Restoration of depressed prostanoid-induced ileal contraction in spontaneously hypertensive rats by dietary fish oil

We have reported that dietary fish oil (FO) rich in n-3 PUFA modulates gut contractility. It was further demonstrated that the gut of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) has a depressed contractility response to prostaglandins (PG) compared with normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. We investigated whether feeding diets supplemented with n-3 PUFA increased gut contractility and restored the depressed prostanoid response in SHR gut. Thirteen-week-old SHR were fed diets containing fat at 5 g/100 g as coconut oil (CO), lard, canola oil containing 10% (w/w) n-3 FA as alpha-linolenic acid (1 8:3n-3), or FO (as HiDHA, 22:6n-3) for 12 wk. A control WKY group was fed 5 g/100 g CO in the diet. As confirmed, the SHR CO group had a significantly lower gut response to PGE2 and PGF2alpha compared with the WKY CO group. Feeding FO increased the maximal contraction response to acetylcholine in the ileum compared with all diets and in the colon compared with lard, and restored the depressed response to PGE2 and PGF2alpha in the ileum but not the colon of SHR. FO feeding also led to a significant increase in gut total phospholipid n-3 PUFA as DHA (22:6n-3) with lower n-6 PUFA as arachidonic acid (20:4n-6). Canola feeding led to a small increase in ileal EPA (20:5n-3) and DHA and in colonic DHA without affecting contractility. However, there was no change in ileal membrane muscarinic binding properties due to FO feeding. This report confirms that dietary FO increases muscarinic- and eicosanoid receptor-induced contractility in ileum and that the depressed prostanoid response in SHR ileum, but not colon, is restored by tissue incorporation of DHA as the active nutrient.     

The effect of inorganic additives on the formation,composition, and combustion of cellulosic char

At temperature above 300°C the glycosyl units of cellulose are simultaneously depolymerized to a tar and decomposed to a char by evolution of H₂O, CO, and CO₂. When the glycosyl units are depleted, a stable char is formed containing about 30% aliphatic and 70% aromatic components. The aliphatic component is formed first, but on further heating is converted to polycyclic aromatic structures. The chars formed at lower temperatures are more combustible because the aliphatic component of the char is highly pyrophoric and is oxidized almost at the same temperature at which it is formed (～360°C). The aromatic component, however, is less reactive and is oxidized at ～520°C. Consequently, the chars formed at higher temperatures are less combustible. It has been shown that (NH₄)₂HPO₄, which is a well-known flame retardant and smoldering inhibitor, lowers the pyrolysis temperature and increases the char yield by accelerating the decomposition reactions. This affects the composition of the intermediate chars but the final products have about the same composition irrespective of additives. (NH₄)₂HPO₄ also lowers the rate of oxidation of the aromatic component and the corresponding heat release. NaCl, which is an enhancer of smoldering combustion, has a slight stabilizing effect on pyrolysis of cellulose. It lowers the oxidation temperature of the aromatic component and dramatically increases its rate. The corresponding heat release is also increased due to complete oxidation to CO₂. The rate of oxidation calculated from the dynamic thermal analysis data is more than tripled by NaCl and significantly reduced by (NH₄)₂HPO₄.     

The crystal state binding of dithionite to deoxy-hemoglobin

The crystal state binding of sodium ditbionite to deoxyhemoglobinis reported. Dithionite has been used extensively to deoxygenatehemoglobin and myoglobin and there has been considerable interestamong users of dithionite about its effect on protein structureand binding site(s). We have determined that dithionite bindsto deoxygenated hemoglobin crystals at the interface of twomolecules in the crystal lattice. Specific residues involvedin hydrogen bonds or salt interactions with dithionite includeHisll6 and Hisll7 of the ft subunit and Lysl6 of the ß₂subunit of the adjacent hemoglobin molecule. No binding wasobserved at the symmetry related Hisll6 and 117 ß1 residues.We have shown that dithionite does not affect the native hemoglobinstructure or the binding of several allosteric inhibitors tohemoglobin and can be used to mount T state crystals in theair     

Microstructure of high modulus solid state extruded polyethylene: 2. X-ray scattering studies of 12, 24 and 36 extrusion draw ratio

The microstructure of a series of solid state extruded polyethylene fibres was examined by wide- and small-angle X-ray scattering. By measuring absolute intensities using a two dimensional position sensitive detector, accurate values of the small-angle invariant for anisotropic samples were obtained. This measurement coupled with wide-angle X-ray scattering and d.s.c. permitted determination of the density of the noncrystalline component. The use of a two phase model for solid state extruded polyethylene is justified if consideration is given to the effective densities of the crystalline and noncrystalline phases, which change with deformation. The effective density of the crystalline phase decreases by 1% (0.999–0.990 g cm^?3) from the unextruded billet compared to a 36 draw ratio extrudate, while the noncrystalline phase density increases by 6% (0.84–0.89 g cm^?3). These changes lead to an overall decrease in the mean squared electron density fluctuation of 63%. The average axial crystallite length measured by wide-angle X-ray scattering increases with extrusion draw ratio while the SAXS long period decreases and weakens considerably. These observations and the electron microscopy results from the previous paper, (Polymer, 1982, 23, 1069), are fully consistent with the key features of the Peterlin model of fibre microstructure.     

