Isolation of the Endothelin B Receptor from Bovine Lung Structure, Signal Sequence, and Binding Site

1995

Bovine lung endothelin-B receptor has been isolated in good yield with a new procedure involving the use of endothelin-1 coupled to iminobiotin with a long spacer and avidin-agarose affinity chromatography. Contrary to previous reports, evidence has been obtained that the native form of this receptor corresponds to the full-length transcript expected on the basis of cDNA clones. The binding of endothelin to a variety of shortened fragments of the full receptor suggests that the long N-terminal sequence of this receptor has very little influence on the binding of endothelin and that the main determinants of the endothelin binding site might be constituted by residues in the sixth, and possib…

Flow cytometric DNA analysis and lysosomal cathepsins b and l in locally advanced laryngeal cancer. Relationship with clinicopathologic parameters an…

1995

Background. The traditional factors of locally advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) have limited predictive value for the identification of high risk patients. Therefore, it is extremely important to define prognostic factors that identify the more aggressive types. Reliable and reproducible prognostic indicators are being investigated to help clinicians identify high risk groups and address more rational treatment. Methods. Flow cytometric DNA ploidy and S-phase fraction (SPF) measurements were performed on frozen tumor tissues from a consecutive series of 71 patients with Stage III and IV LSCC. Lysosomal cathepsin B and L activity levels were determined biochemically in match…

Flow cytometric DNA analysis and lysosomal cathepsins B and L in locally advanced laryngeal cancer. Relationship with clinicopathologic parameters an…

1995

Background. The traditional factors of locally advanced laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) have limited predictive value for the identification of high risk patients. Therefore, it is extremely important to define prognostic factors that identify the more aggressive types. Reliable and reproducible prognostic indicators are being investigated to help clinicians identify high risk groups and address more rational treatment. Methods. Flow cytometric DNA ploidy and S‐phase fraction (SPF) measurements were performed on frozen tumor tissues from a consecutive series of 71 patients with Stage III and IV LSCC. Lysosomal cathepsin B and L activity levels were determined biochemically in match…

Oral granisetron with or without methylprednisolone versus metoclopramide plus methylprednisolone in the management of delayed nausea and vomiting in…

1995

Background. A single-institution, randomized open trial was prospectively performed to compare orally administered granisetron with or without intramuscularly administered methylprednisolone to metoclopramide plus methylprednisolone in the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting induced by cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The effects of antiemetic treatments were evaluated from days 2 to 5 of the first cycle after cisplatin administration among patients who had never before received chemotherapy. Methods. All patients were treated with chemotherapeutic regimens containing cisplatin greater than or equal to 80 mg/m 2 and received antiemetic therapy with granisetron 3 mg intravenously for the …

Applications of wavelets to quantum mechanics: A pedagogical example

1995

We discuss in many details two quantum mechanical models of planar electrons which are very much related to the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect. In particular, we discuss the localization properties of the trial ground states of the models starting from considerations on the numerical results on the energy. We conclude that wavelet theory can be conveniently used in the description of the system. Finally we suggest applications of our results to the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect.

On the odd-even staggering of mean-square charge radii in the light krypton and strontium region

1995

Recently isotope shifts of $^{72,74-96}$Kr and $^{77-100}$Sr have been measured at the ISOLDE/ CERN mass separator facility by collinear laser spectroscopy. The deduced changes in mean square charge radii reveal sharp transitions in nuclear shape from spherical near the magic neutron number N=50 towards strongly deformed for both the neutron deficient and neutron rich isotopes far from stability. The mean square charge radii of the neutron deficient isotopes exhibit a sign change of the odd-even staggering (OES), i.e. below the neutron number N=46 the radius is systematically larger for the odd-N nuclei than for their even-N neighbours. This is in contrast to the situation of normal OES whi…

Anamorphic fractional Fourier transform: optical implementation and applications

1995

An additional degree of freedom is introduced to fractional-Fourier-transform systems by use of anamorphic optics. A different fractional Fourier order along the orthogonal principal directions is performed. A laboratory experimental system shows preliminary results that demonstrate the proposed theory. Applications such as anamorphic fractional correlation and multiplexing in fractional domains are briefly suggested.

