Cloning and expression analysis of a novel salicylate suppressible gene, Hs-CUL-3, a member of cullin/Cdc53 family

By using a mRNA differential display technique to search for salicylate suppressible genes, we identified a cDNA in human foreskin fibroblasts, which by GenBankTM DNA data base search shows sequence homology to the recently reported cullin/Cdc53 (CUL) family genes, especially CUL-3. We have cloned the full-length human CUL-3 (Hs-CUL-3) cDNA. It encodes a 768-amino acid polypeptide and has a predicted molecular weight of 88,939. The amino acid sequence of Hs-CUL-3 shows 46% homology to that of its Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog, Ce-CUL-3, and 27 and 23% to that of Hs-CUL-1 and Hs-CUL-2, respectively. Northern blot analysis showed that phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate increased the expression of Hs-CUL-3 mRNA in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and this increase was inhibited by sodium salicylate. Hs-CUL-3 widely expressed in human tissues and its expression in cultured COLO205 colon cancer cells was increased when compared with that in normal colon cells. It is likely that Hs-CUL-3 is involved in cell proliferation control.     

The role of human leukocyte antigen in susceptibility and clinical manifestations of sarcoidosis

To investigate the association of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) with susceptibility and clinical manifestations of sarcoidosis. Fifty-five patients with sarcoidosis were studied by using allele group specific polymerase chain reaction technique (PCR). Our data show that: (1) the gene frequency of HLA-DR5 is significantly increased in patients with sarcoidosis, but that of HLA-DR7 decreased. (2) Gene frequencies of HLA-DR9 and HLA-DR5 are relatively increased in male patients and in patients with stage I and stage IIa, respectively. The results suggest that HLA-DR gene might contribute to the susceptibility as well as to the difference of clinical manifestations in sarcoidosis.     

Energy expenditure in workers who install plastic and metal pipes for water supplies and sewage

Since 1985, many drug abuse treatment centers and health care providers have implemented special education programs for individuals who inject drugs. They focus primarily on increasing awareness of the threat of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) being spread through drug injection equipment and by sexual activities. As part of the Drug Abuse Treatment for AIDS-Risk Reduction (DATAR) project, the AIDS/HIV Risk Reduction Module was designed to meet these special intervention needs. This study examined program impact on 110 methadone treatment clients. Results indicated that for those in treatment less than 4 months, the AIDS intervention program enhanced specialized knowledge about AIDS, aided in the reduction of AIDS-risky behaviors, and enhanced attitudes toward achieving and maintaining abstinence from drug use. Thus, AIDS education and intervention programs appear to be effective and should be emphasized in the early phase of drug abuse treatment.     

Thrombolysis for evolving myocardial infarction in a rural primary care clinic

Early thrombolytic therapy gives maximum benefit in acute myocardial infarction. In remote rural areas with no mobile intensive care service there is a significant delay between onset of symptoms and administration of thrombolytic therapy which has a critical impact on revascularization. Thrombolytic therapy with streptokinase 1,500,000 U was given in a primary care rural clinic to 2 patients with evolving myocardial infarction 45-50 minutes from onset of symptoms. In both patients, who were transported to hospital after the therapy, there were clinical signs of reperfusion. There were no complications during treatment or transportation. We conclude that thrombolytic therapy given for evolving myocardial infarction in a rural primary care clinic is possible and safe.     

Integrating intelligent systems into a cooperating community for electricity distribution management

Systems in which semi-autonomous problem-solving agents communicate and cooperate with one another represent an exciting vision of future computing environments. However, if this vision is ever going to result in commercially viable systems, then consideration must be given to the large software base that exists within many organisations. Success requires the ability to incorporate pre-existing systems alongside purpose-built agents in a cooperating community. This requirement is vital because the former represent a substantial resource investment that companies cannot afford to consign to the scrap heap. We report on our experiences of constructing cooperating communities that contain elements that were pre-existing and some that were developed specifically for incorporation into an integrated environment. The general purpose framework of ARCHON (ARchitecture for Cooperative Heterogeneous ON-line systems) provides the underlying technology to facilitate cooperative problem solving, and the exemplar domain is the real world problem of electricity distribution management. The actual application being developed is called CIDIM (Cooperating Intelligent systems for DIstribution system Management). An evolving methodology for designing and developing a mixed system such as this is outlined, based on our experiences in CIDIM and several other real-world industrial applications. It specifies a hybrid top-down and bottom-up approach to integration, identifies the important characteristics that shape multi-agent problem analysis, and outlines key factors that impinge upon the design of the community. this methodology is then used to motivate the design decisions for the CIDIM application. Finally the process of instantiating the individual agents is discussed, some helpful guidelines on testing and evaluating future applications are given, and the implementation of one of CIDIM's cooperative scenarios is described in depth.     

Cerebral blood flow relationships associated with a difficult tone recognition task in trained normal volunteers

Tone recognition is partially subserved by neural activity in the right frontal and primary auditory cortices. First we determined the brain areas associated with tone perception and recognition. This study then examined how regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in these and other brain regions correlates with the behavioral characteristics of a difficult tone recognition task. rCBF changes were assessed using H2(15)O positron emission tomography. Subtraction procedures were used to localize significant change regions and correlational analyses were applied to determine how response times (RT) predicted rCBF patterns. Twelve trained normal volunteers were studied in three conditions: REST, sensory motor control (SMC) and decision (DEC). The SMC-REST contrast revealed bilateral activation of primary auditory cortices, cerebellum and bilateral inferior frontal gyri. DEC-SMC produced significant clusters in the right middle and inferior frontal gyri, insula and claustrum; the anterior cingulate gyrus and supplementary motor area; the left insula/claustrum; and the left cerebellum. Correlational analyses, RT versus rCBF from DEC scans, showed a positive correlation in right inferior and middle frontal cortex; rCBF in bilateral auditory cortices and cerebellum exhibited significant negative correlations with RT These changes suggest that neural activity in the right frontal, superior temporal and cerebellar regions shifts back and forth in magnitude depending on whether tone recognition RT is relatively fast or slow, during a difficult, accurate assessment.     

Lead acid battery storage configurations for improved availablecapacity

Battery storage is a crucial element in alternative energy and electric vehicle systems. Three battery storage configurations: a conventional; a parallel; and a dual, were analyzed for both shallow cycle and deep cycle lead-acid batteries to determine if capacity improvement is achievable. Daily profiles for the weekly irradiance, daily loads, and ambient temperature are simulated. Cycle tests were performed monthly to determine the effect each configuration had on the available battery capacity. Results for each battery type differ. Available capacity was improved using the parallel configuration with shallow cycle batteries and the dual configuration with deep cycle batteries