Depletion of cortical norepinephrine in rats by 6-hydroxydopamine does not impair performance of a delayed-nonmatching-to-sample task.

Rats were trained on a spatial delayed-nonmatching-to-sample (DNMTS) task, matched for performance, and randomly assigned to treatment with dorsal noradrenergic bundle injections of either 6-hydroxydopamine, to deplete cortical norepinephrine (NE), or vehicle, to control for the effects of surgery. After recovery, there were no significant differences between the groups when retrained on the DNMTS task at retention intervals (RIs) from 0.1 to 15.0 sec. Furthermore, no differences were observed when rats were trained at a 6.0-sec RI filled with distracting stimuli or when dummy information runs were added to increase proactive interference. These results demonstrate that depletion of cortical NE cannot account for the DNMTS performance deficits observed in rats recovered from pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency (R. L. Knoth and R. G. Mair, 1991; J. K. Robinson and Mair, 1992). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ten-year clinical assessment of three posterior resin composites and two amalgams

OBJECTIVE: The long-term clinical performance of three posterior resin composites and two amalgams was assessed. METHOD AND MATERIALS: Thirty Class II restorations each of P-30, Occlusin, Clearfil Posterior (composites), New True Dentalloy, and Solila Nova (amalgams) were placed. Reviews took place at 6 months and at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 years. At each visit the gingival condition, the contact point status, and the presence of ledges, gaps, or recurrent caries were assessed. The color match, cavosurface marginal stain, general surface stain, tarnish, and corrosion were also scored where applicable. Epoxy resin replicas were used to measure the maximum depth of wear. RESULTS: After 10 years, there had been corrosion of both the high- and low-copper amalgams and a slight deterioration in color match of a number of composite restorations. Eighteen (of 20) Occlusin restorations had obvious cavosurface marginal stain, attributed to staining of the unfilled bonding resin layer. Statistical analysis indicated that New True Dentalloy, Solila Nova, and Clearfil-P exhibited significantly less wear than Occlusin and P-30. None of the restorations examined at the 10-year recall required replacement. CONCLUSION: The five materials, placed in a dental school environment, provided adequate clinical service for 10 years.     

GIS-based applications of sensitivity analysis for sewer models

Sensitivity analysis (SA) evaluates the impact of changes in model parameters on model predictions. Such an analysis is commonly used when developing or applying environmental models to improve the understanding of underlying system behaviours and the impact and interactions of model parameters. The novelty of this paper is a geo-referenced visualization of sensitivity indices for model parameters in a combined sewer model using geographic information system (GIS) software. The result is a collection of maps for each analysis, where sensitivity indices (calculated for model parameters of interest) are illustrated according to a predefined symbology. In this paper, four types of maps (an uncertainty map, calibration map, vulnerability map, and design map) are created for an example case study. This article highlights the advantages and limitations of GIS-based SA of sewer models. The conclusion shows that for all analyzed applications, GIS-based SA is useful for analyzing, discussing and interpreting the model parameter sensitivity and its spatial dimension. The method can lead to a comprehensive view of the sewer system.     

Involvement of Ventral Pallidum in Prefrontal Cortex-Dependent Aspects of Spatial Working Memory.

Ventral pallidum (VP) is an important source of limbic input to medial thalamus. Three studies examined the role of VP in spatial memory tasks impaired by medial thalamic lesions. In the 1st study, rats with VP lesions were impaired performing delayed matching trained with retractable levers (DMRL), a measure sensitive to prefrontal (but not hippocampal) damage. The 2nd study demonstrated dose-dependent DMRL impairment following microinjection of gamma-aminobutyric acidA, glutamate, or mu-opioid agonists in VP. In the 3rd study, VP lesions had no effect on varying choice radial-maze delayed nonmatching, a measure sensitive to hippocampal (but not prefrontal) lesions. These results suggest a common role in spatial memory for VP and other components of prefrontal-ventral striatopallidothalamic circuits distinct from hippocampal function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regulations and research on RC&S for hydrogen storage relevant to transport and vehicle issues with special focus on composite containments

Developers interested in high pressure storage of hydrogen for mobile use increasingly rely on composite cylinders for onboard storage or transport of dangerous goods. Thus, composite materials and systems deserve special consideration. History gives interesting background information important to the understanding of the current situation as to regulations, codes and standards.     

Antibiotic susceptibility of Bifidobacterium thermophilum and Bifidobacterium pseudolongum isolates from animal sources

The widespread use of antimicrobial substances has led to resistant populations of microorganisms in several ecosystems. In animal husbandry, the application of antibiotics has contributed to resistance development in pathogenic and commensal bacteria. These strains or their resistance genes can be spread along several ecological routes, including the food chain. Antibiotic resistance is important in terms of the safety of industrial strains, such as probiotics for food and feed. Bifidobacterium thermophilum and Bifidobacterium pseudolongum are known to comprise the major part of the bifidobacterial microbiota in the gut and feces of cattle and pigs. In this study, the antimicrobial susceptibility in bifidobacterial isolates of these species was investigated. Isolates from the beef and pork production chain were identified and typed to strain level, and the antimicrobial susceptibility level was tested to a set of antibiotics. Isolates with low susceptibility levels were screened by PCR for already described resistance genes. Strains atypically resistant to clindamycin, erythromycin, and tetracycline were determined. The resistance genes tet(O), tet(W), and erm(X) were detected in the bifidobacterial species that were examined.     

Risks and safety level of composite cylinders

The increasing amount of composite transport systems for hydrogen leads to new and therefore unknown potential hazards for general public. Due to lack of experience, risks of new technologies tend to be rated higher than existing familiar applications. An approach for probabilistic safety assessment of technologies or products requires the definition of minimal acceptable reliability levels. This ensures that the probability of a critical failure with a certain consequence is limited to an acceptable risk. But what is the acceptable risk and which risk results from specific probabilities of occurrence and consequences? This is always a very complex question. The following example is based on a probabilistic approach for safety assessment of composite cylinders developed at the BAM (Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing).     

Pentachlorophenylcellulose preparation and investigation on its applicability as a controlled release fungicide

Pentachlorophenylethers (PCP-ethers) of cellulose are prepared using cellulosetosylates as intermediates. The products release no measurable quantities of PCP into buffered solutions (pH 4, 7, and 9, resp.). However, the modified cellulose shows no fungicidal effect in agar plate tests with the usually cellulose-metabolizing fungus, Trichoderma viride. The lack of biological activity is attributed to the stability of the cellulose pentachlorophenyl ether bond.     

An explicit immunogenetic model of gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep

Gastrointestinal nematodes are a global cause of disease and death in humans, wildlife and livestock. Livestock infection has historically been controlled with anthelmintic drugs, but the development of resistance means that alternative controls are needed. The most promising alternatives are vaccination, nutritional supplementation and selective breeding, all of which act by enhancing the immune response. Currently, control planning is hampered by reliance on the faecal egg count (FEC), which suffers from low accuracy and a nonlinear and indirect relationship with infection intensity and host immune responses. We address this gap by using extensive parasitological, immunological and genetic data on the sheep–Teladorsagia circumcincta interaction to create an immunologically explicit model of infection dynamics in a sheep flock that links host genetic variation with variation in the two key immune responses to predict the observed parasitological measures. Using our model, we show that the immune responses are highly heritable and by comparing selective breeding based on low FECs versus high plasma IgA responses, we show that the immune markers are a much improved measure of host resistance. In summary, we have created a model of host–parasite infections that explicitly captures the development of the adaptive immune response and show that by integrating genetic, immunological and parasitological understanding we can identify new immune-based markers for diagnosis and control.