Preparation, characterization and catalytic properties of vanadium oxides supported on calcined Mg/Al-hydrotalcite

1995

Abstract Vanadium oxide supported on calcined hydrotalcite has been investigated for the oxidehydrogenation of n-butane in the 500–550°C temperature interval. Hydrotalcite (Mg/Al atomic ratio of 2.77), consisting of a single phase only, has been employed as a support precursor. The vanadium catalysts (0–50, referred as wt.-% V 2 O 5 ) were prepared by impregnation of calcined hydrotalcite (450°C) with ammonium metavanadate (in an aqueous solution) or vanadyl acetylacetonate (in a methanolic solution), and then calcined at 600°C for 4 h. During the impregnation step, the support is transformed into hydrotalcite if aqueous solutions are used. However, it is not modified if methanolic solution…

Influence of spontaneous hypertension on n-3 delta-6-desaturase activity and fatty acid composition of rat hepatocytes.

1995

The first and rate limiting step in the conversion of alpha-linolenic acid is catalyzed by the delta-6-desaturase enzyme. The activity of such an enzyme was studied in order to investigate the n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid biogenesis during hypertension. Rat isolated hepatocyte n-3 delta-6-desaturase activity was higher in 1 month old Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats — prehypertensive period- as compared to normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats, whereas there was no significant difference at 12 months — hypertensive period-. Our data indicate no correlation between the directly measured enzyme activity and the changes in hepatocyte n-3 fatty acid compositions. The loss of hepatocyte n-3 delta-6-de…

Complement component C3: molecular basis of the C3*S025 variant and evidence for molecular heterogeneity of other variants.

1995

Complement component 3 (C3) is the central molecule of the complement system. It displays a number of polymorphic variants with, as yet, unclear functional consequences. We have investigated a number of rare C3 variants by PCR-SSCP (polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism) analysis and could identify the molecular basis of a C3*S025 variant. The decreased electrophoretic mobility of this protein is caused by the exchange of a neutral serine residue to an arginine residue (positively charged). This exchange is unlikely to have functional consequences as it maps to the C-terminus of the alpha-chain. C3 variants appear to have originated from various independent mutat…

Acute Hormonal Responses to Heavy Resistance Exercise in Men and Women at Different Ages

1995

To examine acute endogenous hormonal responses to heavy resistance exercise eight young women (YW) and eight young men (YM) in the 30-year age group, seven middle-aged women (MW) and eight middle-aged men (MM) in the 50-year age group as well as eight elderly women (EW) and eight elderly men (EM) in the 70-year age group performed a heavy resistance exercise session with three different exercises (bench press, sit-up exercise and bilateral leg press). The relative loading intensity and volume of the exercise session were kept the same for each subject so that they performed each of the 5 sets of each exercise with the maximal load possible for 10 repetitions per set (10 repetition maximum).…

Traumatische spino-thorakale Liquorfistel

1995

Public capital and productive efficiency in the Spanish regions (1964–89)

1995

The article analyses the evolution of the differences in economic conditions among Spanish regions from the perspective provided by the recent advances made in economic growth empirics. Although convergence is usually established in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) per capita, in the case of Spain it is of special interest to break it down into three separate elements: activity rate, employment rate, and productivity of labour. Regional differences in unemployment rates, which persist for long periods of time, are identified as a force against convergence. After describing the distinction between conditional and non conditional convergence, the paper considers the role played by the product…

Stress generation at ridge axes by plate divergence and magma rise

1995

Abstract A model is explored for the rifting process particularly at the divergent plate boundary in Iceland, based on direct observations of the Krafla rifting episode 1975–1984. Magma accumulates near the axial crust-mantle transition as the plates diverge from each other and compression on the boundary decreases. Two-dimensional finite-element modelling is applied to investigate how divergence and buoyant rise of magma interact in triggering rifting. Both processes are found to be important, but long intervals between rifting episodes require the time-average deviatoric stress to be compressible normal to the axis.

