Prospective comparison of CT angiography of the legs with intraarterial digital subtraction angiography.

1996

The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of CT angiography (CTA) with a single spiral acquisition for the diagnosis of arterial stenoses and occlusion in patients with peripheral vascular occlusive disease.In a prospective study, intraarterial digital subtraction angiography and i.v. CTA from the groin to the lower calves were performed on 50 patients with vascular occlusive disease. Maximum-intensity-projection images in multiple views were produced. The accuracy of CTA with and without analysis of the axial scans was determined with digital subtraction angiography as the standard.The sensitivities of CTA were 100% for the diagnosis of femoral artery occlusion, 100% for the dete…

On orienting the hand to reach and grasp an object.

1996

Subjects were required to reach and grasp a parallelepiped, the position, orientation and size of which were varied. The kinematics of reaching and grasping movements was studied in full vision and in no vision conditions. Both direction and movement amplitude of reaching were affected by object orientation. Conversely, both the time course of finger axis orientation and the angular displacement of the hand at wrist were influenced by object position. These results were not modified by the absence of visual control. Finger aperture during grasping was affected by both object size and orientation. This latter result was not due to a distorted size perception, as shown by a control matching e…

ERPs to pitch changes: a result of reduced responses to standard tones in rabbits.

1996

EVENT-RELATED potentials (ERPs) were recorded in rabbits when pitch deviant tones occurred in a series of standard tones (oddball situation). In control recordings, the deviant tones were presented without the standard tones (deviant-alone situation). In the oddball situation, significant difference ERPs (deviant ERPs - standard ERPs) could be found in the hippocampal and cerebellar recordings but not in the visual cortex. All the ERPs to the deviant stimuli observed in the oddball situation were also present in the deviant-alone situation. The difference ERPs were therefore based on reduced responses to the standards. The results are discussed in the context of a mismatch negativity (MMN) …

Processing and mechanical properties of recycled PVC and of homopolymer blends with virgin PVC

1996

Mechanical and processing properties of recycled polyvinylchloride (PVC, from bottles and pipes) were compared with those of virgin pipe grade PVC. Blends of recycled and pipe grade PVC were also prepared and characterized. It was found that the particle size and the restabilization of the recycled PVC are the two main points to be considered for obtaining virgin/recycled PVC blends with uniform and good mechanical properties. In general, recycled PVC not only does not significantly reduce the modulus and tensile strength, but also improves the impact strength and processing behavior of pipe grade virgin PVC. Only the thermomechanical resistance is slightly lowered. The latter points hold, …

Mode of action of elicitors: Involvement of plasma membrane functions

1996

International audience

Deformations of Differential Calculi

1996

It has been suggested that quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field could give rise in the lowest approximation to an effective noncommutative version of Kaluza-Klein theory which has as extra hidden structure a noncommutative geometry. It would seem however from the Standard Model, at least as far as the weak interactions are concerned, that a double-sheeted structure is the phenomenologically appropriate one at present accelerator energies. We examine here to what extent this latter structure can be considered as a singular limit of the former.

Noise Enhanced Stability in an Unstable System

1996

We experimentally detect noise enhanced stability in an unstable physical system. The average escape time from a metastable, periodically driven, system is measured in the stable and unstable regimes in a noisy environment. In the unstable regime, we measure that the average escape time has a maximum for a finite value of the noise intensity. The scaling properties of the average escape time and of the variance of escape times are compared with the predictions obtained for a system in a marginal state.

Proton Decay of an Intruder State inB185i

1996

The new proton radioactivity ${}^{185m}\mathrm{Bi}$ has been observed, produced via the ${}^{95}\mathrm{Mo}{(}^{92}\mathrm{Mo},pn{)}^{185}\mathrm{Bi}$ reaction. Its decay proceeds from the low-lying ${\frac{1}{2}}^{+}$ intruder state in ${}^{185}\mathrm{Bi}$ to the ${}^{184}\mathrm{Pb}$ ground state with the emission of a proton of energy $1.585\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.009\mathrm{MeV}$ and a half-life of $44\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}16\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s}$. This marks the first observation of proton radioactivity above the $Z\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}82$ closed shell, and it has been used to obtain the admixture of a ${0}^{+}$ intruder state in ${}^{184…

