Contrary to time conditionals in Talmudic logic

We consider conditionals of the form A ? B where A depends on the future and B on the present and past. We examine models for such conditional arising in Talmudic legal cases. We call such conditionals contrary to time conditionals. Three main aspects will be investigated:

1. Inverse causality from future to past, where a future condition can influence a legal event in the past (this is a man made causality).
2. Comparison with similar features in modern law.
3. New types of temporal logics arising from modelling the Talmudic examples.

We shall see that we need a new temporal logic,which we call Talmudic temporal logic with linear open advancing future and parallel changing past, based on two parameters for time.     

Purification and structural characterisation of lipid transfer protein from red wine and grapes

Lipid transfer proteins (LTP) play a major role in plant defence and are of particular interest due to their known ability to cause allergic reactions. These proteins are expressed in grapes and also remain detectable after vinification, especially in red wine. However, it remains unknown whether the protein undergoes any changes during the vinification process. Here, we present a purification method for LTPs from Dornfelder grapes and wine. By liquid-chromatography–mass spectroscopy (LC–MS/MS) we identified LTPs from two different species (Vitis vinifera and Vitis aestivalis). Additionally, the purified LTPs were characterised using spectrometric methods, confirming their high purity and structural stability during vinification. We conclude that LTPs are resistant to the alcohol content (13.5 vol%), acidic milieu of wine and other ingredients present during the vinification process, indicating that the allergenic potential of grape LTP is not diminished by the vinification process.     

Bioelectronic noses: a status report. Part I

The present state of the art to record or mimic electronically the human senses of olfaction and taste is characterized. In this part I, an introduction to our present understanding in the development of electronic and bioelectronic noses is given. Finally the natural olfactory system is described in detail.     

Cleavage motifs of the yeast 20S proteasome beta subunits deduced from digests of enolase 1

The 436-amino acid protein enolase 1 from yeast was degraded in vitro by purified wild-type and mutant yeast 20S proteasome particles. Analysis of the cleavage products at different times revealed a processive degradation mechanism and a length distribution of fragments ranging from 3 to 25 amino acids with an average length of 7 to 8 amino acids. Surprisingly, the average fragment length was very similar between wild-type and mutant 20S proteasomes with reduced numbers of active sites. This implies that the fragment length is not influenced by the distance between the active sites, as previously postulated. A detailed analysis of the cleavages also allowed the identification of certain amino acid characteristics in positions flanking the cleavage site that guide the selection of the P1 residues by the three active beta subunits. Because yeast and mammalian proteasomes are highly homologous, similar cleavage motifs might be used by mammalian proteasomes. Therefore, our data provide a basis for predicting proteasomal degradation products from which peptides are sampled by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules for presentation to cytotoxic T cells.     

Schrifttumsberichte

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Transduction mechanisms in vertebrate olfactory receptor cells

Considerable progress has been made in the understanding of transduction mechanisms in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) over the last decade. Odorants pass through a mucus interface before binding to odorant receptors (ORs). The molecular structure of many ORs is now known. They belong to the large class of G protein-coupled receptors with seven transmembrane domains. Binding of an odorant to an OR triggers the activation of second messenger cascades. One second messenger pathway in particular has been extensively studied; the receptor activates, via the G protein Golf, an adenylyl cyclase, resulting in an increase in adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), which elicits opening of cation channels directly gated by cAMP. Under physiological conditions, Ca2+ has the highest permeability through this channel, and the increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration activates a Cl- current which, owing to an elevated reversal potential for Cl-, depolarizes the olfactory neuron. The receptor potential finally leads to the generation of action potentials conveying the chemosensory information to the olfactory bulb. Although much less studied, other transduction pathways appear to exist, some of which seem to involve the odorant-induced formation of inositol polyphosphates as well as Ca2+ and/or inositol polyphosphate -activated cation channels. In addition, there is evidence for odorant-modulated K+ and Cl- conductances. Finally, in some species, ORNs can be inhibited by certain odorants. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the biophysical and electrophysiological evidence regarding the transduction processes as well as subsequent signal processing and spike generation in ORNs.     

Cerebral MRI in pre-eclampsia and eclampsia]

Cystic fibrosis is a common and potentially life-threatening hereditary disease which can affect numerous organs, particularly the digestive tract. CASE REPORT: A 4.5-year-old boy exhibited two little known clinical manifestations: an appendiceal mucocele and repeated intussusceptions. In spite of an appendectomy, intussusception relapsed and an ileocolic resection was necessary 2 years later. DISCUSSION: Appendiceal diseases in cystic fibrosis represent a large spectrum, ie, distention on the appendiceal lumen, engorged with sticky mucous matter, which becomes an appendiceal mucocele, peritonitis with an appendiceal perforation due to delayed diagnosis since acute appendicitis is difficult to diagnose in these patients. Intussusception is rarely observed in cystic fibrosis. CONCLUSION: Appendiceal mucocele could be a cause of intussusception. If an appendectomy is performed, resection of a part of the cecum, around the appendix, could be useful in preventing again mucocele formation.     

Prediction of proteasome cleavage motifs by neural networks

We present a predictive method that can simulate an essentialstep in the antigen presentation in higher vertebrates, namelythe step involving the proteasomal degradation of polypeptidesinto fragments which have the potential to bind to MHC ClassI molecules. Proteasomal cleavage prediction algorithms publishedso far were trained on data from in vitro digestion experimentswith constitutive proteasomes. As a result, they did not takeinto account the characteristics of the structurally modifiedproteasomes—often called immunoproteasomes—foundin cells stimulated by