Kinetic analysis of papaya proteinase omega

Papaya proteinase omega (pp omega) has been purified from dried latex both by immunoaffinity and traditional methods. Kinetic analysis revealed that (1), the pp omega-catalysed hydrolysis of N-benzoyl-L-arginine p-nitroanilide (BApNA) has a lower specificity (kcat/Km) than the same reaction catalysed by papain; (2), the pp omega-catalysed hydrolysis of a tripeptide substrate having phenylalanine at the second position (S2-site) showed a more similar specificity to that catalysed by papain; (3), the significant difference between the two enzymes is that steady state kinetics with both L-BApNA and a tripeptide enables the identification in pp omega of other ionizations affecting binding. The active sites of papain and pp omega can therefore be distinguished by pH-dependence of kcat/Km.     

Problems in the hygienic rationalization of the therapeutic and prophylactic nutrition of industrial workers

Based on generalization and analysis of instructions and guidelines for therapeutical and prophylactic diets of workers, ways of its optimization were proposed, by using bifide-containing acid dairy products as a preventive agent against possible occupational diseases caused by occupational factors.     

First experiences with the modelling and simulation package MIRACLES applied to a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) in a clinical environment

Since the construction of picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) appears to be extremely difficult, computer modelling and simulation are used as decision support tools. The package MIRACLES (Medical Image Representation, Archiving and Communication Learned from Extensive Simulation) has been developed at BAZIS in order to support the construction of simulation models of image information systems. This article discusses the application of MIRACLES to a prototypical PACS as being installed in a clinical environment. Attention is focussed to the required system analysis and difficulties which arose during the construction of the simulation model. The emphasis is on the presentation of the results of the simulation study, which show that simulation can be fruitfully used to predict, to analyse and to assist in solving performance problems. The simulation study confirmed assumptions and suppositions concerning both the system performance itself and strategies to improve the performance. The study also resulted in a number of concrete recommendations which might be useful for the set-up of the prototypical PACS.     

D. K. Zabolotny Institute of Microbiology and Virology of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine (to the 65th anniversary of foundation)

The paper presents the results of treating patients with chronic nonspecific diseases of the lung by the use of extracorporeal ultraviolet autoblood irradiation (EUVABI). The marked clinical effect recorded after an EUVABI course coincided with the normalization of an erythrocytic membrane morphoform, which suggests that the severity of allergic and inflammatory reactions was liquidated and blood viscosity was improved. EUVABI led to positive changes in the pattern of morphotypes in the crystallogram of plasma, except the patients who showed no clinical effect, which indicates that plasma crystallography can be used as a diagnostic test in predicting the results of EUVABI application.     

Central GABAA and GABAB receptor modulation of basal and stress-induced plasma interleukin-6 levels in mice

The development of control strategies for loiasis is of crucial importance in endemic areas and depends heavily on the accurate identification of occult-infected individuals. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR) were developed and based on sequences of the repeat 3 region (15r3) of the gene encoding a Loa loa 15-kD protein. The assays was performed on 20 blood samples from occult-infected subjects and 30 from field-collected amicrofilaremic individuals. The size of the initial PCR product was 396 basepairs (bp). When this initial amplification using primers 15r3(1) and 15r3(2) was carried out for 30 cycles, the PCR products from three of the 20 occult-infected and five of the 30 amicrofilaremic individuals were visualized after electrophoresis by staining the gel with ethidium bromide. Subsequent Southern blotting and hybridization with the specific probe revealed hybridization in 19 of 20 occult-infected and 23 of 30 amicrofilaremic samples but only after two days of exposure of the blot to the x-ray film. When the nested PCR was carried out (product size = 366 bp, primers 15r3(3) and 15r3(4)), 19 of 20 occult-infected and 23 of 30 amicrofilaremic samples that were positive by Southern hybridization of the initial PCR products were strongly positive by staining with ethidium bromide. Qualitative Southern blotting of the nested PCR products using the same probe previously described confirmed the ethidium bromide staining results after a very short exposure time of 4 hr. These results demonstrate that the nested PCR amplification product is specific and that its sensitivity in detecting occult loiasis is 95%. This approach has significant promise for the screening of large human populations for active loiasis without the requirement for blotting and hybridization of the PCR products.     

