The effect of time after treatment, treatment schedule and animal age on the frequency of 6-thioguanine-resistant T-lymphocytes induced in Fischer 344 rats by N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea

The persistence of 6-thioguanine-resistant (TGr) T-lymphocytes was investigated in Fischer 344 rats treated with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) using two schedules. Male rats, aged 3 months, were given i.p. injections containing a total of 0, 50 or 100 mg ENU/kg either as a single treatment (single-dose group) or divided among 10 weekly treatments (split-dose group). At 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 50 weeks after the single-dose treatment, and 10, 20, 30 and 50 weeks after beginning the split-dose regimen, animals were assayed for the frequency of TGr spleen lymphocytes. ENU produced significant dose- and time-dependent responses in the single- and the split-dose treatment groups. Although a few of the 50 mg/kg split-dose treatments were significantly higher than the comparative single-dose groups, the number of TGr lymphocytes produced by the two dosing regimens were generally similar. The frequency of TGr cells for control animals increased with the age of the animals. The mode of ENU administration did not greatly influence the percent cloning efficiency (%CE) of the non-selection cultures, although the %CE declined in animals over 10 months of age. To investigate the relationship between the frequency of TGr cells and the age of the animals at the time of ENU administration, additional rats aged 17 months were treated with a single dose of ENU and at 1, 5 and 10 weeks following exposure, the frequencies of TGr cells were determined from the isolated lymphocytes. No difference in mutagen sensitivity between rats treated at 3 months of age and those treated at 17 months of age was detected at the time points evaluated. The data demonstrate the persistence of ENU-induced TGr T-lymphocytes in the rat and suggest that the dose and possibly the treatment schedule, but not the age of the animal at the time of treatment, affect the response.     

Predominant usage of the proximal poly(A) site in alpha mRNAs is not intrinsic to the 3' termini

The maturation of IgM-expressing B cells to IgM-secreting plasma cells is associated with both an increase in mu mRNA and the ratio of secreted to membrane forms of mu mRNA. In contrast, previous studies demonstrated that in vitro the secreted form of alpha mRNA (alpha s mRNA) predominates regardless of the stage of B cell differentiation. The present study demonstrates that alpha s mRNA predominates in both B cells derived from the germinal centers of murine Peyer's patches and in the functional IgA memory population, suggesting that in vitro events accurately represent the generation of a secretory IgA response in vivo. Although the predominant usage of the alpha s poly(A) site is due to RNA processing, it does not depend on either the alpha s poly(A) site, the 3' splice site associated with the exon encoding the membrane exon of IgA (alphaM) or the alphaM poly(A) sites. Analysis of the sequence of the intron between the alpha s terminus and alphaM (alpha s-alphaM intron) demonstrates the existence of several potential regulatory elements. Furthermore, the effects of deletions within the alpha s-alphaM intron on 3' terminus usage demonstrate that the predominant usage of the proximal terminus is not strictly dependent on the length of the intron. Together with previous work, these observations support the idea that choice of 3' terminus for all Ig heavy chain genes is regulated by a similar mechanism, but specific sequences within a heavy chain gene can impinge upon that mechanism.     

Sex discrimination counseling.

Presents a comprehensive discussion of the problems of women who actively challenge sex discrimination in their work and in consequence face lonely, expensive, and emotionally trying experiences. The steps by which a woman reaches the point of active protest, the institutional responses she may meet, and the countermoves open to her, are described. Special attention is given to the attitudes of unions, to legislation and the conduct of legal suits, to the type of support needed from a personal counselor during the stages of the discrimination action,and to the special problems of Black women, who are in double jeopardy, from racism and sexism. Numerous practical strategies are suggested. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automated effect-specific mammographic pattern measures

We investigate the possibility to develop methodologies for assessing effect specific structural changes of the breast tissue using a general statistical machine learning framework. We present an approach of obtaining objective mammographic pattern measures quantifying a specific biological effect, such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT). We compare results using this approach to using standard density measures. We show that the proposed method can quantify both age related effects and effects caused by HRT. Age effects are significantly detected by our method where standard methodologies fail. The separation of HRT subpopulations using our approach is comparable to the best methodology, which is interactive.      

