Substituted fatty acids in the leaves of some higher plants

Substituted (hydroxy-, epoxy- and dicarboxy) fatty acids have been analyzed in the needles of two gymnosperms (Pinus sylvestris andJuniperus communis) and the leaves of four angiosperms (Betula verrucosa, Populus nigra, Quercus petraea andCorylus avellana) growing in the Lake Léman basin. The differences in the distributions of the acids that have been analyzed are greater between the various species than between the spring and autumn samples of a given species. Moreover, the isomeric composition of the 8,16-, 9,16- and 10,16-dihy-droxypalmitic acid mixture is specific for each species.     

Identification of staphylococci and dominant lactic acid bacteria in spontaneously fermented Swiss meat products using PCR-RFLP

Pathogenic, spoilage, and technologically important microorganisms were monitored in 21 spontaneously fermented Swiss meat products manufactured with meat from wildlife or animals grown in natural habitat. Thereby, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) on rpoB and 16S rRNA gene sequences provided a powerful tool for fast and accurate identification of the main microbial population. Lactobacillus sakei and Lactobacillus curvatus dominated in fermented meat products followed by Staphylococcus species, which constituted 88.2% of all Gram-positive, catalase-positive cocci (GCC⁺) with cell counts varying from 2.6 to 7.0 log cfu/g during maturation. Staphylococcus equorum was prevalent in frequency and cell counts during maturation (18.0%; 5.0-7.3 log cfu/g) and in the end products (28.4%; 1.8-6.2 log cfu/g) implicating a new presumptive starter species for meat fermentation. Nine out of 14 end products indicated safety risks to consumers due to the high incidence of Staphylococcus saprophyticus or Staphylococcus epidermidis combined with cell counts of 7.4 and 4.9 log cfu/g, respectively. This fact was supported by the detection of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacteriaceae in ready-to-eat products strongly exceeding the tolerable limit of 2 log cfu/g. Spontaneously fermented meat products produced from wildlife or animals grown in natural habitats not only gave rise to hygienic and safety concerns but also provided new presumptive starter strains.     

Course, prognosis and therapy of enterococcal meningitis as compared with other streptococcal meningitides

Seventy-five cases of enterococcal meningitis and 182 cases of meningitis caused by other streptococci are collected from the literature and discussed. Enterococcal meningitis occurs preferentially in debilitated patients at the extremes of life, i.e. in infants, small children and the elderly sick. Streptococcal meningitis, by contrast, may occur at any age in infected individuals. Enterococcal meningitis not uncommonly occurs in the presence of mixed infections. Residual defects following recovery are found in both forms of the disease even where therapy was apparently adequate.     

Why grades engender performance-avoidance goals: The mediating role of autonomous motivation.

Evaluation is an inescapable feature of academic life with regular grading and performance appraisals at school and at university. Although previous research has indicated that evaluation and grading in particular are likely to have a substantial impact on motivational processes, little attention has been paid to the relationship between grading and approach versus avoidance achievement goals, 2 fundamental concerns whenever evaluation is at stake. Three experiments, carried out in professional schools, revealed that expectation of a grade for a task, compared with no grade, consistently induced greater adoption of performance-avoidance, but not performance-approach, goals. Experiments 2 and 3 revealed that expectation of a grade, compared with no grade, consistently induced greater adoption of performance-avoidance goals even when grading was accompanied by a formative comment. Furthermore, Experiment 3 showed that reduced autonomous motivation measured after having completed a task for a grade versus no grade mediated the relationship between grading and adoption of performance-avoidance goals in a subsequent task. Results are discussed in the light of achievement goal and self-determination theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigation of multiple solutions for gas cooled current leads and results of survey information on current leads

This paper is divided into two distinct sections. In the first section, we investigate the possible existence of multiple steady state solutions for a gas cooled lead. In the second section, we summarize calculated values of the runaway and recovery times for 31 current leads in use throughout the world.     

