Effect of L-carnitine treatment on very low density lipoprotein kinetics in the hyperlipidemic rabbit

This study examined the hypolipidemic effect of 4 weeks of L-carnitine treatment (170 mg/kg b.w./day) in New Zealand White rabbits fed a high fat diet (5% corn oil/0.5% cholesterol). Specifically, [3H] glycerol and [125I] very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) turnover studies were conducted to examine the effect of treatment on VLDL kinetics. The masses of plasma VLDL-triglycerides (VLDL-TG) and VLDL-apoprotein B (VLDL-apoB) were significantly increased by the high-fat diet. Four weeks of treatment with L-carnitine significantly reduced these masses. Kinetic analysis indicated that fat feeding reduced the fractional catabolic rates (FCRs) of VLDL-TG and VLDL-apoB relative to chow-fed controls. The transport of these VLDL components was not altered by the diet. L-carnitine treatment had no effect on the FCRs of VLDL-TG and VLDL-apoB or on the transport of VLDL-apoB. Yet, treatment significantly lowered the transport of VLDL-TG. These data indicate that the lipid-lowering effect of L-carnitine in this animal model was due, in part, to a decrease in the transport and not due to an alteration in the fractional catabolic rate of VLDL-TG.     

Nitrogen addition to iron powder by mechanical alloying

Nitrogen was alloyed into iron (a) by mechanical processing in a nitrogen gas environment, and (b) by mechanically alloying with iron-nitride powders to characterize resulting nano-structure and nitrogen distribution. Although the infused nitrogen concentration was significantly greater than the thermodynamic equilibrium solubility of iron, no nitrides formed, even for nitrogen concentrations as high as 4.1 wt.% However, a bctFe phase did form. Lattice expansion calculations indicate that the sum of the interstitial bcc-Fe and bctFe nitrogen concentrations was significantly less than the total measured nitrogen concentration. A considerable portion of the mechanically infused nitrogen was determined to be associated with nanograin boundaries.     

Conditions for stability of the extended Kalman filter and their application to the frequency tracking problem

The error dynamics of the extended Kalman filter (EKF), employed as an observer for a general nonlinear, stochastic discrete time system, are analyzed. Sufficient conditions for the boundedness of the errors of the EKF are determined. An expression for the bound on the errors is given in terms of the size of the nonlinearities of the system and the error covariance matrices used in the design of the EKF. The results are applied to the design of a stable EKF frequency tracker for a signal with time-varying frequency.This research was supported by the Co-operative Research Centre for Robust and Adaptive Systems ((CR)² ASys). The authors wish to acknowledge the funding of the activities of (CR)² ASys by the Australian Commonwealth Government under the Co-operative Research Centre Program.     

Adolescents in stepfamilies: Developmental family interventions.

Discusses issues and interventions for working with adolescents who live in stepfamilies. A developmental perspective, using psychoeducation and brief strategic intervention approaches, is proposed for working with stepfamilies. Six major issues for adolescents in stepfamilies are discussed: developmental issues, sexuality issues, parent–child relationships, parenting in stepfamilies, nonresidential parent–child issues, and changes in visitation and custody. Case illustrations and suggested interventions are presented for each of these areas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antimicrobial activity of dogwood fruits (Cornus drummondii) from winter food caches of eastern woodrats (Neotoma floridana)

Post-harvest loss of resources to microbial competitors affects a number of species of animals, and many of them have evolved behaviors that reduce the likelihood of such loss. We previously described the inhibition ofBacillus psychrophilus by dogwood fruits (Cornus drummondii), which can comprise a significant portion of the winter food cache of the eastern woodrat (Neotoma floridana). The present study is a further investigation of the ability of dogwood fruits to inhibit growth ofB. psychrophilus. Additionally, we tested the antimicrobial activity of dogwood fruits onEscherichia coli andStaphlococcus aureus. Results of our study indicate that fresh fruits inhibit the growth ofB. psychrophilus andS. aureus but notE. coli. However, fruits taken from woodrat dens after four and six months storage inhibited growth of all three species of bacteria. Further, the strength of inhibition increased over the test period. We suggest the presence of an inhibitor allows woodrats to compete effectively for a valuable and limited food resource.     

A conceptual critique of the EA:es comparison in the Comprehensive Rorschach System.

Despite its empirical and normative strengths, the underlying conceptual base of the Comprehensive Rorschach System at times lacks clarity and an overarching theory of personality that can help psychodiagnosticians make more clinically relevant inferences. After reviewing the functions provided by an integral theory of personality, the author focuses on the Experience Actual:Experienced Stimulation (EA:es) index as a way of demonstrating how mechanistic jargon and lack of a guiding theory and conceptual clarity can lead to misleading and contradictory inferences. Case examples are provided, and some of the empirical foundations of the EA:es index are reviewed. The author concludes by offering recommendations on ways in which the Comprehensive System can become more sensitive in its appearance to capturing the complexities of personality functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Boundary formulations for shape sensitivity of temperature dependent conductivity problems

Used in concert with the Kirchhoff transformation, implicit differentiation of the discretized boundary integral equations governing the conduction of heat in solids with temperature dependent thermal conductivity is shown to generate an accurate and economical approach for computation of shape sensitivities. For problems with specified temperature and heat flux boundary conditions, a linear problem results for both the analysis and sensitivity analysis. In problems with either convection or radiation boundary conditions, a non-linear problem is generated. Several iterative strategies are presented for the solution of the resulting sets of non-linear equations and the computational performances examined in detail. Multi-zone analysis and zone condensation strategies are demonstrated to provide substantive computational economies in this process for models with either localized non-iinear boundary conditions or regions of geometric insensitivity to design variables. A series of non-linear example problems is presented that have closed form solutions. Exact anaytical expressions tor the shape sensitivities associated with these problems are developed and these are compared with the sensitivities computed using the boundary element formulation.     

Local Structure of Alkaline-Earth Boroaluminate Crystals and Glasses: II, 11B and 27Al MAS NMR Spectroscopy of Alkaline-Earth Boroaluminate Glasses

¹¹B and ²⁷Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR) spectra of alkaline-earth boroaluminate glasses show that the structure of these glasses are far more complicated than previously thought. The relative concentrations of 3- and 4-coordinated boron vary as found by previous investigators using continuous-wave NMR methods, but the ²⁷Al NMR spectra indicate the presence of Al in 4-, 5-, and 6-fold coordination, in contrast to previous assignments. Analysis of the data based on local charge balance considerations provides a qualitative model that correctly predicts compositional variations of the NMR peak intensities and ²⁷Al chemical shifts for a wide range of boroaluminate glass compositions.     

Introduction to the special series: HIV infection among drug abusers.

Drug users are particularly at risk for contracting the human immunodeficiency virus and serve as a major mechanism for spreading the virus to other sectors of the population. As a result drug abuse treatment and potential behavioral change strategies are primary public health issues. The purpose of this article is to review the contributions included in this special edition, which represent an effort to describe the most current thinking in the field with a blend of theoretical, review, and empirical articles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)