Towards the automatic generation of software diagrams

The authors formulate the criteria for drawing dataflow diagrams and describe the placement and routing algorithms used in a system called MONDRIAN. A generalized approach to the question of software diagrams is proposed based on the authors' experience with MONDRIAN and a metasystem approach to the creation of CASE (computer-aided software engineering) environments. A formal approach to the definition of software objects and their graphical representation is given. The use of location constraints as a basis for generalized layout algorithms is discussed     

Peptide amidating activity in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid

Monitoring respiratory epithelial biology may reveal individuals with incipient lung cancer. The expression of neuroendocrine (NE) markers in pulmonary epithelium is thought to be central to lung development, repair of injury and may contribute to carcinogenesis. In this study, we evaluate several candidate NE markers to determine the feasibility of prospective analysis of clinical specimens. The potential NE markers include the enzyme L-DOPA decarboxylase (DDC), the neuropeptide gastrin releasing peptide (GRP), and peptidyl-glycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), the bifunctional enzyme responsible for the final bioactivation step of many neuropeptides. A comparison of PAM activity and DDC levels in 30 lung cancer cell lines indicated that peptide amidating activity may be an indicator of NE status. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid from subjects at risk of developing second primary lung cancer and from volunteers was obtained. The activity of the first PAM enzyme, peptidylglycine alpha-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM), ranged from not detectable to 507 pmol/h/mg protein in 57 specimens. The second PAM enzyme, peptidylamidoglycolate lyase (PAL), ranged from not detectable to 414 pmol/h/mg protein in 56 specimens. Using cluster analysis by the average linkage method, a group of enzyme values with PHM greater than 230 pmol/h/mg protein was determined. Long-term follow-up of these patients for new second primary lung cancers may help to determine the potential predictive value of PAM detected in the BAL fluid.     

Indocyanine-green videoangiography of drusen as a possible predictive indicator of exudative maculopathy

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have shown that indocyanine-green videoangiography (ICG-V) is useful to image occult choroidal neovascularization. The authors studied the ICG-V findings in fellow drusen eyes of patients with unilateral exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The authors also studied the occurrence of exudative changes to determine whether ICG-V is useful in predicting future exudative changes in these eyes with only drusen. DESIGN: Cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: The authors studied 432 consecutive patients diagnosed with unilateral exudative AMD in whom the fellow eye had only drusen by clinical fundus examination and fluorescein angiography. All of these eyes had ICG-V performed. Follow-up data were obtained in all eyes with abnormal indocyanine-green (ICG) angiograms and randomly sampled ICG angiograms of normal eyes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The initial ICG findings were classified as showing normal or abnormal hyperfluorescence. Abnormal hyperfluorescence eyes were subdivided into focal spots (focal areas of hyperfluorescence < 1 disc area in size) and plaques (areas of hyperfluorescence > 1 disc area). The development of exudative changes in eyes with normal and abnormal hyperfluorescence was compared. RESULTS: Of the 432 fellow eyes, 386 (89%) eyes with drusen had a normal ICG-V study, whereas 46 (10 focal spots and 36 plaques) (11%) eyes had an abnormal ICG-V. Exudative changes occurred in 6 (10%) of 58 normal ICG eyes and 9 (24%) of 38 eyes with abnormal ICG findings during a mean follow-up period of 21.7 months. The difference between drusen eyes with normal ICG angiograms and those with plaques on ICG-V regarding future exudative changes (10% vs. 27%, respectively) was statistically significant (P = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal ICG findings were found in 11% of eyes with clinically and fluorescein angiographically nonsuspicious drusen. The subgroup of patients with plaques on ICG-V had a higher chance of having exudative changes develop. Indocyanine-green videoangiography may be a predictive indicator of future exudative changes in eyes with drusen. A much larger prospective study seems justified.     