Hippocampal histamine receptors and conflictive exploration in the rat: studies using the elevated asymmetric plus-maze

The possible role of histamine receptors in the hippocampal formation on the exploratory motivation and emotionality of the rat was studied. An elevated asymmetric plus-maze composed of 4 different arms (no walls, single high wall, high and low walls and two high walls) arranged at 90 degrees angles was used. The exploration score, considered to be an index of exploratory motivation, and the permanency score, considered to be an index of emotionality (anxiety), were determined. Histamine was administered locally into the ventral hippocampus at three different doses (9, 45 and 90 nmol). Another group of rats was also microinjected with 45 nmol of pyrilamine (a histamine H1 receptor antagonist) or ranitidine (a histamine H2 receptor antagonist) in addition to 9 nmol of histamine in order to identify the possible type of histamine receptor involved. Histamine administration significantly inhibited the exploration score and increased the permanency score at the doses of 9 and 45 nmol in two of four arms. These effects were completely blocked by the administration of either histamine receptor antagonist. The present results suggest that in the hippocampal formation histamine inhibits exploratory motivation and decreases emotionality by activating both types of histamine receptors. Also, the elevated asymmetric plus-maze appears to be a suitable technique to quantify exploration and possibly "anxiety".     

Trajectory Tracking for Underwater Swimming Manipulators using a Super Twisting Algorithm

The underwater swimming manipulator (USM) is a snake‐like, multi‐articulated, underwater robot that is equipped with thrusters. One of the main purposes of the USM is to act like an underwater floating base manipulator. As such, it is essential to achieve good station‐keeping and trajectory tracking performance for the USM by using the thrusters and by using the joints to attain the desired position and orientation of the head and tail of the USM. In this ‘paper, we propose a sliding mode control (SMC) law, specifically the super‐twisting algorithm with adaptive gains, for the trajectory tracking of the USM's centre of mass. A higher‐order sliding mode observer is proposed for state estimation. Furthermore, we show the ultimate boundedness of the tracking errors. We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed control law and show that it leads to better performance than a linear PD‐controller.     

Exploiting latent functional capabilities for resilience in design of engineering systems

In this paper, we address latent functional capabilities, capabilities that were neither intended nor recognized in the design process. We propose that latent capabilities can improve the resilience of engineering systems, enabling recovery of performance after disruptive events. Engineering systems are designed to meet their functional requirements, and have a limited ability to avoid critical failures. Normally, redundancies are put in place to reduce the impact of potential disruptions, adding to cost and complexity. An alternative is to uncover latent capabilities that can be used to recover from disruption by altering the function-form mapping. Existing design methods focus on intended, manifest functionality, and do not consider latent capabilities. With basis in design theory, we show that latent capabilities can enhance resilience, and demonstrate this using two illustrative cases. Further, we propose approaches to uncover latent capabilities in systems design, and discuss implications of using latent capabilities to enhance resilience.     

Growth and Smoltification of Three Norwegian Strains of Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar Reared under Different Thermal Regimes

A comparative study was performed with juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar from three stocks in Western Norway that differ in their natural conditions. One is from warm, lowland river conditions (Årdal), one is from cold glacial river conditions (Stryn) and the last one (Suldalslågen) is from a hydropower‐regulated river. The salmon parr were tagged and reared at 4, 5.5 and 7 °C and simulated natural water temperature (SNT) for river Suldalslågen. Size distribution was unimodal at 4 °C, with a change to a bimodal distribution, representing potential 1+ and 2+ smolts, at the other temperature regimes. The relative biomass of 1+ smolts varied between the stocks as Stryn (cold glacial river) stock had the highest number of smolts at 7 °C and the Suldalsågen stock (hydropower‐regulated river) displaying the highest number at the SNT regime. Overall, the Stryn stock, originating from cold river conditions, seemed to be well adapted to growth and smoltification at cold temperatures, whereas salmon parr from river Suldalslågen seem to be better adapted to the natural temperature regime (SNT) of this river than the other two stocks. This was reflected in the gill Na⁺,K⁺‐ATPase as the Suldalslågen stock showed increasing activity from 16 April (4.2 µmol ADP mg protein^?1 h^?1) to 10 May (9.2 µmol ADP mg protein^?1 h^?1), and at the end of the experiment, enzyme activity in Suldalslågen stock was significantly higher than both Stryn (5.7) and Årdal (5.9 µmol ADP mg protein^?1 h^?1) stock. In contrast, the warm lowland stock, Årdal, fish had low Na⁺,K⁺‐ATPase activity with no distinct peak at any of the sampled dates from March through May. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.