Do tricyclic responders have different brain laterality?

A previous study showed that depressed patients who improved with tricyclic antidepressant medication had dichotic complex tones test results suggesting right-hemisphere dysfunction relative to nonresponders and controls (G. E. Bruder et al., 1990). A new sample of 68 depressed patients completed dichotic consonant-vowel (CV) and complex tones (CT) tests and then were treated with imipramine or placebo. A significant Ear?×?Test?×?Treatment?×?Response interaction was accounted for by significantly poorer left-ear accuracy for CVs among imipramine responders compared with nonresponders, placebo responders, and controls. CV left-ear accuracy was also significantly greater among placebo responders than placebo nonresponders; and controls. The results only partially replicate the prior study in that evidence of right-hemisphere dysfunction in tricyclic responders was seen for the CV test but not the CT test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hydroxytelechelic hydrocarbon copolymers with high aging resistance for elastomeric materials

Dihydroxytelechelic copolyalkenamers were prepared via metathetical polymerization of cyclic olefins (cyclooctadiene, cyclooctene and cyclododecene) in presence of first generation Grubbs catalyst and butene diacetate as functionalizing chain transfer agent in order to study their aging resistance. The influence of compositions and molar masses of the copolyalkenamers were investigated in terms of thermo‐mechanical properties. Increasing chains length or the proportion of polycyclooctadiene allow to get non‐cristalline polymers. Low T_g materials (between ?78°C and ?108°C) were prepared. The resistance towards oxidation of the different copolyalkenamers was carried out using a viscosity measurement method. A critical time, corresponding to a brutal increase of the apparent viscosity, was related to degradation of the polymers and was shown to be dependent on the Csp² proportion in the structure. The absence of vinylic units and the decrease of the double bonds content within the copolymers were proved to enhance the stability of the copolyalkenamers towards aging resistance. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

The pseudo-differential approach¶to finite differences revisited

We systematically derive arbitrary-order finite difference discretizations of linear (pseudo-) differential problems by appropriately approximating the symbols of the (pseudo) differential operators in frequency space. The convergence (i.e., stability and consistency) analysis of the difference schemes is based directly on micro-local properties of the exact and approximating symbols. The analytical approach presented here sheds new light on the general philosophy of finite differences. Received: November 1998 / Accepted: November 1998     

Characterization of pop-in phenomena and indentation modulus in a polycrystalline ZrB2 ceramic

Low-load nanoindentation tests were carried out on a polycrystalline ZrB₂-based ceramic. Pop-in phenomena were observed when indentation marks were placed in the interior of the ZrB₂ grains. Both pop-in loads and pop-in extents were statistically distributed with a mutual strong correlation. The critical shear stresses at pop-in were in good agreement with the theoretical shear strength of ZrB₂. The experimental pop-in extents were also compared to a simplified model developed for homogeneous dislocation nucleation. The influence of the grain orientation on the indentation modulus was derived from the model of Delafargue and Ulm (2004)⁵⁰ and compared to the experimental results. Some results were definitely influenced by the polycrystalline structure of the investigated ceramic.     

Towards SoC Validation Through Prototyping: A Systematic Approach Based on Reconfigurable Platform

Hardware/software covalidation is becoming one of the most critical issues in current System-on-Chip (SoC) design. Nowadays, covalidation is usually performed by cosimulation which is slow and lacks accuracy. The other alternative is to build a hardware prototype specific to the application. However, this alternative is expensive in terms of time, man-power, and cost. As SoCs increase in complexity, validation becomes more and more difficult, time consuming and error prone. Thus, a new approach for covalidation is inescapable. In this paper, we present a novel efficient prototyping approach for complex SoC covalidation. The proposed approach enables systematic prototyping of embedded applications on a reconfigurable platform. The process starts from the RT level model of the application. The application and the reconfigurable platform have to be adapted to obtain the prototype. We decompose the prototyping process into four steps, in order to match the application and the platform. Besides, we propose adapted solutions to deal with constraints typically encountered in existing reconfigurable platforms. The main advantages of this method are: fast and accurate validation, systematic prototyping flow, and large application field. Prototyping of a subset of VDSL using the ARM Integrator platform illustrates the effectiveness of our approach.     

Intracrine and autocrine effects of basic fibroblast growth factor in vascular smooth muscle cells

In order to elucidate the effects of the different basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) isoforms on vascular smooth muscle, we examined aorta-derived vascular smooth muscle cells from transgenic mice expressing the human isoforms of bFGF. Four cell lines were examined from mice in which transgene expression was driven by the ubiquitous phosphoglycerate kinase promoter. Overexpression and cellular localization was confirmed by Western blot analysis in vascular smooth muscle cells from mice expressing: all four human bFGF isoforms (24, 22, 21, and 18 kDa); all three nuclear targeted isoforms (24, 22, and 21 kDa); only the 24 kDa isoform; and the only secreted/non-nuclear targeted isoform, 18 kDa. All lines showed approximate four-fold increases in bFGF expression, nuclear localization of all nuclear targeted bFGF isoforms, and cytosolic localization of only the 18 kDa bFGF. Measurement of [3H]thymidine incorporation into quiescent cells stimulated with increasing concentrations of serum, showed increased DNA synthesis in cell lines expressing any bFGF isoform when compared to non-transgenic control cells, and a further increase in DNA synthesis in cells expressing the nuclear targeted isoforms (24, 22, and 21 kDa) over the 18 kDa bFGF expressing cell line at any concentration of serum. All cells showed equal label incorporation when stimulated with 10 ng/ml of platelet-derived growth factor confirming an equal potential for DNA synthesis. Neutralizing the bFGF antibody markedly decreased serum-stimulated DNA synthesis, but only in the cell lines overexpressing the secreted/non-nuclear targeted 18 kDa isoform. These results suggest amplification of DNA synthesis through synergistic intracrine and autocrine effects of the nuclear targeted and non-nuclear targeted bFGF isoforms in vascular smooth muscle cells.     