Allergic contact dermatitis from anthrarobin.

1995

New amphiphilic poly(butadiene)-graft-poly(ethylene oxide)s

1995

Amphiphilic graft copolymers with a poly(butadiene) backbone and poly(ethylene oxide) side chains were synthesized by grafting isocyanateterminated poly(ethylene oxide) on to partially hydroxylated poly(butadiene). The graft copolymers are water soluble if the fraction of hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) exceeds 50 wt%. Solutions of graft copolymers in water and tetrahydrofuran were studied by static light scattering and viscosity measurements. By dynamic light scattering in solution it was shown that the graft copolymers form clusters.

Indicators of banking efficiency: An international application

1995

Desmin-related neuromuscular disorders

1995

Desmin, the intermediate filament protein of skeletal muscle fibers, cardiac myocytes, and certain smooth muscle cells, is a member of the cytoskeleton linking Z-bands with the plasmalemma and the nucleus. The pathology of desmin in human neuromuscular disorders is always marked by increased amounts, diffusely or focally. Desmin is highly expressed in immature muscle fibers, both during fetal life and regeneration as well as in certain congenital myopathies, together with vimentin. Desmin is also enriched in neonatal myotonic dystrophy and small fibers in infantile spinal muscular atrophy. Focal accretion of desmin may be twofold, in conjunction with certain inclusion bodies, cytoplasmic an…

Health effects of mercury ingested through consumption of seafood

1995

It is known world-wide literature that seafood consumption is the main source of mercury intake in people not occupationally exposed. Several studies on the presence of mercury in sea water, sediment and fish and its effects on human health have been carried out in many countries in the Mediterranean area such as Greece, Italy and Jugoslavia. Few data have been published on Sicilian coastal population, consumers of high amounts of fish and on seawater status as the starting point of alimentary chains involving marine food. This study was carried out in July 1991 and July 1992 to determine total mercury and methylmercury levels in selected populations of the coast of Sicily: fishermen in a l…

Brownian dynamics of grafted polymer chains: time dependent properties

1995

Results of computer simulations of polymer layers consisting of chains grafted by one end on an unpenetrable plane are presented. Characteristics of translational and rotational motion of different chain segments and correlation functions of chain radii were calculated both for single layers at different grafting densities s and for two interacting layers at different distances D between parallel grafting planes. Two values of grafting density were used in the latter case. The behavior of different correlation times as function of s and D and the interplay between the interpenetration of the brushes and rotational and translational motion are discussed. Both relaxation functions and mean sq…

Fiscal and regulatory federalism in the European Union

1995

This contribution summarizes some quantitative results and presents relevant policy-oriented conclusions obtained from research program No. PBS91-0363. It is mainly supported by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Science and Technology of the Spanish government, which was carried out at the Public Finance and Public Sector Economics Research Unit of University of Valencia (Spain) to analyze, from a fiscal and regulatory point of view, the dynamic characteristics of federalism in the European Union. The research was performed in order to contribute to the establishment of the basis for the acceleration of the economic European integration and the future constitution of the United States of E…

Evolution of Cell Adhesion Systems: Evidence for Arg-Gly-Asp-Mediated Adhesion in the Protozoan Neoparamoeba aestuarina

1995

Developmental processes in multicellular organisms require structural elements, such as adhesion molecules, to stabilize cells at functional positions. In vertebrates, a series of extracellular matrix proteins, e.g. fibronectin and laminin, are involved in cell adhesion. These proteins contain Arg-Gly-Asp [RGD] at their binding sites. Here we show that at concentrations above 2 mM the peptide GRGDSPK, comprising the tripeptide RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp), prevents the adhesiveness of cells of the marine amoeba Neoparamoeba aestuarina. In addition, elevated levels of GRGDSPK cause cells to alter their shapes from those with digitiform subpseudopodia to rounded cells with small lobed pseudopodia. These…

