Proposed criteria for diagnosis of celiac disease in children]

At a seminar arranged in September 1997 by the Swedish Paediatric Working Group for Coeliac Disease, a diagnostic protocol proposed by the working group was approved by a majority of the paediatricians present, representing almost all paediatric units in Sweden. Briefly, a small bowel biopsy is called for in all children, both at presentation and as a control during gluten-free dieting. Subsequent gluten challenge and biopsy are mandatory only in cases of atypical presentation or if the diagnosis is questioned at some future date. Serum antigliadin and anti-endomysial antibody tests are complementary tools. Agreement was also reached regarding the institution of a national coeliac disease registry.     

Perceptions of attachment and the adjustment of adolescents with alcoholic fathers.

Late adolescents (mean age 18.51 yrs) from father-alcoholic (n?=?71) and nonalcoholic (n?=?100) families rated attachment to parents and level of adjustment in 3 domains: alcohol involvement, psychiatric symptomatology, and interpersonal problems. Paternal alcoholism predicted poorer attachment between adolescents and their fathers but was unrelated to maternal attachment. Paternal alcoholism also predicted greater alcohol involvement, with adolescent families entirely absent from the category of infrequent drinker. Psychiatric symptomatology and interpersonal difficulty were unrelated to paternal alcoholism. However, maternal attachment was predictive of adjustment in these non-alcohol-related areas: Adolescents reporting poorer attachment to mothers showed greater difficulties in adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Western Pine Beetle Populations in Arizona and California Differ in the Composition of Their Aggregation Pheromones

We compared pheromone production and response for populations of western pine beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte, from sites in northern Arizona and northern California. Volatiles were collected from individuals of both sexes that had mined as a pair in a Pinus ponderosa log for 1 d, and they were subsequently analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass-spectrometry. Principal component analysis of quantities of Dendroctonus pheromone components indicated strong site-associated clustering of blend composition for females but not males. Much of the clustering in females evidently was due to differences in the production of endo- and exo-brevicomin, which occurred in average ratios of 0.1:1 and 19:1 for populations in the California and Arizona sites, respectively. In the California site, exo- was better than endo-brevicomin in enhancing trap catches of both sexes to lures containing the host-tree odor α-pinene and the male-produced aggregation pheromone component frontalin. In an identical test in the Arizona site, endo- was a better adjuvant than exo-brevicomin for male attraction, whereas females did not show a significant preference. At neither location were the isomers antagonistic to one another in activity. Thus, one aggregation pheromone has apparently diverged between these populations, concurrent with published evidence that D. brevicomis on either side of the Great Basin are genetically distinct and are possibly different species. Furthermore, production of and response to the isomers of brevicomin by flying Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann in the Arizona site were similar to those of sympatric D. brevicomis. This interspecific signal overlap is likely sustainable since joint species mass-attacks may assist both species in overcoming host defenses, thereby increasing host availability.     

Variable Responses by Southern Pine Beetle, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dendroctonus frontalis</Emphasis> Zimmermann,to the Pheromone Component <Emphasis Type="Italic">endo</Emphasis>-Brevicomin: Influence of Enantiomeric Composition,Release Rate,and Proximity to Infestations

The male-produced bicyclic acetal endo-brevicomin is a component of the pheromone blend that mediates colonization of host pines by the bark beetle Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann. Efforts to identify its behavioral function have been complicated by contrasting reports that it either enhances or reduces attraction of flying beetles. Our studies failed to support the hypothesis that this published variability is due to differences in release rate and/or the enantiomeric composition [i.e., the beetle-produced (+)-enantiomer vs. the racemate] of the endo-brevicomin used in the experiments. In trapping trials within active D. frontalis infestations, racemic and (+)-endo-brevicomin did not differ from each other in behavioral effects when tested at seven different release rates ranging from 0.005 to 3 mg/d. At the highest release rates, racemic and (+)-endo-brevicomin similarly reduced catches in traps baited with an attractant (frontalin and turpentine), but neither enhanced catches at any release rate. Furthermore, the activity of racemic endo-brevicomin baits depended on trap proximity to D. frontalis infestations. Addition of these baits to attractant-baited traps located inside active infestations reduced catches, but they enhanced catches at traps located either 100 or 200 m outside these infestations. The contrasting responses may reflect differences in host-seeking strategies by either aggregated or dispersing D. frontalis, and may be elicited by differing abundance of natural sources of semiochemicals or differing responsiveness of beetles inside vs. outside of infestations. We suspect that much of the published variability in D. frontalis responses to endo-brevicomin is attributable to differing proximity of experimental field sites to infestations.     