The structure and phase transition of mixed crystals

1996

The phase transition and molecular motions of methylammonium cations are studied in the temperature range from 110 to 450 K in the (x = 0.22, 0.345) (MACAB) crystal by x-ray DSC, dilatometric, dielectric and NMR techniques. It is shown that MACAB (x = 0.22) undergoes a structural phase transition at 222 K. The second moment of the NMR line () and the temperature dependence of spin lattice relaxation time () results are interpreted in terms of ( ion dynamics. In the high-temperature phase (I) the cations undergo isotropic reorientations. In the low-temperature phase (II) only one of three cations is still disordered, whereas the two others perform a type of reorientation about their C - N ax…

Chiral symmetry amplitudes in the s-wave isoscalar and isovector channels and the $\sigma, f_0(980), a_0 (980)$ scalar mesons

1996

We use a nonpertubative approach which combines coupled channel Lippmann Schwinger equations with meson-meson potentials provided by the lowest order chiral Lagrangian. By means of one parameter, a cut off in the momentum of the loop integrals, which results of the order of 1 GeV, we obtain singularities in the S-wave amplitudes corresponding to the $\sigma$, f_0 and a_0 resonances. The $\pi \pi \to \pi \pi, \pi \pi \to K \bar{K}$ phase shifts and inelasticities in the T = 0 scalar channel are well reproduced as well as the $\pi^0 \eta$ and $K \bar{K}$ mass distributions in the T = 1 channel. Furthermore, the total and partial decay widths of the f_0 and a_0 resonances are properly reproduc…

Eine allgemeine und effiziente Methode zur Monohydroxylierung von Alkanen

1996

Extracellular Domains of the Bradykinin B2 Receptor Involved in Ligand Binding and Agonist Sensing Defined by Anti-peptide Antibodies

1996

Many of the physiological functions of bradykinin are mediated via the B2 receptor. Little is known about binding sites for bradykinin on the receptor. Therefore, antisera against peptides derived from the putative extracellular domains of the B2 receptor were raised. The antibodies strongly reacted with their corresponding antigens and cross-reacted both with the denatured and the native B2 receptor. Affinity-purified antibodies to the various extracellular domains were used to probe the contact sites between the receptor and its agonist, bradykinin or its antagonist HOE140. Antibodies to extracellular domain 3 (second loop) efficiently interfered, in a concentration-dependent manner, with…

Assessment of normal patellar cartilage volume and thickness using MRI: an analysis of currently available pulse sequences.

1996

Objective. The objective of this study was to analyse the potential of magnetic resonance imaging for valid determination of patellar cartilage thickness, comparing currently available pulse sequences. Design. In six patients and one cadaver the cartilage was repetitively imaged employing three spin-echo and six three-dimensional gradient-echo sequences. In the cadaveric specimen the total volume and the regional distribution of cartilage thickness were assessed and compared with the values obtained from anatomical sections by image analysis. Results and conclusions. The FLASH and fat-suppressed FLASH sequences allowed the most accurate determination of the cartilage volume and thickness. F…

Apolipoprotein E polymorphism is associated with both senile plaque load and Alzheimer-type neurofibrillary tangle formation.

1996

Recent work provided evidence that the apolipoprotein (apo) E polymorphism is associated with late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease. The major histological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease are the extraneuronal deposition of A4/beta-amyloid and the intraneuronal formation of neurofibrillary tangles, the latter correlating strongly with the psychometric status. We examined the relationship between the apo E polymorphism and Alzheimer's disease-related histological changes using a staging system which accounts for the progression of the disease over time and correlates well with the cognitive decline ante mortem. We observed a significant positive correlation between both neurofibrillary ch…

Analytic O(alpha_s) Results for Bottom and Top Quark Production in e+ e- Collisions

1996

We present a new derivation of the O(alpha_s) angular distribution of the outgoing $q$-quark in the production process $e^+ e^- \to\gamma,Z\to q\,\bar{q}(g)$. In our calculation, we express the three-particle phase-space integration of the gluon-bremsstrahlung process in terms of a general set of analytic integral solutions. A consistent treatment of the QCD one-loop corrections to the axial-vector current deserves special attention. This is relevant in the derivation of the forward-backward asymmetry predicted by the standard model. Finally, we provide the full analytical solutions for the differential rates in closed form and conclude with numerical estimates for bottom and top quark prod…

Insulin-like growth factors in chick embryo retina during development.