The residue of vector sets with applications to decidability problems in Petri nets

Summary A set K of integer vectors is called right-closed, if for any elementmK all vectors mm are also contained in K. In such a case K is a semilinear set of vectors having a minimal generating set res(K), called the residue of K. A general method is given for computing the residue set of a right-closed set, provided it satisfies a certain decidability criterion.Various right-closed sets wich are important for analyzing, constructing, or controlling Petri nets are studied. One such set is the set CONTINUAL(T) of all such markings which have an infinite continuation using each transition infinitely many times. It is shown that the residue set of CONTINUAL(T) can be constructed effectively, solving an open problem of Schroff. The proof also solves problem 24 (iii) in the EATCS-Bulletin. The new methods developed in this paper can also be used to show that it is decidable, whether a signal net is prompt [23] and whether certain -languages of a Petri net are empty or not.It is shown, how the behaviour of a given Petri net can be controlled in a simple way in order to realize its maximal central subbehaviour, thereby solving a problem of Nivat and Arnold, or its maximal live subbehaviour as well. This latter approach is used to give a new solution for the bankers problem described by Dijkstra.Since the restriction imposed on a Petri net by a fact [11] can be formulated as a right closed set, our method also gives a new general approach for implementations of facts.     

Age-related differences in emotion recognition ability: A cross-sectional study.

Experimental studies indicate that recognition of emotions, particularly negative emotions, decreases with age. However, there is no consensus at which age the decrease in emotion recognition begins, how selective this is to negative emotions, and whether this applies to both facial and vocal expression. In the current cross-sectional study, 607 participants ranging in age from 18 to 84 years (mean age = 32.6 ± 14.9 years) were asked to recognize emotions expressed either facially or vocally. In general, older participants were found to be less accurate at recognizing emotions, with the most distinctive age difference pertaining to a certain group of negative emotions. Both modalities revealed an age-related decline in the recognition of sadness and—to a lesser degree—anger, starting at about 30 years of age. Although age-related differences in the recognition of expression of emotion were not mediated by personality traits, 2 of the Big 5 traits, openness and conscientiousness, made an independent contribution to emotion-recognition performance. Implications of age-related differences in facial and vocal emotion expression and early onset of the selective decrease in emotion recognition are discussed in terms of previous findings and relevant theoretical models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between arterial oxygen tension and cerebral blood flow during cardiopulmonary bypass

BACKGROUND: The precise mechanisms involved in islet xenograft rejection remain unknown. The purpose of the present study was to determine cellular mechanisms responsible for islet xenograft rejection in the liver to facilitate finding a procedure for prevention of immune rejection. METHODS: Hepatic mononuclear cells (MNC) as well as splenocytes, peripheral blood MNC, and thymocytes from streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice (BALB/c) rejecting the intrahepatic rat (Lewis) islet xenografts were isolated and examined by two-color FACS analysis. RESULTS: The characteristic finding of the hepatic MNC from the mice rejecting islet xenografts compared with mice receiving isografts was a significant increase in the yield as well as in the percentage of the cells expressing CD3+ interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) alpha- beta+, CD3+ CD8alpha+ beta+, and T cell receptor (TCR) alphabeta+ lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1+. The expression of CD3 and TCR alphabeta of these T cells was found to be of intermediate intensity (TCR(int) cells). The expansion of these TCR(int) cells occurred predominantly in the liver. There was no significant difference in the cells expressing CD3+ IL-2R alpha+, CD3+ CD4+, CD3+ TCRgammadelta+, CD3- IL-2Rbeta+ (natural killer cells), and B220+ (B cells). In vivo administration of anti-IL-2Rbeta monoclonal antibody directed to the expanded cells produced a prevention of rejection. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that islet xenograft rejection in the liver from rat to mouse is an event for which the TCR(int) cells are responsible.