Corrosion during incineration of a sulphur and chlorine bearing mixture of rubbers and plastics

Exposures of materials to conditions arising from the incineration of sulphur and chlorine bearing rubbers and plastics for up to 556 days have shown a clear ranking of resistant materials. At material temperatures of 1000°C, with daily cycling to room temperature, only ceramics, notably alumina and silicon carbide, had adequate resistance. At 900°C, with daily temperature cycling to room temperature, the most resistant alloys were the nickel-based superalloys containing 16–19% Cr, and 2.9–3.4% of each of aluminium and titanium. These alloys were the most resistant under low and high air flow rates during incineration and to air/HCl mixtures. Somewhat less resistant were the cobalt ?26% Cr alloys not containing iron. Sulphur attack was not prominent for these resistant alloys but was very apparent for the less resistant nickel alloys. Particularly aggressive components of the rubbers and plastics were the chloride levels and brass and lead contamination. A wide range of coatings were shown to be ineffective.     

Promoting argumentation in primary science contexts: an analysis of students' interactions in formal and informal learning environments

The paper reports on the outcomes of a study that utilized a graphical tool, Digalo, to stimulate argumentative interactions in both school and informal learning settings. Digalo was developed in a European study to explore argumentation in a range of learning environments. The focus here is on the potential for using Digalo in promoting argumentative interactions of students in primary science, first, in a school‐based context of students investigating and learning about electricity, and second, in a hands‐on science discovery centre where students are interacting with different scientific phenomena. Data sources included observations of students using Digalo in the two contexts and the resultant Digalo maps. Analysis of observations focused on students' engagement and interactions, and of Digalo maps in terms of the process and content of argumentation. A previously developed level system was used to evaluate the process of argumentation. The study has revealed some limitations of Digalo as a teaching resource, but has provided insights into ways in which students build their knowledge with the help of Digalo as they interact with each other and with scientific phenomena.     

Secondary ion emission from Cu(1 0 0) surfaces with atomic adsorbates (N, O, Cl, S and Br)

Several targets that consist of atomic species X (X = N, O, Cl, S, Br) adsorbed at hollow sites on the Cu(1 0 0) surface have been examined with low-fluence secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The positive and negative secondary ion (SI) abundance distributions, which show a range of characteristics, have been discussed with the aid of thermochemical data derived from ab initio calculations. In positive SIMS, CuX⁺ is never observed, while the only heteronuclear (mixed-atom) SI that is observed for all five systems is Cu₂X⁺. In negative SIMS, the dominant heteronuclear species for all systems is , except for N/Cu(1 0 0), which produces no , ions. Cu⁻ emission is observed only for O/Cu(1 0 0). By analogy with results from laser ablation studies of O/Cu targets, it is conjectured that Cu⁻ is a daughter product of the gas-phase dissociation of polyatomic Cu-O anion clusters.     

Differential Attraction of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Heliothis subflexa</Emphasis> Males to Synthetic Pheromone Lures in Eastern US and Western Mexico

The mate attraction signal of Heliothis subflexa (Hs) females consists of a multicomponent sex pheromone blend. In this study, we assessed the intraspecific importance of three groups of compounds found in Hs pheromone glands: three acetate esters (Z7-16:OAc, Z9-16:OAc, and Z11-16:OAc), two 14-carbon aldehydes (14:Ald and Z9-14:Ald), and one 16-carbon alcohol (Z11-16:OH). Because the relative importance of pheromone components may vary in different regions, we conducted experiments in Eastern US (North Carolina) and Western Mexico (Jalisco). Our experiments in Eastern US showed that when the acetates were omitted from a 7-component blend in rubber septa, fewer males were caught in cone traps. Subsequent experiments conducted both in Eastern US and Western Mexico indicated that the addition of Z9-16:OAc alone does not increase attraction of male Hs, while Z11-16:OAc does. The Hs male response to Z7-16:OAc differed between the two regions. In Eastern US, significantly more males were attracted to a minimal three-component blend to which Z7-16:OAc was added, but this was not the case in Western Mexico. The two 14-carbon aldehydes also showed differential attraction between the two regions. 14:Ald and Z9-14:Ald appeared not to play any role in the sexual communication of Hs in Eastern US, but reduced trap catches in Western Mexico. The alcohol Z11-16:OH was tested in two concurrent dose–response studies with Hs males in Western Mexico, one using a minimal blend and one using a complete blend. The minimal three-component blend provided a more discriminating tool for delineating dose–response effects of Z11-16:OH than the seven-component blend. In the minimal blend, the optimal dose of Z11-16:OH was 1%, while in the complete blend similar numbers of males were caught when the alcohol ranged from 1 to 25%.