Design optimization of extruded preform for hydroforming processes based on ideal forming design theory

The conventional practice to predict preform shapes in hydroformimg processes based on finite-element analysis and/or experiment is an iterative procedure and requires many trials. In this paper, a computationally efficient direct design method, which effectively improves the design procedure, was introduced. The direct design method based on ideal forming theory, which was successfully applied for the design of flat blanks for stamping processes, was extended for the design of non-flat preform for tube hydroforming processes. A preform optimization methodology for non-flat blank solutions was proposed based on the penalty constraint method for the cross-sectional shape and length of a tube. The hybrid membrane/shell method was employed to capture thickness effect while maintaining membrane formulation in the ideal forming theory. Several classes of examples were analyzed to verify the current formulation.     

Biology-based modeling to analyze uranium toxicity data on Daphnia magna in a multigeneration study

Recent studies have investigated chronic toxicity of waterborne depleted uranium on the life cycle and physiology of Daphnia magna. In particular, a reduction in food assimilation was observed. Our aims here were to examine whether this reduction could fully account for observed effects on both growth and reproduction, for three successive generations, and to investigate through microscope analyses whether this reduction resulted from direct damage to the intestinal epithelium. We analyzed data obtained by exposing Daphnia magna to uranium over three successive generations. We used energy-based models, which are both able to fit simultaneously growth and reproduction and are biologically relevant. Two possible modes of action were compared - decrease in food assimilation rate and increase in maintenance costs. In our models, effects were related either to internal concentration or to exposure concentration. The model that fitted the data best represented a decrease in food assimilation related to exposure concentration. Furthermore, observations of consequent histological damage to the intestinal epithelium, together with uranium precipitates in the epithelial cells, supported the assumption that uranium has direct effects on the digestive tract. We were able to model the data in all generations and showed that sensitivity increased from one generation to the next, in particular through a significant increase of the intensity of effect, once the threshold for appearance of effects was exceeded.     

Determination of pre-impact occupant postures and analysis of consequences on injury outcome. Part I: a driving simulator study

This paper considers pre-impact vehicle maneuvers and analyzes the resulting driver motion from their comfort seating position. Part I of this work consists of analyzing the driver behavior during a crash. The study is conducted using the LAMIH driving simulator and involves 76 participants. The emergency situation is created by a truck emerging from behind a tractor on the opposite side of the road and tearing along the participant. The driver positioning throughout the simulation is recorded via five video cameras allowing view of the front scene, the driver face, feet and pedals, hands on the steering wheel and global lateral view. Data related to braking force, seat pressure, muscular activity for major groups of muscles and actions on the steering wheel are also collected.The typical response to this type of emergency event is to brace rearward into the seat and to straighten the arms against the steering wheel, or, to swerve to attempt to avoid the impacting vehicle. While turning the steering wheel, the forearm can be directly positioned on the airbag module at time of crash which represents a potential injurious situation.These positions are used in Part II to determine scenario of positions for numerical simulation of a frontal collision.     

Decompensation of pressure-overload hypertrophy in G alpha q-overexpressing mice

BACKGROUND: Receptor-mediated activation of myocardial Gq signaling is postulated as a biochemical mechanism transducing pressure-overload hypertrophy. The specific effects of Gq activation on the functional and morphological adaptations to pressure overload are not known. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine the effects of intrinsic myocyte G alpha q signaling on the left ventricular hypertrophic response to experimental pressure overload, transgenic mice overexpressing G alpha q specifically in the heart (G alpha q-25) and nontransgenic siblings underwent microsurgical creation of transverse aortic coarctation and the morphometric, functional, and molecular characteristics of these pressure-overloaded hearts were compared at increasing times after surgery. Before aortic banding, isolated G alpha q-25 ventricular myocytes exhibited contractile depression (depressed +dl/dt and -dl/dt) and G alpha q-25 hearts showed a pattern of fetal gene expression similar to the known characteristics of nontransgenic pressure-overloaded mice. Three weeks after transverse aortic banding, G alpha q-25 left ventricles hypertrophied to a similar extent (approximately 30% increase) as nontransgenic mice. However, whereas nontransgenic mice exhibited concentric left ventricular remodeling with maintained ejection performance (compensated hypertrophy), G alpha q-25 left ventricles developed eccentric hypertrophy and ejection performance deteriorated, ultimately resulting in left heart failure (decompensated hypertrophy). The signature hypertrophy-associated progress of fetal cardiac gene expression observed at baseline in G alpha q-25 developed after aortic banding of nontransgenic mice but did not significantly change in aortic-banded G alpha q-25 mice. CONCLUSIONS: Intrinsic cardiac myocyte G alpha q activation stimulates fetal gene expression and depresses cardiac myocyte contractility. Superimposition of the hemodynamic stress of pressure overload on G alpha q overexpression stimulates a maladaptive form of eccentric hypertrophy that leads to rapid functional decompensation. Therefore G alpha q-stimulated cardiac hypertrophy is functionally deleterious and compromises the ability of the heart to adapt to increased mechanical load. This finding supports a reevaluation of accepted concepts regarding the mechanisms for compensation and decompensation in pressure-overload hypertrophy.