Cytokine dysregulation in the post-Q-fever fatigue syndrome

High levels of protease inhibitors are induced in potato leaves by wounding. These inhibitors, when ingested by Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say) larvae, induce expression of specific proteolytic activities in the gut. Induced protease activities cannot be inhibited by potato inhibitors and thus enable the insects to overcome this defence mechanism of potato plants. The induced aminopeptidase and endoproteolytic activities both have the characteristics of cysteine proteases. Twenty-one protein inhibitors of different structural types have been examined for their ability to inhibit these activities in vitro. Members of the cystatin superfamily were found to be poor inhibitors of the induced endoproteolytic activities, except for the third domain of human kininogen, which was a fairly strong inhibitor (75% inhibition). The strongest inhibition (85%) of induced endoproteolytic activity was obtained using structurally different thyroglobulin type-1 domain-like inhibitors--equistatin and MHC class II-associated p41 invariant fragment. Experiments performed using three synthetic substrates for endoproteases gave similar results and indicate the existence of at least different endoproteolytic enzymes resistant to potato inhibitors. The induced aminopeptidase activity can be inhibited only by stefin family of inhibitors in cystatin superfamily. In in vivo experiments, Colorado potato beetle larvae fed on equistatin-coated potato leaves were strongly retarded in their growth and almost 50% died after 4 days. This demonstrated the potential of equistatin to protect crops from insect attack.     

Boreal freshwater fish diet modifies the plasma lipids and prostanoids and membrane fatty acids in man

The effect of fish diet on 43 healthy male students was studied. They ate a fish-containing meal for 15 weeks on an average of 3.7 times per week. Twenty-one of them voluntarily restricted their lipid intake while the rest ate normally. Controls continued their usual eating habits (19 students). The meals consisted of Finnish freshwater fish (87%) (vendace, pike, perch and rainbow trout) and brackish water fish (13%) (Baltic herring) that provided about 1 g of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids per day (0.25 g eicosapentaenoic acid and 0.55 g docosahexaenoic acid). During the diet, ω-3 fatty acids increased in erythrocyte ghosts and platelets at the expense of ω-6 fatty acids. The concentration of serum cholesterol diminished in those fish consumers who lowered their lipid intake. Apolipo-protein A₁ and B were lowered in both fish-consuming groups. Triglyceride levels also showed a tendency to decrease. The formation of thromboxane B₂ during incubation of whole blood decreased in both fish-consuming groups. The decrease of plasma 6-keto-PGF_1α was not statistically significant, if compared with the controls. The results obtained indicate that a moderate intake of fish-containing meals has some beneficial effects on the plasma lipid and prostanoid metabolism, when coronary heart disease risk factors are considered.     

Formation and decay of neutron—deficient nuclei Po and Pb

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The block-transitive,point-imprimitive 2-(729, 8, 1) designs

The block-transitive point-imprimitive 2-(729,8,1) designs are classified. They all have full automorphism group of order 729.13 which is an extension of a groupN of order 729, acting regularly on points, by a group of order 13. There are, up to isomorphism, 27 designs withN elementary abelian, 13 designs withN=Z ₉ ³ and 427 designs withN the relatively free 3-generator, exponent 3, nilpotency class 2 group, a total of 467 designs. This classification completes the classification of block-transitive, point-imprimitive 2-(, k, 1) designs satisfying , which is the Delandtsheer-Doyen upper bound for the number of points of such designs. The only examples of block-transitive, point-imprimitive 2-(, k, 1) designs with are the 2-(729, 8, 1) designs constructed in this paper.The first three authors acknowledge the support of an Australian European Awards Program scholarship, a Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst scholarship, and an Australian Research Council Research Fellowship, respectivelyThe authors wish to thank Brendan McKay for his independent verification of the non-isomorphism of the classes of designs found, and of their automorphism groups, using different, nauty techniques [6].     

On the Measurement of the Neutron Lifetime Using Ultracold Neutrons in a Vacuum Quadrupole Trap

We present a conceptual design for an experiment to measure the neutron lifetime (~886 s) with an accuracy of 10⁻⁴. The lifetime will be measured by observing the decay rate of a sample of ultracold neutrons (UCN) confined in vacuum in a magnetic trap. The UCN collaboration at Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a prototype UCN source that is expected to produce a bottled UCN density of more than 100/cm³ [1]. The availability of such an intense source makes it possible to approach the measurement of the neutron lifetime in a new way. We argue below that it is possible to measure the neutron lifetime to 10⁻⁴ in a vacuum magnetic trap. The measurement involves no new technology beyond the expected UCN density. If even higher densities are available, the experiment can be made better and/or less expensive. We present the design and methodology for the measurement. The slow loss of neutrons that have stable orbits, but are not energetically trapped would produce a systematic uncertainty in the measurement. We discuss a new approach, chaotic cleaning, to the elimination of quasi-neutrons from the trap by breaking the rotational symmetry of the quadrupole trap. The neutron orbits take on a chaotic character and mode mixing causes the neutrons on the quasi-bound orbits to leave the trap.     