System Prototype and Verification Using Metamodel-Based Transformations

Mapping domain-specific languages' core concepts into the concurrent object-oriented Petri nets formal specification language provides users with the semantics necessary for developing prototypes for these DSLs. Different knowledge domains demand different types of support from software languages. Domain engineers often use domain-specific languages to overcome this problem. DSLs are difficult to design, implement, and maintain and are often less efficient than hand-coded software. To address some of these problems, we propose transforming a DSL into the concurrent object-oriented Petri nets formalism. The DSL metamodel serves as the transformation's starting point. The transformation represents the semantic mapping between the DSL and CO-OPN. We aim both to provide a formally defined semantics for the DSL and, because we integrate CO-OPN in a framework, to provide the functionalities that allow model verification and fast prototype generation for the DSL     

Characterization of GLUT5 domains responsible for fructose transport

The domains responsible for the fructose specificity of GLUT5 were investigated by creating chimeras of GLUT5 with the selective glucose transporter GLUT3, which were expressed in Xenopus oocytes. 3-O-Methylglucose uptake of chimeric GLUT3-5 (M11; GLUT3 to the 11th transmembrane domain, GLUT5 to the carboxyl end) was similar to that of GLUT3, while fructose was not transported. Fructose uptake of chimeric GLUT5-3 (M3-5) to -5 (GLUT3 from the 3rd to 5th transmembrane domains, the rest GLUT5) was similar to that of GLUT5; no glucose was transported. Four chimeras transported neither fructose nor glucose: GLUT3-5 (M5; GLUT3 to the 5th transmembrane domain, GLUT5 to the carboxyl end), GLUT5-3 (M2; GLUT5 to the 2nd transmembrane domain, the rest GLUT3), GLUT5-3 (M3-11) to -5 (GLUT3 between the 3rd and 11th transmembrane domains, the rest GLUT5) and GLUT5-3 (M3-5) to -5-3 (M11; GLUT3 from the 3rd to 5th transmembrane domains and after the 11th transmembrane domain, the rest GLUT5). They, nevertheless, induced full-size proteins that were transported to the cell surface, as demonstrated by exofacial labeling with biotin. To conclude, the GLUT5 domain from the amino-terminus to the third transmembrane domain and that between the 5th and 11th transmembrane stretches seem to be necessary for fructose uptake.     

Pragmatic reuse for DSML development

Software and Systems Modeling - By bridging the semantic gap, domain-specific language (DSLs) serve an important role in the conquest to allow domain experts to model their systems themselves. In...     

Detection of ATP by “in line” 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy during oxygenated hypothermic pulsatile perfusion of pigs’ kidneys

Object

To demonstrate that adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which provides a valuable biomarker for kidney viability in the context of donation after cardiac death (DCD) transplantation, can be detected by means of ³¹P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) if kidneys are perfused with oxygenated hypothermic pulsatile perfusion (O₂+HPP).

Materials and methods

Porcine kidney perfusion was carried out using a home made, MR-compatible HPP-machine. Consequently, kidney perfusion could be performed continuously during magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy recording. ³¹P MR spectroscopy consisted of 3-dimensional chemical shift imaging (CSI), which allowed for the detection of ATP level in line. ³¹P CSI was performed at 3?tesla in 44?min with a nominal voxel size of 6.1?cc.

Results

³¹P CSI enabled the detection of renal ATP when pO₂ was equal to 100?kPa. With pO₂ of 20?kPa, only phosphomonoester, inorganic phosphate and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide could be found. Semi-quantitative analysis showed that ATP level was 1.3?mM in normal kidney perfused with pO₂ of 100?kPa.

Conclusions

This combined technology may constitute a new advance in DCD organ diagnostics prior to transplantation, as it allows direct assessment of ATP concentration, which provides a reliable indicator for organ bioenergetics and viability. In this study, kidneys presenting no warm ischemia were tested in order to establish values in normal organs. The test could be easily integrated into the clinical environment and would not generate any additional delay into the transplantation clinical workflow.