1996

Evidence exists supporting an important role for insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) during fetal growth. In the present report we performed studies to define whether developing chick retina contains IGFs and whether IGFs play a role in the growth of this tissue. We have shown that both IGF-I and IGF-II are present in chick embryo retina throughout development (7th-18th day). The highest values, when expressed as ng/g of tissue, were found in the youngest retinas studied (7th-9th day) and at 16th-18th day of development. During whole development the content of IGF-II was about two to three times higher than that ascertained for IGF-I. The tissue also contains cell-surface binding for IGFs. H…

Isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic determination of tryptophan in infant formulas.

1996

The application to infant formulas of a method for tryptophan determination by isocratic HPLC with UV detection at 254 nm, after derivatization with phenyl isothiocyanate, was studied. Protein was hydrolysed by barium hydroxide at 120 degrees C for 8 h, followed by derivatization with phenyl isothiocyanate, HPLC and UV detection at 254 nm. The optimum chromatographic conditions (pH, ionic strength of elution solvent and eluent ratio) were established. The analytical parameters (linearity, precision, accuracy of derivatization and limits of detection and quantification) were determined. The values obtained demonstrated that the method is useful for determining the tryptophan content of infan…

Transposons Tn916 and Tn925 can transfer from Enterococcus faecalis to Leuconostoc oenos

1996

The streptococcal transposons Tn916 and Tn925 were transferred to several strains of Leuconostoc (Ln.) oenos using the filter mating method. The insertion of both transposons into the chromosome occurred at different sites. Transconjugants of Ln. oenos carrying Tn916 could serve as donors in mating experiments with Lactococcus lactis LM2301. Further analysis of L. lactis LM2301 transconjugants showed that the insertion of the transposon Tn916 into the chromosome was site-specific. These studies establish a basis for the initiation of genetic studies in this Leuconostoc species since there are no efficient conjugal or transformation systems previously described for this microorganism.

PRK1 phosphorylates MARCKS at the PKC sites: serine 152, serine 156 and serine 163

1996

AbstractThe 80kDa Myristolated Alanine-Rich C-Kinase Substrate (MARCKS) in a major in vivo substrate of protein kinase C (PKC). Here we report that MARCKS is a major substrate for the lipid-activated PKC-related kinase (PRK1) in cell extracts. Furthermore, PRK1 is shown to phosphorylate MARCKS on the same sites as PKC in vitro. Thus, control of MARCKS phosphorylation on these previously identified ‘PKC’ sites may be regulated under certain circumstances by PRK as well as PKC mediated signalling pathways. The implications for MARCKS as a marker of PKC activation and as a point of signal convergence are discussed.

Cloning and Sequencing of a cDNA Encoding a Larval-Pupal-Specific Cuticular Protein in Tenebrio Molitor (Insecta, Coleoptera). Developmental Expressi…

1996

A cDNA clone encoding a larval-pupal cuticular protein, named TMLPCP-22, has been isolated by screening a library in expression vector with a monoclonal antibody made against pupal cuticular proteins of Tenebrio molitor. Northern-blot and in situ hybridization analyses showed that the expression of TMLPCP-22 is regulated in a stage-specific and tissue-specific manner; the transcript was present during the secretion of preecdysial larval and pupal cuticles and was restricted to epidermal cells. No expression was observed during adult cuticle deposition. In supernumerary pupae obtained after application of a juvenile hormone analogue, which is known to inhibit the adult programme, TMLPCP-22 m…

1,3,5-triisopropylbenzene diffusion in polystyrene solutions

1996

Self-diffusion coefficients of 1,3,5-triisopropylbenzene (TIB) in binary solutions with polystyrene and ternary mixtures comprised of TIB, toluene, and polystyrene have been measured by static gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (SG-NMR) techniques. These data, as well as mutual-diffusion coefficient data measured by capillary column inverse gas chromatography (CCIGC), have been analyzed here with the Vrentas-Duda free-volume diffusion model. Although both binary and ternary diffusion coefficient data can be accurately correlated with the model, the results contradict those of an earlier investigation, which suggested that TIB diffuses as a single unit in polystyrene solutions. The new data…

Searching for Invisibly Decaying Higgs Bosons at LEP II

1996

We study the potential of LEP II to unravel the existence of invisibly decaying Higgs bosons, predicted in a wide class of models. We perform a model independent analysis, focusing our attention to the final state topologies exhibiting $b \bar{b}$ or $\ell^+ \ell^-$ ($\ell=\mu$ or $e$) pairs and missing energy. We carefully evaluate the signals and backgrounds, choosing appropriate cuts to enhance the discovery limits. Our results demonstrate that LEP II is capable of discovering such a Higgs boson for a wide range of masses and couplings.

