A probability matrix for the identification of campylobacters, helicobacters and allied taxa

A probabilistic identification matrix for campylobacteria, comprising 76 phenotypic characters and 37 taxa, is described. The accuracy and integrity of the matrix was evaluated using established computer-assisted methods. Certain taxa (for example, Campylobacter concisus and Camp. gracilis) demonstrated significant phenotypic diversity; previous data corroborated these findings. Differentiation between a few pairs of taxa proved difficult, although discriminatory characteristics were noted in each of these cases. The results indicate that most campylobacteria can be identified accurately and objectively with phenotypic tests when probabilistic methods of data assessment are employed.     

Relativistic communications effects associated with moving space antennas

Future space missions may require vehicles traveling at relativistic velocities. Consequently, relativistic effects will have to be considered in the development of future space communication systems. This paper presents a formulation of these relativistic communication effects which are not normally encountered by the designer. The gain function, power density available at the receiver and apparent frequency of the source can be greatly affected by the motion of the space craft antenna. In addition, the apparent direction of the space craft can be quite different from its actual direction for both the transmitting and receiving conditions. Formulations are presented by which these effects are described for an arbitrary antenna in terms of the antenna characteristics in its rest frame and the actual space craft location, a form that is convenient for the designer. In addition, numerical examples are shown to illustrate the magnitude of these relativistic effects.     

Investigations of repression: Differential recall of material experimentally or naturally associated with ego threat.

Reviews the wide variety of relatively recent research conducted to test predictions derived from the theory of repression. It is found that none of the investigations provided support for the predictions. Changes in recall when threat was experimentally introduced and then eliminated were due to increases and decreases in distraction, and differences in recall of material identified as threatening and nonthreatening by the word association technique could not be used as evidence because threat and association value (which can be related to recall but independent of threat) were confounded in the word association measure. Research employing personally conflictual material or material identified as threatening on the basis of a theory also failed to provide evidence for repression. Theoretical implications and alternative approaches for understanding differential recall in the applied setting are discussed. (64 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biotechnology in relation to the food industry

Biotechnology has been defined in various ways but is essentially the application of biological systems to the manufacturing industries. By implication therefore food biotechnology is the application of plant, animal and microbial systems to the production and industrial processing of food, through the development of new cultivars and livestock strains, of microorganisms with particular characteristics, and thence of new and alternative food raw materials, additives, processing aids, etc. After the publication in 1980 of the report of a joint working party on biotechnology, an appraisal was made of the awareness, interest in and potential applications for biotechnology in the food manufacturing industries. This appraisal was done, firstly, by questionnaire to food-manufacturing companies, trade associations, etc., second, by follow-up discussions with appropriate academic, research institute and industrial experts in the area of biotechnology and, third, as part of a Delphi forecasting exercise. Biotechnology is not new. Indeed, the food and related industries provide potent examples of the traditional application of biotechnology in areas as diverse as the brewing of vinegar and alcoholic beverages, through to the production of cured meats, the application of enzymes to the tenderisation of meats and the production of isomerose from starch. Since foods are biological materials per se, any technological treatments of food are, by definition, applications of biotechnology. There are two primary aspects to food biotechnology. Firstly, the positive application of biological processes in the development of new or improved food products and, second, the application of what we refer to elsewhere as ‘negative biotechnology’. The latter is the application of technological skills to the prevention of undesirable biological change. Both are relevant to the modern food-manufacturing industry and must be considered in parallel. This paper is concerned specifically with the application of positive biotechnology to the food industry. The objective is to summarize some of the findings from our surveys and to indicate areas in which biotechnology developments may be applied in the food-manufacturing industries.     

Existence of classical projection and the stress-reducing function of attributive projection: A reply to Sherwood.

By definition, classical projection occurs when people project onto others characteristics that are identical to those they possess but are not aware of possessing. The experiments cited by G. G. Sherwood (see record 1982-03692-001) do not provide evidence for the existence of classical projection because the Ss in those experiments were aware of their possession of the characteristics they were projecting. An examination of the methodology and results of the experiments cited by Sherwood as evidence for the stress-reducing function of attributive projection indicates that the evidence is weak, limited, and unreliable. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hepatitis among plasma fractionation workers. An industry-wide study

An industry-wide survey of plasm fractionation facilities in the United States was conducted during 1973-74. Hepatitis was reported among the workers with varying degrees of plasma contact at all plant sites. For each of fourteen facilities in this investigation, field inspections disclosed: (1) numerous overt instances of employee-product contact: (2) inconsistent methodologic approaches at virtually all stages of the plasma fractionation process; (3) at low level of management and employee awareness regarding the potential bio-hazard identified; and (4) disparate examples of hepatitis surveillance and prophylaxis. Our data suggests that there is a high risk of hepatitis among plasma fractionation workers and, as such, much more attention needs to be focused on the reduction of health hazards within this industry.     

Effects of Transcendental Meditation versus resting on physiological and subjective arousal.

On 4 successive days, 10 highly trained and experienced meditators (aged 26–54 yrs) were asked to relax for 5 min, meditate for 20 min, and then relax for 5 min. In contrast, 10 other Ss (aged 22–32 yrs) who had no training or experience with meditation were asked to relax for 5 min, rest for 20 min, and then relax for 5 min. Physiological arousal (heart and respiration rates, skin resistance, and blood pressure) and subjective arousal (cognitive, somatic, and relaxation) were measured throughout the experiment. Prior to meditating or resting, meditators tended to have higher heart rates and diastolic blood pressure than did nonmeditators. Meditation was associated with generally reduced arousal; but while meditating, meditators did not evidence lower levels of arousal than nonmeditators did while resting. Results place qualifications on previous studies of the effects of meditation on arousal. Implications for the study of personality functioning, stress management, and psychotherapy are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Direct-coupled gyrators with floating ports

An integratable high-performance direct-coupled gyrator circuit which is capable of being used in the simulation of floating inductors for lowpass filters is presented, and some of the peculiarities of practical floating gyrators are discussed.     

Sticky-free and overhang-free DNA languages

An essential step of any DNA computation is encoding the input data on single or double DNA strands. Due to the biochemical properties of DNA, complementary single strands can bind to one another forming double-stranded DNA. Consequently, data-encoding DNA strands can sometimes interact in undesirable ways when used in computations. It is crucial thus to analyze properties that guard against such phenomena and study sets of sequences that ensure that no unwanted bindings occur during any computation. This paper formalizes and investigates properties of DNA languages that guarantee their robusteness during computations. After defining and investigating several types of DNA languages possessing good encoding properties, such as sticky-free and overhang-free languages, we give algorithms for deciding whether regular DNA languages are invariant under bio-operations. We also give a method for constructing DNA languages that, in addition to being invariant and sticky-free, possess error-detecting properties. Finally, we present the results of running tests that check whether several known gene languages (the set of genes of a given organism) as well as the input DNA languages used in Adlemans DNA computing experiment, have the defined properties.Received: 6 February 2003, Published online: 2 September 2003Research partially supported by Grants R2824A01 and R220259 of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.