Resonant rayleigh scattering in semiconductor structures

1995

A detailed study of the relative role played by localized and/or propagating intermediate excitonic states in, resonant Rayleigh scattering (RRS) is presented for a large set of GaAs quantum well (QW) and bulk structures. We show that the two kinds of states contribute to RRS through different mechanisms. We concluded that RRS occurs via localized states in QW heterostructures, very likely due to localization by the interface roughness, while bulk, crystals turn out to be better candidates for RRS via propagating states.

Hemostatic function in young subjects with central obesity: relationship with left ventricular function.

1995

This study was designed to evaluate coagulation and fibrinolysis activity and their relationship with left ventricular function in young obese subjects with central fat distribution. We assessed coagulation and fibrinolysis activity by evaluation of factor VII activity, fibrinogen and plasminogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI), and tissue plasminogen activator antigen basally (tPA1) and after venous occlusion (tPA2). These measures were evaluated in young (< 40 years) obese subjects with central fat distribution (n = 19) and in comparable lean subjects (n = 20). Blood glucose, triglycerides, total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, apolipoprotein (apo) A1 and apo B, fas…

On the impact of forgetting on learning machines

1995

People tend not to have perfect memories when it comes to learning, or to anything else for that matter. Most formal studies of learning, however, assume a perfect memory. Some approaches have restricted the number of items that could be retained. We introduce a complexity theoretic accounting of memory utilization by learning machines. In our new model, memory is measured in bits as a function of the size of the input. There is a hierarchy of learnability based on increasing memory allotment. The lower bound results are proved using an unusual combination of pumping and mutual recursion theorem arguments. For technical reasons, it was necessary to consider two types of memory : long and sh…

Sympathetic Overactivity and 24-Hour Blood Pressure Pattern in Hypertensives with Chronic Renal Failure

1995

In order to assess the activity of the sympathetic system and to evaluate the 24-h blood pressure pattern in hypertensives with chronic renal failure (CRF), 12 CRF patients and 16 essential hypertensives (EHs) were studied. In all subjects, plasma samples for catecholamines and renin activity were obtained both in the basal condition and after standing, and 24-h blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) was performed. The 24-h mean blood pressure results were quite similar between CRFs and EHs. In 50% of the CRFs, ABPM showed a nighttime decrease in diastolic BP (DBP) greater than 10%, while in the remaining 50% the ABPM indicated a nondipper blood pressure pattern. Of the 16 EHs, 4 had a nighttime …

On the Intrinsic Complexity of Learning

1995

AbstractA new view of learning is presented. The basis of this view is a natural notion of reduction. We prove completeness and relative difficulty results. An infinite hierarchy of intrinsically more and more difficult to learn concepts is presented. Our results indicate that the complexity notion captured by our new notion of reduction differs dramatically from the traditional studies of the complexity of the algorithms performing learning tasks.

Bronchiektasen und Infekthäufigkeit bei Alpha-1-Antitrypsin-Mangel

1995

UNLABELLED PURPOSE of this study was to determine the prevalence of bronchiectasis in patients suffering from alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency and to compare its extent with the frequency of infections. MATERIAL AND METHODS High-resolution CT examinations (HRCT) of 23 patients with alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency were retrospectively assessed for extent, severity and localisation of bronchiectasis, bronchial wall thickening and extent of emphysema. Chest radiographs and clinical records were available for correlation. RESULTS HRCT scans showed bronchiectasis in 14 of 23 patients, bronchial wall thickening in 3/14, and panlobular emphysema in 23/23. Chest radiographs showed bronchiectasis in 4/…

On the algebraic representation of projectively embeddable affine geometries

1995

The main result of this article is an application of [1] and [2] which yields that an at least 2-dimensional affine geometry is module-induced if and only if it is projectively embeddable into an Arguesian projective lattice geometry.