Precision Neutron Polarimetry for Neutron Beta Decay

The abBA collaboration is developing a new type of field-expansion spectrometer for a measurement of the three correlation coefficients a, A, and B and the shape parameter b. The measurement of A and B requires precision neutron polarimetry. We will polarize a pulsed cold neutron beam from the SNS using a ³He neutron spin filter. The well-known polarizing cross section for n-³He has a 1/v dependence, where v is the neutron velocity, which is used to determine the absolute beam polarization through a time-of-flight (TOF) measurement. We show that by measuring the TOF dependence of A and B, the coefficients and the neutron polarization can be determined with a small loss of the statistical precision and with negligible systematic error. We conclude that it is possible to determine the neutron polarization averaged over a long run in the neutron beta decay experiment with a statistical error less than 10⁻⁴. We discuss various sources of systematic uncertainty in the measurement of A and B and conclude that the fractional systematic errors are less than 2 × 10⁻⁴.     

Detector Development for the abBA Experiment

We have developed a new type of field-expansion spectrometer to measure the neutron beta decay correlations (a, b, B, and A). A precision measurement of these correlations places stringent requirements on charged particle detectors. The design employs large area segmented silicon detectors to detect both protons and electrons in coincidence. Other requirements include good energy resolution (< 5 keV), a thin dead layer to allow observation of 30-keV protons, fast timing resolution (~1 ns) to reconstruct electron-backscattering events, and nearly unity efficiency. We report results of testing commercially available surface-barrier silicon detectors for energy resolution and timing performance, and measurement of the dead-layer thickness of ion-implanted silicon detectors with a 3.2 MeV alpha source.     

Systemically but not orogastrically delivered insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and long [Arg3]IGF-I stimulates intestinal disaccharidase activity in two age groups of suckling rats

The growth mitogenic properties of IGF-I on tissues of the gastrointestinal tract are well established; however, IGF effects on enzyme maturation are less clear. To test whether IGF-I peptide administration stimulates disaccharidase activity, we administered IGF-I or the more potent analog, long [Arg3]IGF-I, at doses ranging between 2 and 12.5 micrograms g-1 d-1 to suckling Wistar rat pups by either continuous s.c. infusion or by three times daily orogastric gavage. Peptides were administered for approximately 6 d starting on d 6 or 12 postpartum with six to nine rats per group. The results of the study demonstrated that systemically but not orally administered IGF-I stimulated duodenal wet tissue weight (up to 85%) and length (up to 36%). Enzyme maturation was assessed by measuring disaccharidase biochemically in tissue homogenates. Enzyme activity was also localized histocytochemically in cryostat-sectioned duodenum. After systemic infusion of IGF-I, intestinal lactase activity increased proportional to mucosal mass in both age groups. Systemic infusion of the more potent analog, long [Arg3]IGF-I, precociously induced the decline in lactase activity and accelerated the appearance of sucrase activity in the rat pups infused during the later suckling period. These findings indicate that enzyme maturation can be accelerated by systemically derived IGF-I peptides. Orogastrically IGF-I peptides, delivered at pharmacologic doses, did not affect intestinal growth or digestive enzyme maturation in suckling rat pups treated between 6 and 18 d postpartum, indicating the efficacy of IGF-I peptides may depend on the route of delivery and postnatal age of the recipient.     

THE RECOVERABLE OIL AND GAS RESOURCES OF MONGOLIA

The data-base for this study is mainly unpublished Mongolian and Former Soviet Union reports (1958 to 1989), and studies conducted by or for the Mongol Petroleum Co. (Mongol Gazryn Tos: MGT) (1989 to 1992). A very small amount of data was obtained from published literature. Until 1989, the majority of work on the petroleum geology of Mongolia either condemned the prospects, or suggested that there was only very limited oil and gas potential.
However, the present evaluation, which is based on three years' work by the Author and his associates, supported by Mongol Petroleum Co. explorationists, is that three to six billion brls oil-equivalent (o.e.) of conventional recoverable oil and gas resources within the territory of Mongolia is a reasonable expectation. The expected "most likely" oilfield size ranges from 100 to 170 million (MM) brls o.e., with the "low" oilfield size ranging from 5 to 10 MM brls o.e. and the "high" oilfield size ranging from 330 to 700 MM brls o.e.
The concepts upon which these estimates are based were derived from Klemme (1980, 1983, 1986); Klemme and Ulmishek (1991); Ulmishek (1986); and Ulmishek and Klemme (1990).