Making your own Automatic Test Equipment has never been easier

<正>Using Planet ATE's SOC "all-in-one" pin electronics solutions it is easy to make your own tester, ATE or to modify load boards for more advanced test capabilities.     

Human behavioral assessment in neurotoxicology: producing appropriate test performance with written and shaping instructions

Neurotoxic effects are of such breadth and complexity that functional biomarkers (behavioral tests) that integrate many areas of the nervous system predominate in human neurotoxicology research. The increasing distribution of chemical and other manufacturing throughout the world, particularly in developing nations, suggests the acute need to develop biomarkers for chemical exposures and effects that can be employed internationally. A language-free method for training performance on behavioral tests is described, which holds promise for international research that circumvents the vagaries of translation. Four behavioral tests were administered to 74-114 adult US subjects. Procedures, collectively termed shaping, produced effective performance on three tests [Symbol Digit, Vigilant Attention Test (VAT), Digit Span Forward and Backward], and produced appropriate but unacceptably slow performance in initial testing on the Simple Reaction Time test. Effective performance on the Symbol-Digit test also was produced by shaping instruction, without assistance from examiners, in small groups of residents of Taipei (Taiwan) and US children between the ages of 5 and 16.     

A 6-year clinical assessment of electronic facial thermography

The authors briefly report their experience regarding the opportunities offered by the use of current ultrasound methods in carotid surgery. They describe: a system for the quantification of athcromasic plaque used to monitor non-operated patients over time; ultrasound methods used to analyse the carotid wall to establish whether it can be utilised as an index of vascular aggression in hypertension, diabetes and atherosclerosis; the use of transcranial Doppler; criteria for the definition of high risk plaque; the applications of eco-color Doppler. The paper also illustrates a new pathology identified by the authors, defined as primary intimal fibrous hyperplasia, and the evolution of the carotid wall after endarterectomy. The structural characteristics of primary hyperplasia can only be shown using ultrasound given that arteriography cannot distinguish it from atheromatic stenosis. After endarterectomy the carotid wall is subject to hematic and hemodynamic stimuli which determine the type of evolution of the wall itself. The authors therefore examine the myointimal reaction, myointimal hyperplasia, early restenosis and late restenosis as different facets of the same phenomenon.     

Double mutant cycle analysis of aspartate 69, 97, and 103 to asparagine mutants in the m2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor

Double mutant cycles provide a method for analyzing the effects of a mutation at a defined position in the protein structure on the properties of an amino acid at a second site. This approach was used to map potential interactions between aspartates 69, 97, and 103 in the m2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor transmembrane helices 2 and 3. Receptors containing single and double aspartate to asparagine mutants were expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells and their effects on ligand binding, signal transduction, and thermal stability determined. Analysis of the double mutant cycles showed that the mutations had approximately additive effects on ligand binding, signal transduction, and thermal stability. Ligand binding and thermal inactivation results support the conclusion that aspartate-103 is the ligand amine counterion. Effector coupling properties of the mutant receptors showed that aspartate-103 was also required for signal transduction activity. The mutation of aspartate-69 to asparagine completely eliminated signal transduction by the agonists acetylcholine, carbachol, and pilocarpine but not oxotremorine M, which caused reduced but significant inhibition of adenylyl cyclase and stimulation of phospholipase C. In contrast, adenylyl cyclase stimulation by the asparagine-69 mutant was elicited only by acetylcholine and carbachol but not by oxotremorine M. The variation in agonist-dependent effector coupling properties provides evidence that the asparagine-69 mutant can exist in activated receptor states that are different from the wild-type m2 muscarinic receptor.     

INFLUENCE OF HEAT TRANSFER CONDITIONS ON PERFORMANCE OF OSCILLATORY TUBE

对管外换热状况对振荡管性能的影响进行了实验研究及理论分析 .实验中采用自然对流及强制对流 (轴向水冷却 )两种典型的管外换热型式 .结果表明 :改善振荡管外的传热状况 ,可使振荡管的冷效应显著增强 ,在膨胀比ε=2 0～ 6 0的范围内可使制冷效率提高 4 6%～ 5 4% ,同时可使最佳射流激励频率 fopt降低且膨胀比对fopt值不再有明显影响 对导致上述结果的内在机制进行了探讨     

The short of it: Abbreviating the temporal discounting procedure.

A typical temporal discounting procedure determines the present, subjective value (indifference point) of a delayed outcome at 5 to 8 different delays to that outcome. These indifference points are used to determine a single index of discounting called a discounting rate. One concern that remains in the collection of this data is the high number of trials or choices, resulting in participant fatigue or other factors that may affect the validity of the data. In this report, we propose an abbreviated alternative to the more comprehensive and time-consuming discounting procedure. Specifically, we propose that fewer indifference points can be used to determine statistically equivalent discount rates with no loss in data sensitivity. We reanalyzed temporal discounting data obtained with 7 indifference points, and estimated discount rates from all combinations of 2, 3, and 4 of the 7 indifference points. Results indicate that valid and sensitive discounting indices can be obtained with fewer indifference points, and the most appropriate sets of indifference points are highlighted. The proposed abbreviated procedure is likely to be particularly useful when time constraints or participant fatigue is a concern as well as in repeated-measures contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of vinorelbine in non-small-cell lung cancer. Provincial Lung Disease Site Group

The best known of the nation's welfare programs, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), has from its inception reflected a tension between the desire to support children in poor, lone-parent families and the belief that parents should be held responsible for providing for themselves and their children. Against that backdrop, this article reviews the history of the AFDC program and traces the emergence of policies and programs intended to encourage employment of the parents (almost exclusively mothers) who receive benefits. The article examines in detail the Work Incentive Program (WIN) launched in 1967 and the Family Support Act of 1988, comparing these to each other and to the outlines of welfare reform signed into law in 1996. The article emphasizes the importance of sustained attention to the implementation of policy goals in concrete programs and shows that the merits of those early programs have not been fully tested because they were never funded or implemented at the scale intended. The article also outlines ways in which welfare-to-work programs can be used to assist children as well as parents, and urges that children's well-being remain the core purpose of welfare policy.