Microcosm TNG: a framework for distributed open hypermedia

Increased amounts of information and users' rising demands for advanced link services pose strong challenges to distributed hypermedia systems. Novel presentation facilities, nontextual digital media, personalization of content and structures, and many more techniques often require complex processing and thus imply new interaction styles. Microcosm TNG (The Next Generation), which is a framework for distributed open hypermedia, offers new mechanisms for desktop and Internet integration. It also promotes a modular approach to authoring hypermedia resources     

Neocuproine, a selective Cu(I) chelator, and the relaxation of rat vascular smooth muscle by S-nitrosothiols

1. A study has been made of the effect of neocuproine, a specific Cu(I) chelator, on vasodilator responses of rat isolated perfused tail artery to two nitrosothiols: S-nitroso-N-acetyl-D,L-penicillamine (SNAP) and S-nitroso-glutathione (GSNO). 2. Bolus injections (10 microl) of SNAP or GSNO (10(-7)-10(-3) M) were delivered into the lumen of perfused vessels pre-contracted with sufficient phenylephrine (1-7 microM) to develop pressures of 100-120 mmHg. Two kinds of experiment were made: SNAP and GSNO were either (a) pre-mixed with neocuproine (10(-4) M) and then injected into arteries; or (b) vessels were continuously perfused with neocuproine (10(-5) M) and then injected with either pure SNAP or GSNO. 3. In each case, neocuproine significantly attenuated vasodilator responses to both nitrosothiols, although the nature of the inhibitory effect differed in the two types of experiment. We conclude that the ability of exogenous nitrosothiols to relax vascular smooth muscle in our ex vivo model is dependent upon a Cu(I) catalyzed process. Evidence is presented which suggests that a similar Cu(I)-dependent mechanism is responsible for the release of NO from endogenous nitrosothiols and that this process may assist in maintaining vasodilator tone in vivo.     

Multicategory classification of body surface potential maps

A statistical classification method is suggested for body surface potential maps (BSPM). The initial data reduction utilizes the Fourier expansion and time integration, resulting in physiological-oriented features. Based on Fischer's criterion, optimal discriminant vectors are used to map the features to an optimal subdomain. Experimental criteria determine the dimensionality of the subdomain and the number of features to be mapped into it. Classification is performed in two steps. In the first, a k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) rule is used for every two-category problem, the results of which are fed into a voting rule for final classification. The method is tested with 123 patients divided into four categories: normal (NR), ischemia (IS), myocardial infarction (MI), and left bundle branch block (LB) patients. The success is between 88% (for IS) and 100% (for LB) for QRS segment integration. Departure maps were used to explain the misclassified patterns.     

Drug Regulatory Affairs and Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Japan 1960-1985

Japan has become a leading force in pharmaceutical innovation and marketing. This paper examines in detail, the regulatory changes in Japan from 1960 to the present time and the resultant impact upon pharmaceutical research and development. It is apparent that the supportive regulatory environment in Japan has spawned the substantial growth of the country's domestic pharmaceutical industry.     

Protein phosphorylation in snail cardiocytes stimulated with molluscan peptide SCPb

Dissociated muscle cells prepared from hearts of the pulmonate snail Helix aspersa were used to study signal transduction induced by molluscan cardioactive peptides. The effects of SCPb on the cAMP levels of whole hearts and the cell preparation were compared. The cells responded to SCPb with a dose-dependent increase in cAMP that had the same structure-activity relations as seen in the intact tissue. SCPb increased the phosphorylation of a 53 kDa protein in a dose dependent manner; threshold was 10(-9) M. The SCPb-induced phosphorylation was mimicked by forskolin and 8-CPT-cAMP. FMRFamide stimulation had no effect on the phosphorylation of this protein.     

Some everyday life consequences of disability and bereavement for older adults.

The study analyzed daily event differences between groups experiencing the major stressors of conjugal bereavement and physical disability, and analyzed the association of everyday events with self-reports of mental health for different groups across a 3-month time span. Monthly interviews were conducted with 61 recently conjugally bereaved, 62 recently physically disabled, and 123 matched-comparison older adults between the ages of 60 and 80. The purpose of these interviews was to obtain a comprehensive assessment of the monthly frequencies of everyday life events. Self-reports of mental health were obtained from paper-and-pencil measures filled out after each interview. Causal models were used to analyze the best-fitting structure of event/mental health relationships for the first 3 monthly interviews. Undesirable events showed uniformly adverse effects on mental health. Desirable events benefited the psychological well-being of the disabled the most and had no positive effects on the mental health of the bereaved. The bereaved also evidenced less stability over time than other groups in the frequency of small undesirable events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Victimization policy research.

The criminal justice system, until very recently, made few provisions for the victims of crime. More jurisdictions are now, however, adding legislation or programs that involve the victim in the criminal proceeding, allow the victim to influence prosecution and judgment, protect the victim from further victimization from either the offender or the process itself, and ensure that the victim receives either state compensation or reparation from the offender. We examine the criminal justice system's assumptions concerning the involvement or noninvolvement of the victims of crime in the process, identify the relevant research already available, and suggest further research to aid in the evaluation of laws and policies and the assumptions behind them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reife und unreife Bananen

Ohne ZusammenfassungMitteilung aus der Kgl. Untersuchungsanstalt beim Hygienischen Institut Leipzig.     

Metal and semi-metal precipitates in Nuclepore membranes

Au, Pt, Ag, Sb, Te, In and Ge were precipitated by a salt-reducing agent reaction into the pores of Nuclepore membranes 10 to 600 nm pore size range. The precipitates form filament-like structures inside the pores and a dendritic growth on the surface. The permeation of water as a function of pore size in the Nuclepore membranes was measured by tracing the diffusion through the membrane with tritium. The results are modelled and theoretical predictions are compared with the experimentally observed kinetics for metal deposition in the membranes. Also the d.c. electrical properties of the metal precipitates were measured. The anisotropic electrical properties of these systems are dictated by the morphology of the precipitated metal on the membrane.     

A perceived control intervention for at-risk older adults.

Models of event causation and affective processes were used to design an experimental intervention for older adults. Ss were 2 at-risk populations, recently disabled and recently bereaved, each with matched nonrisk controls. Ss were randomly assigned to a placebo-contact group, a no-contact control group, or a 4-session, 10-week intervention focused on enhancing perceived control. Dependent variables assessed were personal mastery, psychological well-being and distress, positive and negative affect, and measures of daily events and activities. The intervention was nested within a 16-month longitudinal assessment of stress and adaptation processes in a large sample of community residents. The intervention had mixed effects on reports of personal mastery, but it significantly increased engagement in desirable activities and significantly decreased psychological distress and negative affect. Effects tended to be short-lived, however. Effects of the intervention tended to be particularly significant for the disabled group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)