Effects of retinoic acid (all-trans and 9-cis) on tumor progression in small-cell lung carcinoma

ON direction-selective (DS) ganglion cells were identified by electrophysiological recordings in DAPI labeled, isolated rabbit retinas. Their responses to a flashing spot were sustained. Their responses to moving stimuli were strong in the preferred direction and weak in the null direction. Injection of the recorded cells with Lucifer yellow revealed that the cells had a distinct dendritic morphology, consistent with that described previously (Buhl & Peichl, 1986; Amthor et al., 1989; Famiglietti, 1992a). When neighboring cells were injected, an extensive dendritic co-fasciculation was observed. The pattern of fasciculation restricts the possible synaptic connections of the ON DS cell.     

Social constructivism and capacity building for environmental governance

The concept of capacity building for environmental protection and management refers to the process by which the abilities of societies to identify and solve environmental problems are developed. This work assumes a social constructivist perspective to the process of capacity building for environmental governance and thus depicts it as critically dependent on broader processes of political and socioeconomic modernization. In an attempt to depict such a process, a heuristic device is put forward as a model of capacity analysis. A theoretical discourse and new institutionalist perspectives are used to test such a model on a theoretical plane. Some preliminary conclusions are drawn from this theoretical exercise.     

The antimicrobial effect of wine on Listeria innocua in a model stomach system

A model stomach, containing a food matrix and a synthetic gastric fluid, was used to study the bactericidal effect of ingested wine on Listeria innocua. Volumes of wine equivalent to the ingestion of one glass and half a bottle, led, over a period of less than 2 h, to a reduction of 3 and 4 logarithmic cycles of the initial population respectively. The influence of ethanol and organic acids, wine constituents with known antimicrobial properties, was investigated. Ethanol exhibited a higher bactericidal effect than the mixture of the main wine organic acids. When testing the organic acids separately, malic and lactic acids were found to have the strongest effect. The combination of ethanol with the organic acids acted synergistically but to a lesser extent than wine itself. The results suggest that the ingestion of wine during a meal may diminish the quantity of Listeria persisting further in the alimentary tract.     

Transmission Fiber Chromatic Dispersion Dependence on Temperature: Implications on 40 Gb/s Performance

In this letter, we will evaluate the performance degradation of a 40 km high‐speed (40 Gb/s) optical system, induced by optical fiber variations of the chromatic dispersion induced by temperature changes. The chromatic dispersion temperature sensitivity will be estimated based on the signal quality parameters.     

Infrared and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopic studies of silica, [(Cp)2ZrCl2] and trimethylaluminum interactions

Infrared and UV–vis studies of metallocene immobilization on silica are reported here. The results have indicated changes in the Zr coordination sphere of metallocene depending on the immobilization route used. The reaction of [(Cp)₂ZrCl₂] with silica formed [(Cp)₂ZrCl]⁺[SiO]⁻ species. The same metallocene, reacting with TMA modified silica, formed monomethylated and dimethylated species by the substitution of chloro for methyl ligands, stabilized on the surface by interaction with “MAO-like” species (methylaluminoxane, MAO). These monomethylated and dimethylated cationic zirconium species are the active centers for the polymerization reaction. Different order of TMA addition in the silica modification step generated surface species of a similar nature, differing in their relative quantities. The highest amount of these active species was obtained when the support was added to the TMA solution rather than adding the TMA solution to the silica support. This was the most significant parameter affecting catalytic activity in ethylene polymerization.     

Kinetics of catalyzed and non-catalyzed oxidation of soot from a diesel engine

To comply with the new regulations on particulate matter, car manufacturers more and more commonly use diesel particulate filters (DPF). The working of these systems needs to periodically burn soot that has been accumulated during the loading of the DPF. This paper describes the kinetics of the non-catalytic and catalytic oxidation of real diesel soot with oxygen. From these experiments, mechanisms for catalyzed and non-catalyzed soot oxidation have been proposed.     

Efficient primal-dual heuristic for a dynamic location problem

In this paper the dynamic location problem with opening, closure and reopening of facilities is formulated and an efficient primal-dual heuristic that computes both upper and lower limits to its optimal solution is described. The problem here studied considers the possibility of reconfiguring any location more than once over the planning horizon. This problem is NP-hard (the simple plant location problem is a special case of the problem studied). A primal-dual heuristic based on the work of Erlenkotter [A dual-based procedure for uncapacitated facility location. Operations Research 1978;26:992–1009] and Van Roy and Erlenkotter [A dual-based procedure for dynamic facility location. Management Science 1982;28:1091–105] was developed and tested over a set of randomly generated test problems. The results obtained are quite good, both in terms of the quality of lower and upper bounds calculated as in terms of the computational time spent by the heuristic. A branch-and-bound procedure that enables to optimize the problem is also described and tested over the same set of randomly generated problems.