Enseñanza de las ciencias : revista de investigación y experiencias didácticas

1996

Resumen basado en el de la publicación Resumen en inglés La evolución histórica del principio de Le Chatelier está relacionada con su uso en el aula de química. La aparente simplicidad en la cual el principio de Le Chatelier fue formulado por primera vez y el éxito logrado en la implementación de algunos procesos industriales importantes le dio un reconocimiento inicial que aún perdura. Sin embargo, desde el comienzo de este siglo, diferentes autores han señalado el carácter limitado de la regla cualitativa y su formulación vaga y ambigua. Además, la termodinámica dada por el Principio de Le Chatelier en algunas formulaciones cuantitativas limitan su aplicabilidad. Sin embargo, la mayoría d…

El trabajo práctico en la enseñanza de las ciencias: una revisión

1996

Resumen basado en el de la publicación Resumen en inglés Se presenta una revisión sobre la efectividad de las prácticas en educación científica en los niveles secundario y terciario. A través de la revisión de más de cien referencias, se concluye que no se han proporcionado argumentos sólidos para justificar la gran cantidad de recursos materiales y humanos necesarios para la implementación de esta herramienta educativa. A pesar de estos resultados decepcionantes, los autores no se niega el papel central de las prácticas en la educación científica y se justifican estos resultados negativos al invocar la gran complejidad del tema, la ambigüedad que rodea el término «prácticas», y una metodol…

Induction des cytochromes P450 1A1 et 1A2 et d'autres enzymes du métabolisme des xénobiotiques par des caroténoïdes chez le rat et la souris . Implic…

1996

National audience

Evaluation of Triflumuron, a benzoylphenylurea derivative, onTenebrio molitorpupae (Col., Tenebrionidae): effects on cuticle

1996

Triflumuron (TFM), a benzoylphenylurea (BPU) derivative, exhibited insecticidal activity when injected to newly ecdysed pupae of Tenebrio molitor. Mortality occurs by defect in adult ecdysis. Treatment resulted in a significant increase in the duration of pupal stage and caused a reduction in both cuticle thickness and incorporation of ''C-labelled precursor into chitin compared to controls. Moreover, TFM reduced the amount of cuticle chitin without any significant effect on protein level. Thus, TFM acts by preventing the chitin biosynthesis confirming the primary mode of action of the BPU insecticides.

Etude des effets collisionnels dans les molécules tétraédriques. Applications au méthane perturbé par l'argon

1996

This thesis is devoted to the study of relaxational and collisional line-broadening processes in the first vibrational polyads of tetrahedral molecules. In a first part, the particular internal dynamics of such molecules is discussed. The second chapter reviews the literature on phenomena induced by intermolecular interactions involving this type of molecules. More theoretical aspects are developed in the second part. The so-called tetrahedral tensorial formalism adapted to the construction of Hamiltonians and transition moments of tetrahedral molecules is described. Main features of the infrared line-shapes theories and of semi-classical line-broadening and line-shifting calculations are a…

La utilización de la historia de las ciencias en la enseñanza de la física y la química

1996

Most recently we have assisted to a considerable increase of investigations on cons tructivi Stic approaches to Science teaching, but among all these works we rarely found detailed proposals for including the History and Philosophy of Science. In this paper we consider how to initiate this trend and which should be the aims in order to get a better Science teaching. We consider basically which the pupils’ perceptions of Science in a High School level are in order to show how we can modify them by means of introducing the History of Science under a new perspective.

Commensurators of parabolic subgroups of Coxeter groups

1996

Let $(W,S)$ be a Coxeter system, and let $X$ be a subset of $S$. The subgroup of $W$ generated by $X$ is denoted by $W_X$ and is called a parabolic subgroup. We give the precise definition of the commensurator of a subgroup in a group. In particular, the commensurator of $W_X$ in $W$ is the subgroup of $w$ in $W$ such that $wW_Xw^{-1}\cap W_X$ has finite index in both $W_X$ and $wW_Xw^{-1}$. The subgroup $W_X$ can be decomposed in the form $W_X = W_{X^0} \cdot W_{X^\infty} \simeq W_{X^0} \times W_{X^\infty}$ where $W_{X^0}$ is finite and all the irreducible components of $W_{X^\infty}$" > are infinite. Let $Y^\infty$ be the set of $t$ in $S$ such that $m_{s,t}=2$" > for all $s\in X^\i…

The mechanism of binding staphylococcal protein A to immunoglobin G does not involve helix unwinding.