Thrombolysis plus heparin versus heparin alone in the acute phases of unstable angina: preliminary findings

1995

Abstract Several studies have shown conflicting effects of thrombolysis in patients with unstable angina. In these trials the time between presentation with chest pain and randomization was long (12 hours to 3 days). This study compared thrombolysis and heparin with heparin-alone treatment in patients in the acute phase of unstable angina. One hundred fifty-three consecutive patients hospitalized with chest pain at rest (first episode) lasting >5 minutes but P = 0.013). Data suggest that thrombolysis plus heparin produces faster clinical stabilization than heparin alone in patients treated during the acute phase of unstable angina.

Set-Valued Generalizations of Baire′s Category Theorem

1995

Abstract We prove some generalizations of Baire′s category theorem for chains of iterates of multifunctions defined on Cech-complete spaces. In particular, we extend Lennard′s results stated for functions on complete metric spaces.

Highly deformed band inAg105

1995

The isotope Ag-105 has been studied using 169.5 MeV Cl-37 ions impinging on Ge-76. The Nordball Ge array detected the gamma rays and a 4 pi charged particle detector system detected emitted light charged particles. A very deformed band has been established using Doppler shift attenuation methods. The analysis is based on the gamma gamma coincidences and the angular dependence of the four rings of Ge detectors in Nordball. The deformation of the band is deduced to be beta(2)=0.37(-0.02)(+0.03).

Polychlorinated diphenyl ethers, dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in finnish human tissues compared to environmental samples

1995

Finnish human samples from the Helsinki area and Arctic cod samples from Vestertana Fjord (Norway) were analyzed for polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDE) and 2,3,7,8-chloro substituted dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF). The PCDE, PCDD and PCDF contents in human and animal samples from Finland and elsewhere were briefly reviewed. PCDEs were non-detectable in human liver and testis, but some PCDE congeners were identified in human adipose tissue and fat of boiled Arctic cod liver composite. The contents of PCDEs in Finnish human samples were similar to those reported in the literature for human tissues from North America. The estimated concentrations of PCDEs 99, 147 + 153 (…

Technetium-99m mercaptoacetyltriglycine clearance: reference values for infants and children.

1995

Six hundred and thirty-nine clearance studies performed in children aged 7 days to 19 years utilizing technetium-99m mercaptoacetyltriglycine (MAG 3) were retrospectively analysed. Standardized conditions for the investigation included: parenteral hydration (60 ml/hxm2 body surface) in addition to normal oral fluid intake, weight-related dose of99mTc-MAG 3 (1 MBq/kg body weight, minimum 15 MBq) and calculation of clearance according to Bubeck et al. Of the 513 children, 169 included in this analysis could be classified as “normal” with regard to their renal function. Normal kidney function was judged by the following criteria: normal GFR for age, normal tubular function (absence of proteinu…

Quels financements pour l'école africaine ? : entretien avec François Orivel

1995

International audience

Enzymatic biosynthesis of raumacline

1995

Abstract The indole alkaloid, raumacline, is biosynthesized from ajmaline, when the latter was fed to cell suspensions of Rauwolfia serpentina . Formation in catalysed by two enzymes, a cell wall-bound peroxidase followed by a NADPH 2 -dependent reductase. The first enzyme cleaves ajmaline oxidatively leading to a C-21 epimeric mixture of 21-hydroxyraumacline, a novel alkaloid, which, in turn, is reduced under formation of raumacline. The peroxidase reaction is not specific for Rauwolfia cells whereas the reductase is present exclusively in Rauwolfia cell suspensions. The reductase has been purified to homogeneity. The enzyme is highly substrate specific, only accepting 21-hydroxyraumacline…