Calcium(II)(3) (3,5-Diisopropylsalicylate)(6)(H(2)O)(6) Activates Nitric Oxide Synthase: An Accounting for its Action in Decreasing Platelet Aggregation

Purposes of these studies were first; to determine whether or not Calcium(II)(3) (3,5- diisopropylsalicylate)(6)(H(2)O)(6) [Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6)], a lipophilic calcium complex, could decrease activated-platelet aggregation, and second; to determine whether or not it is plausible that Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) decreases activated-platelet aggregation by facilitating the synthesis of Nitric Oxide (NO) by Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS). The influence of Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) on the initial rate of activated-platelet aggregation was determined by measuring the decrease in rate of increase in transmission at 550 nm for a suspension of Thrombin-CaCl(2) activated platelets following the addition of 0, 50, 100, 250, or 500 muM Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6). To establish that the Ca(lI)(3)(3,5- DIPS)(6)-mediated decrease in aggregation was due to activation of NOS, the effect of L-NMMA, an inhibitor of NOS, on the inhibition of platelet aggregation by Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) was determined using a suspension of activated platelets contaimng 0 or 250 muM Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) without or with 1 mM L-NMMA. An in vitro Bovine Brain NOS reaction mixture, containing CaCl(2) for the activation of Phosphodiesterase-3' ,5'-Cyclic Nucleotide Activator required for the activation of NOS, was used to determine whether or not Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) could be used as a substitute for the addition of Ca. The decrease in absorbance at 340 nm, lambda maximum for NADPH, was measured to determine NOS activity following the addition of NOS to the complete reaction mixture containing either CaCl(2), Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6), or neither Ca compound. Increasing the concentration of Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) caused a concentration related decrease in activated platelet aggregation. The addition of L-NMMA to activated platelets, in the absence of Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6), caused a 129% increase in initial rate of platelet aggregation. The initial rate of platelet aggregation decreased 74% with the addition of 250 muM Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) and the addition of L-NMMA plus 250 muM Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) caused a 197% decrease in initial rate of aggregation compared to the initial rate observed width the presence of 1 mM L-NMMA alone. There was only a small, 27%, increase in initial rate of 0.4 mM NADPH oxidation when 0.9 mM CaCl(2) was added to the NOS reaction mixture in comparison to the initial rate of NADPH oxidation with no addition of CaCI(2). Addition of an equivalent amount of Ca in the form of Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6), 333 muM, caused a 37% increase in initial rate of NADPH oxidation compared to the addition of 0.9 mM CaCl(2). Addition of increasing concentrations of L-NMMA plus 0.9 mM CaCl(2) or 333 muM Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) to the NOS reaction mixture caused a concentration related increase in initial rate of NADPH oxidation. Addition of L-NMMA while expected to decrease NADPH oxidation actually increased the rate of NADPH oxidation. Additions of 133 muM or 267 muM Ca(II)(3)(3,5- DIPS)(6) also caused concentration related increases in initial rate of NADPH oxidation in the presence of 113 muM L-NMMA. However, the addition of 533 muM Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) caused a dramatic decrease in initial rate of NADPH oxidation by NOS. It is concluded that: 1) Ca(II)(3)(3,5- DIPS)(6) activates platelet NOS in preventing platelet aggregation, 2) in vitro NOS activity can be observed spectrophotometrically by following the consumption of NADPH as a decrease in absorbance at 340 nm, 3) Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) plays a role in enhancing Bovine Brain NOS activity resulting in an increased rate of NADPH oxidation by NOS, 4) Ca(II)(3)(3,5-DIPS)(6) is a useful form of Ca in activating NOS and superior to CaCl(2) with regard to the facilitation of a NADPH oxidation, and 5) L-NMMA stimulates Bovine Brain NOS activity rather than causing an inhibition of this enzyme and must serve as a reducible substrate for Bovine Brain NOS.     

