Tramadol, M1 metabolite and enantiomer affinities for cloned human opioid receptors expressed in transfected HN9.10 neuroblastoma cells

Tramadol hydrochloride is a centrally acting synthetic analgesic in widespread clinical use. Despite different degrees of opioid-like characteristics in preclinical tests, it is characterized by lack of full naloxone reversibility or naloxone-precipitated withdrawal in humans. To investigate this apparent discrepancy, the present study measured the affinity of tramadol (and its enantiomers) and an active O-desmethyl metabolite (M1) (and its enantiomers) to cloned human opioid receptors of the mu, delta and kappa type stably expressed in HN9.10 neuroblastoma cells. At mu sites, the Ki values for tramadol, its (+) and (-) enantiomers, M1, and its (+) and (-) enantiomers were 17000, 15700, 28800, 3190, 153 and 9680 nM, respectively, compared to 7.1 nM for morphine. These results are consistent with the suggestion of a non-opioid contribution to the clinical profile of tramadol.     

碱性氰化物防渗碳光亮镀铜工艺的研究

本文介绍了一种高效率，高韧性，防渗碳底铜工艺，可以大辐度提高镀层的沉积速度，降低铜层孔隙率，提高产品合格率，具有显著的经济效益和社会效益。     

Application of artificial neural networks in voltage stabilityassessment

Voltage stability problems have been one of the major concerns for electric utilities as a result of system heavy loading. This paper reports on an investigation on the application of ANNs in voltage stability assessment. A multilayer feedforward artificial neural network (ANN) with error backpropagation learning is proposed for calculation of voltage stability margins (VSM). Based on the energy method, a direct mapping relation between power system loading conditions and the VSMs is set up via the ANN. A systematic method for selecting the ANN's input variables was developed using sensitivity analysis. The effects of ANN's training pattern sensitivity problems were also studied by dividing system operating conditions into several loading levels based on sensitivity analysis. Extensive testing of the proposed ANN-based approach indicate its viability for power system voltage stability assessment. Simulation results on five test systems are reported in the paper     

Characterization of expression of phosphofructokinase isoforms in isolated rat pancreatic islets and purified beta cells and cloning and expression of the rat phosphofructokinase-A isoform

We prepared polymers having a phospholipid polar group, poly [omega-methacryloyloxyalkyl phosphorylcholine (MAPC)-co-n-butyl methacrylate(BMA)], as new biomedical materials and evaluated their blood compatibility with attention to protein adsorption and platelet adhesion. The total amount of proteins adsorbed on the polymer surface from human plasma was determined, and the distribution of adsorbed proteins on the plasma-contacting surface was analyzed. The amount of proteins adsorbed on every poly (MAPC-co-BMA) was small compared with that observed on polymers without the phospholipid polar group. However, there was no significant difference in the amount of adsorbed proteins on the poly(MAPC-co-BMA) even when the methylene chain length between the phospholipid polar group and the backbone in the MAPC moiety was altered. Platelet adhesion on the polymer surface from a platelet suspension in a buffered solution was evaluated with and without plasma treatment on the surface. When a rabbit platelet suspension was brought into contact with the poly(BMA) surface after treatment with plasma, many platelets adhered and aggregated. However, a reduced amount of platelet adhered on the poly(BMA) was found in the case of direct contact with the platelet suspension. On the other hand, the poly(MAPC-co-BMA)s could inhibit platelet adhesion under both conditions. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the proteins adsorbed on the surface play an important role in determining the platelet adhesion and suppression of the protein adsorption on the surface, which is one of the most significant ways of inhibiting platelet adhesion.     

Developing maintainable expert systems using case-based reasoning

Abstract: Maintainability problems associated with traditional software systems are exacerbated in rule-based systems. The very nature of that approach — separation of control knowledge and data-driven execution — hampers maintenance. While there are widely accepted techniques for maintaining conventional software, the same is not true for rule-based systems. In most situations, both a knowledge engineer and a domain expert are necessary to update the rules of a rule-based system. This paper presents, first, an overview of the software engineering techniques and object-oriented methods used in maintaining rule-based systems. It then discusses alternate paradigms for expert system development. The benefits of using case-based reasoning (from the maintenance point of view) are illustrated through the implementation of a case-based scheduler. The main value of the scheduler is that its knowledge base can be modified by the expert without the assistance of a knowledge engineer. Since changes in application requirements can be given directly to the system by the expert, the effort of maintaining the knowledge base is greatly reduced.     

A Novel Athermal 40-Channel DWDM Multi/Demultiplexer Based on the Combination of AWGs and Interleaver

An athermal 40-channel dense wavelength-division-multiplexing multi/demultiplexer using a novel combination technology is proposed. It consists of one 1times4 100- to 400-GHz spacing interleaver filter and four sub-arrayed-waveguide gratings (AWGs). The temperature-dependent wavelength shift of the combined device is successfully suppressed to 0.058 nm in the -20degC to 70degC temperature range. Moreover, the combined device's adjacent crosstalk (typically -35 dB) is much better than conventional AWGs (typically -25 dB).     

Nutrient removal performance of an anaerobic–anoxic–aerobic process as a function of influent C/P ratio

The laboratory scale anaerobic–anoxic–aerobic (A²O) process fed with synthetic brewage wastewater was designed to investigate the effects of changing feed C/P ratio on the performance of biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes. In the experiment, the influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration was kept at approximately 300 mg L^?1 while the total phosphorus concentration was varied to obtain the desired C/P ratio. Results showed that when the C/P ratio was lower than 32, phosphorus removal efficiency increased as C/P ratio increased linearly, while when the C/P ratio was higher than 32, the P removal efficiency was maintained at 90–98%, and effluent P concentration was lower than 0.5 mg L^?1. However, regardless of the C/P ratio, excellent COD removal (90% or higher) and good total nitrogen removal (75–84%) were maintained throughout the experiments. It was also found that very good linear correlation was obtained between COD uptake per unit P released in the anaerobic zone and C/P ratio. In addition, the P content in the wasted activated sludge increased with the decrease in the C/P ratio. Based on the results, it was recommended that the wastewater C/P ratio and its effects be incorporated into BNR design and operational procedures, appropriate C/P ratios were used to achieve the effluent treatment goals. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

钒钛渣对刚玉莫来石耐火材料的侵蚀研究

通过不同温度下钒钛渣对刚玉莫来石耐火材料的侵蚀实验，分析了炉渣、温度对材料的影响，认为致密结构、低气孔率是提高炉衬寿命的关键，板条状莫来石的存在利于减缓渣的侵蚀过程。     

Bioactivity of antifouling paints based on organotin toxicants

This paper discusses the bioactivity of antifouling paints based on organotin toxicants, such as tributyltin fluoride (TBTF) and triphenyltin fluoride (TPTF). These compounds were used alone or mixed as the main toxicant in formulations. The use of TPTF or mixtures of TPTF and TBTF, with vinyl binders, led to paints with satisfactory bioactivity during a 24 months immersion period. With the same binders, TBTF alone provided only 12 months of antifouling protection. The correlation coefficients calculated from the fouling attachment values and the rosin content in the binder showed that the bioactivity of the tested formulations depended on the solubility of the toxicant in sea water and on the composition and solubility of the binders.