The Effect of Temperature on the Strength of Adhesively-Bonded Composite-Aluminium Joints

Different materials have different coefficients of thermal expansion, which is a measure of the change in length for a given change in temperature. When different materials are combined structurally, as in a bonded joint, a temperature change leads to stresses being set up. These stresses are present even in an unloaded joint which has been cured at say 150°C and cooled to room temperature. Further stresses result from operations at even lower temperatures.

In addition to temperature-induced stresses, account also has to be taken of changes in adhesive properties. Low temperatures cause the adhesive to become more brittle (reduced strain to failure), while high temperatures cause the adhesive to become more ductile, but make it less strong and more liable to creep.

Theoretical predictions are made of the strength of a series of aluminium/CFRP joints using three different adhesives at 20°C and 55°C. Various failure criteria are used to show good correlation with experimental results.     

Thermodynamic measurements in magnetically ordered solid3He

Measurements of the melting pressure and constant-volume pressure of solid³He have been made in the vicinity of the various magnetic-ordering transitions. Data have been obtained at several magnetic fields for both the low-field phase and the high-field phase, with particular attention given to the region of the polycritical point. The absence of a latent heat indicates that the transition from the paramagnetic to the high-field phase is second order or type. A spin-wave velocity of 6.95 cm/sec was obtained from theT ⁴ temperature dependence of the melting pressure in the high-field phase forB=0.495 T. These data provide the entropy and volume discontinuities as functions of field along the first-order low-field phase boundary. The volume dependence of the transition temperatures has been extracted from these and other data.     

Moral und Abhängigkeit

Definition of the problem:

Being satisfied with one’s work depends on professional autonomy, which is attributed to the medical profession to a high degree, combined with specialized knowledge and moral authority for vital questions. That is why physicians enjoy a high reputation. At the beginning of a person's medical career, moral competence is developed nearly completely, but specialized knowledge must be learned. Hospitals, in which further medical education regularly takes place, are still traditionally hierarchically organized today. Unfortunately, feudalistic or military structures hinder autonomous moral decisions and cause structural irresponsibility.

Arguments:

Obstructions and pressure by superiors, financial restrictions, arrogance and trying to make one's mark are shown in typical conflict situations. Stress, discontent, moral conflicts and illness, even including burn out are possible. Commitment and creativity by employees are prevented and mistakes cannot be constructively managed. Thus, patients may suffer unreasonably or be hurt.

Conclusion:

There is a risk to subordinate moral principles under other interests, not only with subordinates but also with superiors. Ways to create a culture that promotes autonomy among physicians and between different professions are discussed. Therefore it is necessary to institutionalize communication based on a reciprocal high regard in a team with people treated as equal partners, who are then able to discuss moral questions in a discourse.     

Probabilistic consensus clustering using evidence accumulation

Machine Learning - Clustering ensemble methods produce a consensus partition of a set of data points by combining the results of a collection of base clustering algorithms. In the evidence...     

An exploratory study of api changes and usages based on apache and eclipse ecosystems

Frameworks are widely used in modern software development to reduce development costs. They are accessed through their Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), which specify the contracts with client programs. When frameworks evolve, API backward-compatibility cannot always be guaranteed and client programs must upgrade to use the new releases. Because framework upgrades are not cost-free, observing API changes and usages together at fine-grained levels is necessary to help developers understand, assess, and forecast the cost of each framework upgrade. Whereas previous work studied API changes in frameworks and API usages in client programs separately, we analyse and classify API changes and usages together in 22 framework releases from the Apache and Eclipse ecosystems and their client programs. We find that (1) missing classes and methods happen more often in frameworks and affect client programs more often than the other API change types do, (2) missing interfaces occur rarely in frameworks but affect client programs often, (3) framework APIs are used on average in 35 % of client classes and interfaces, (4) most of such usages could be encapsulated locally and reduced in number, and (5) about 11 % of APIs usages could cause ripple effects in client programs when these APIs change. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for developers and researchers to reduce the impact of API evolution through language mechanisms and design strategies.     

An empirical study of integration activities in distributions of open source software

Reuse of software components, either closed or open source, is considered to be one of the most important best practices in software engineering, since it reduces development cost and improves software quality. However, since reused components are (by definition) generic, they need to be customized and integrated into a specific system before they can be useful. Since this integration is system-specific, the integration effort is non-negligible and increases maintenance costs, especially if more than one component needs to be integrated. This paper performs an empirical study of multi-component integration in the context of three successful open source distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and FreeBSD). Such distributions integrate thousands of open source components with an operating system kernel to deliver a coherent software product to millions of users worldwide. We empirically identified seven major integration activities performed by the maintainers of these distributions, documented how these activities are being performed by the maintainers, then evaluated and refined the identified activities with input from six maintainers of the three studied distributions. The documented activities provide a common vocabulary for component integration in open source distributions and outline a roadmap for future research on software integration.