High-voltage surge protection by a varistor-filled air gap

The electric discharge across a varistor granule filled air gap under a fast-rising voltage pulse was investigated for surge protection applications. The effects of temperature and pressure on the arc and the electrical conduction were analyzed by the characteristic changes in voltage waveforms triggered by a fast-rising high voltage pulse. In addition to the gap size, experimental results show that competing mechanisms among arc conduction, conduction through the varistor granule network, thermionic emission from Joule heating at granule-to-granule contact points, and the magnitude of the switching voltage dictate the maximum surge protection voltage for the filled air gap. Experimental evidence indicated that accumulated degradation was created at small contact points between varistor granules by repetitive assaults from longer duration, high voltage pulses. The uniqueness of using varistor over other dielectric granules in an air gap for surge protection is identified and discussed.     

Cycle decomposition in NCL

In convention logic (NCL) circuits, cycles are the fundamental unit of data storage, roughly equivalent to combinational logic bounded by latches in clocked design. Implementing the various tools common to IC design flows, such as static timing analysis and scan insertion, requires accurately identifying these cycles. Threshold gates are the basic building blocks of NCL cycles. To date, mechanisms for automatically identifying relevant NCL circuit cycles have been lacking. The NCL analyzer solves the problem of automatically identifying cycles from a gate-level netlist. It does this by identifying the acknowledge signal feeding a register from its relative signal polarity and then finding the intersection of a forward and reverse circuit traversal. Although the NCL analyzer is currently a stand-alone tool, we expect it will become an integral part of nearly all NCL-specific tools - including static timing analysis, orphan checking, ATPG, and possibly synthesis.     

A new input indicator for the assessment of science &; technology research?

Traditional input indicators of research performance, such as research funding, number of active scientists, and international collaborations, have been widely used to assess countries’ publication output. However, while publication in today’s English-only research world requires sound research in readable English, English proficiency may be a problem for the productivity of non-native English-speaking (NNES) countries. Data provided by the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) containing the academic profile of 51,223 Brazilian researchers show a correlation between English proficiency and publication output. According to our results, traditional input indicators may fall short of providing an accurate representation of the research performance of NNES developing countries.     

Radiorecovery Activity of Dicopper(II) Tetrakis(3,5-Diiso propylsalicylate) Includes Recovery of Radiation-Induced Loss of Body Mass and Impaired Mouse Locomotion

Dicopper(II) tetrakis(3,5-diisopropylsalicylate), [Cu(II)(2)(3,5-DIPS)(4)], is effective in increasing survival of lethally irradiated mice when it is administered after irradiation. The possibility that this radiorecovery activity might also facilitate recovery from radiation-induced impaired increase in body mass and locomotion was examined. Cu(II)(2)(3,5-DIPS)(4) was used to treat LD 50/30 gamma irradiated female C57BL/6 mice after irradiation. A dose of 0, 5, 10, or 20 mumol Cu(II)(2) (3, 5-DIPS)(4) /kilogram of body mass was administered subcutaneously 3 hrs after LD 50/30 irradiation and change in body mass and locomotor activity measured daily throughout the 30 day post-irradiation period. Treatment with 5, 10, or 20 mumol Cu(II)(2) (3,5-DIPS)(4) /kg of body mass increased survival, which was statistically significant for the 10 mumol /kg of body mass-treated group compared to the vehicle-treated group (P<0.05), significantly (P<0.05) increased recovery of locomotion from days 13 to 15 post-irradiation onward for all treated groups compared to vehicle-treated mice, and increased recovery of body mass gain from day 14 onward for the 20 mumol /kg of body mass-treated group (P<0.001) and day 21, although not statistically significant, for the 10 mumol /kg of body mass-treated group. There were no statistically significant differences between the increase in survival, recovered increase in body mass, and recovered increase in locomotion for mice treated with 10 mumol or 20 mumol Cu(II)(2)(3,5-DIPS)(4) /kg on day 30 post-irradiation. It is concluded that Cu(II)(2)(3,5-DIPS)(4) in addition to increasing survival of irradiated mice increases the rate of recovery of radiation-induced decrease in body mass and locomotion.