1996

Structural changes in staphylococcal protein A (SpA) upon its binding to the constant region (Fc) of immunoglobulin G (IgG) have been studied by nuclear magnetic resonance and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. The NMR solution structure of the engineered IgG-binding domain of SpA, the Z domain (an analogue of the B domain of SpA), has been determined by simulated annealing with molecular dynamics, using 599 distance and dihedral angle constraints. Domain Z contains three alpha-helices in the polypeptide segments Lys7 to His18 (helix 1), Glu25 to Asp36 (helix 2), and Ser41 to Ala54 (helix 3). The overall chain fold is an antiparallel three-helical bundle. This is in contrast to the previ…

Matrix solid-phase dispersion extraction procedure for multiresidue pesticide analysis in oranges.

1996

A multiresidue extraction method based on matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) is optimized for the extraction and gas chromatographic screening of eighteen insecticides (aldrin, carbophenothion, captafol, chlorpyriphos, chlorfenvinphos, diazinon, dicofol, alpha-endosulfan, beta-endosulfan, ethion, fenitrothion, folpet, methidathion, malathion, methyl-azinphos, methyl-parathion, phosmet, and tetradifon) from oranges. After optimization of different parameters, such as type of solid phase used and the amount of solid phase or eluent, recoveries ranged from 67 to 102% with relative standard deviations ranging from 2 to 10%. The limits of detection, calculated as 3 times the baseline noise ran…

Echelles, hiérarchies et fait urbain

1996

Réflexion méthodologique qui reprend les résultats de la précédente thèse.

IL TERATOMA ED IL CHIRURGO PEDIATRA. Considerazioni sull'approccio e valutazioni dalla Casistica Nazionale "TCG 91".

1996

Germ Cell Tumors (GCT) are rare in childhood, accounting for 2-4% of all solid neoplasms. Teratoma is the most frequent histological type (50%) of GCT and the most important neonatal tumors.. Authors analyze the results of the first Italian Multicentric Cooperative Study on GCTs in childhood (TCG 91). The role of surgical radical excision of the mass with thw coccyx in sacrococcygeal forms is streassed.

Efficacy of Acellular Pertussis Vaccine in Early Childhood After Household Exposure

1996

Objective. —To evaluate the efficacy of a three-dose primary vaccination with a diphtheria-tetanus tricomponent acellular pertussis vaccine against "typical" pertussis, defined as a spasmodic cough of 21 days or longer with confirmation of Bordetella pertussis infection by culture or serology. Design. —Passive monitoring for suspected first household (index) cases of typical pertussis in six areas in Germany comprising 22 505 children vaccinated with study vaccine at 3, 4, and 5 months of age. Blinded, prospective follow-up of household contacts of index cases for incidence and progression of pertussis. Setting. —Six areas in Germany with a high incidence of pertussis. Subjects. —Four hundr…

X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies of the off-center Ni2+ions in Ni c Mg 1-c O solid solutions

1996

In this work we present the x-ray absorption spectroscopy study of NicMg1-cO (0.01 <EQ c <EQ 1) solid solutions. The extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) above the Ni K-edge was analyzed using the multi-shell fitting procedure. It was found that nickel ions are located in a distorted environment and shift upon dilution to the off- center positions. This fact follows from two main results: (1) in the first shell, the average Ni- O distance increases linearly upon dilution; (2) in the second shell, the average Ni-Ni distance remains unchanged and decreases slightly at low nickel concentration while the dependence of the Ni-Mg distance has a break at c approximately equals 0.6 and …

Thermal and Light-Induced Spin Transition in the High- and Low-Temperature Structure of [Fe0.35Ni0.65(mtz)6](ClO4)2

1996

The thermal and light induced spin transition in [Fe(0.35)Ni(0.65)(mtz)(6)](ClO(4))(2) (mtz = 1-methyl-1H-tetrazole) was studied by (57)Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements. In addition to the spin transition of the iron(II) complexes the compound undergoes a structural phase transition. The high-temperature structure could be determined by X-ray crystallography of the isomorphous [Fe(0.25)Ni(0.75)(mtz)(6)](ClO(4))(2) complex at room temperature. The X-ray structural analysis shows this complex to be rhombohedric, space group Rthremacr;, with a = 10.865(2) Å and c = 23.65(1) Å with three molecules in the unit cell. The transition to the low-temperature structur…