despite the frequent occurrence of feeding difficulties and temporary weight loss. This may be caused partly by the lower than expected resting energy expenditures and, hence, energy needs of affected residents as their dementia progresses. Demented residents weighed significantly less than nondemented, independently functioning residents throughout their institutional stay. Nevertheless, nursing staff are able to maintain weight and survival for extended periods even in very impaired residents.     

一种实时心电图数据压缩算法

提出了一种实时心电图ＥＣＧ数据压缩算法。它是将自适应变门限算法与转折点算法相结合。自适应变门限算法是对ＡＺＴＥＣ算法的改进．它计算ＥＣＧ信号的几个统计参数来确定可变门限值。转折点算法是分析采样点的趋势并只存储每对连续的采样点中的一个。它保留信号的斜坡标志发生变化的峰点和谷点。本文算法兼有这两种算法的优点。这种算法在较高压缩比的情况下重建心电图信号失真较小．     

硫化铜矿中提取铜的新方法研究

对从硫化铜矿中提取铜的溶剂进行了详细研究，提出了“过硫酸铵－氨水－Ａｇ￣＋”催化、氧化、络合的提取法。     

混合Hermite-Lagrange插值之同时逼近

对于(-1,1)中的结点组{X_k}_(k=1)~n,记l_k(x)为相应的Lagrange插值基本多项式,又记A_n=‖∑(2-x~2-x_k~2)(1-x_k~2)~-1丨l_k(x)‖。对于f∈C_([-1,1)~q与r=[q+2/2],本文证明满足条件H_n(f,x_k)=f(x_k)(k=1,2,…,n),H_n~(s)(f,±1)=f~(s)(±1)(s=0,1,…,n-1)的n+2r-1次代数多项式H_n(f,x)有逼近性质H_n~(s)(f,x)-f~(s)(x)=(?)其中δ_n(x)=n~(-1)(1-x~2)~(1/2),△_n(x)=δ_n(x)+n~(-2).作为证明的重要工具,本文还对n次代数多项式P_n(x),建立了另一形式的Bernstein不等武:若 P_n(x)=O(1)δ_n~q(x)ω(δ_n(x)),则p_n~(S)(X)=O(1)δ_n~(q-2S)(X)ω(δ_n(X))△_n~s(X)。     

电动潜油泵多功能自动控制测试系统

为了提高电潜泵产品质量 ,延长电潜泵井的检泵周期 ,研制了电动潜油泵多功能自动控制测试系统。该系统由自动控制、参数测试、管线流程及电气控制 4部分组成 ,既能对电潜泵机组进行全面检测 ,又能对测试数据进行管理和跟踪 ,具有测试参数齐全、速度快、精度高、操作容易、安全性强、智能化程度高、测量范围广、容量大等特点 ,并在计算机自动调节井口压力、测试电动机转矩以及测控回路与计算机分离等方面具有创新。该系统能够模拟现场工况完成各种型号的电潜泵的测试 ,为电潜泵的理论设计及现场应用提供可靠的试验数据。     

基于过程能量综合优化的延迟焦化装置扩大生产能力改造策略

根据延迟焦化流程的特点，分析了延迟焦化装置扩大生产能力的瓶颈，探讨了基于能量综合优化的装置扩能解除瓶颈的策略方法，基于过程能量综合优化，运用流程模拟技术，通过配套的加热炉优化，分馏塔操作优化，换热网络柔性设计等手段，实现了装置扩大生产能力的目的，并运用所提出的策略对某延迟焦化装置进行了基于能量系统优化的扩能改造，在原流程与设备的基础上，装置处理量增大18．2％，装置物耗，能耗大幅度降低，改造设备投资少，说明能量综合优化对工艺装置扩能改造具有重要意义。     

Skeletal Isomerization and Inter—molecular Hydrogen Transfer Reactions in Catalytic Cracking

Bimolecular hydrogen transfer and skeletal isomerization the important secondary reac-tions among catalytic cracking reactions,which affect product yield distribution and product quality,Catalyst properties and operating parameters have great impact on bimolecular hydrogen transfer and skeletal isomerization reactions .Bimolecular hydrogen transfer activity and skeletal isomrization activity of USY-containing catalysts are higher thn that of ZSM-5-containing catalyst.Coke deposition on the active sites of catalyst may suppress bimolecular hydrogen transfer activity and skeletal isomer-ization activity of catlys in different degrees.Short raction time causes a decrease of hydrogen trans-fer reaction,but and increase of skeletal isomerization reaction compared to cracking reaction in catalytic cracking process.     

A comparison between different PMD compensation techniques

We quantify the benefits of using different techniques for compensation of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) in fiber-optic communication systems by means of numerical simulations. This is done both with respect to PMD-induced pulse broadening and in terms of system outage probability for different data formats [nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) and return-to-zero (RZ)]. Attention is focused on simple and relevant single- and double-stage post-transmission compensators with a few degrees of freedom (DOF). It is generally believed that a PMD compensator with a polarization controller and a variable delay line can only compensate the PMD to the first order. We show, from analytical results, the counterintuitive fact that this scheme can also partially compensate for higher order PMD. We also investigate the benefit of using a polarizer as compensation element where the optical average power can be used as a feedback signal