Product Quantum Yields for the 350 nm Photodecomposition of Pyruvic Acid in Air

1992

Quantum yields for the products CH3CHO, CO2 and CH3COOH in the 350 nm photodecomposition of pyruvic acid are 0.48 ± 0.01, 1.27 ± 0.18 and 0.14, respectively, as measured in air at atmospheric pressure. In the presence of NO2 the quantum yield for CH3CHO was reduced to 0.30 ± 0.04 and peroxyacetyl nitrate was formed with a quantum yield of 0.15 ± 0.02. This is taken to indicate the formation of acetyl radicals in one of the primary processes.

NEOPLASIE EPITELIALI MALIGNE DEL FEGATO IN ETA' PEDIATRICA: Analisi dello Studio Cooperativo Nazionale HEPA 88

1992

The Authors analyze the preliminary results of the first Italian Cooperative Research program on childhood malignant epithelial liver tumors. The value of radical surgery and the effectiveness of cisplatin and adriamycin in inducing tumor response are undelined.

Social Movements, Voluntary Associations and Cycles of Protest in Finland 1905-91

1992

During the 20th century five cycles of protest have emerged in Finland: 1905-18, 1928-32, 1944-48, 1966-76, and the continuing cycle of new social movements beginning around the end of the 1970s. This article begins with an examination of the differences and similarities in the formation of these cycles against the background of antecedent political opportunity structures. The question of the relationship between social protest movements and formal voluntary associations is then addressed. It is shown that social movements and formal voluntary associations have been interactive, mutually reinforcing ways of reacting to different manifestations of social crisis. Existing formal associations …

Ligand Effects in Grignard Additions

1992

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: an indicator of vulnerability to schizophrenia?

1992

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a neuropsychological test, hypothesized to be an indicator of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) functioning. The performance of schizophrenic patients in our sample (off medication) was worse than the performance of healthy controls in all variables of the WCST, including perseverative responses (PR) as well as non-perseverative responses (NPR). The rate of perseverative and non-perseverative responses was neither a function of the severity of the illness (measured by SANS/SAPS scales) nor the duration of the disease. Healthy siblings of schizophrenic probands revealed more perseverative responses than healthy controls, but did not show any dif…

The effect of cement fixation on initial micromotion of the femoral component in condylar knee replacement

1992

Four fresh, cadaveric specimens were fitted with total knee replacements and mounted on a knee joint loading and measuring rig. Femoral component micromotion in the sagittal plane was measured with a transducer during flexion and extension of the specimen. Various condylar designs were used without and with cement. Movement followed a characteristic curve pattern and was less with cement fixation particularly for bone of low trabecular strength as determined by bone sample tests for stiffness. Cement fixation appears to be superior to cementless fixation.

Biphenyl and fluorinated derivatives: liver enzyme-mediated mutagenicity detected in Salmonella typhimurium and Chinese hamster V79 cells.

1992

Abstract Hepatocarcinogenic polychlorinated and polybrominated biphenyls usually show negative results in in vitro mutagenicity assays. Problems in their testing result from their low water solubility and their slow rate of metabolism. We therefore investigated better soluble model compounds, namely biphenyl and its 3 possible monofiuorinated derivatives. In the direct test, these compounds proved tobe nonmutagenic in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 (reversion to histidine prototrophy) and in Chinese hamster V79 cells (acquisition of resistance to 6-thioguanine). However, when the exposure was carried out in the presence of NADPH-fortified postmitochondrial fraction of liver homogenat…

Chain linear dimensions in the surface-enriched layer of polymer mixtures

1992

We calculate the mean-square end-to-end distances and mean-square gyration radii using the bond fluctuation model for a binary polymer blend in the presence of a wall by Monte Carlo simulation. In the bulk, the size of the minority, low-concentration polymer species is compressed compared to the majority one. In the vicinity of the wall, where the minority polymer concentration is enriched due to attraction from the wall, the dimensions of the two types of polymers are approximately equal and are essentially the same as in an athermal polymer melt. Thus, the geometric constraint is more important to the structure of the polymers than the polymer-polymer and polymer-wall interactions.

Photochemically induced, graded cerebral infarction in the mouse by laser irradiation evolution of brain edema

1992

Cerebral infarction was produced in mice by intravenous injection of a photosensitive dye, rose bengal (10 mg/kg), and by focal illumination of the intact skull surface for 3 min with a laser source, operating at 570 nm with power levels of 2, 5, 10, and 20 mW. Location of infarction was made using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride and the time course of edema in the irradiated cerebral hemisphere was evaluated by measuring water, sodium, and potassium content 4, 24, and 72 hr after irradiation. With power levels of 2 and 5 mW, the infarct was restricted to the cortex, whereas with power levels of 10 and 20 mW, it extended to subcortical regions. Increases in water and sodium and decrease…

The risk of minor depression in families of probands with major depression: sex differences and familiality.

1992

Currently it is not clear whether minor forms of unipolar depression not matching the criteria of “major depression” should be considered as a separate diagnostic category. A controlled family study examined the familial aggregation of minor depression among probands with unipolar major depression. In the families of these probands the relative risk for minor depression was elevated by a similar magnitude to the risk for major depression. Threrefore, the diagnostic category “minor depression” would not increase diagnostic sensitivity at the expense of diagnostic specificity as far as familiality is the criterion. In agreement with recent epidemiological studies, minor depression did not rev…

Fatigue crack growth behaviour of four structural steels in air and in a geothermal fluid environment

1992

Abstract In recent years the exploitation of geothermal energy has expanded rapidly in Italy. This has created a requirement for improved drilling technology, to reduce the number of failures occuring in the drills, which is more frequent than in oil wells. This paper deals with the results obtained in FCCR tests of four materials both in air and in two types of aggressive environments. Deterioration takes place by fatigue, corrosion fatigue and hydrogen embrittlement. It is concluded that the steel G105 is a suitable substitute for S135 in drill pipes, and inspections between drillings may be adequate to prevent failure for small-curvature wells.

Methodological consequences of Gödel's incompleteness theorem

1992

Published as: K. Podnieks. Methodological consequences of Gödel's incompleteness theorem. European Summer Meeting of the Association for Symbolic Logic, Berlin, 1989. The Journal of Symbolic Logic, Vol. 57, No. 1, March, 1992, pp.326-327

Unified QCD determination of all pseudoscalar leptonic decay constants

1992

Leptonic decay constants of all pseudoscalar mesons are determined in QCD by means of a new QCD sum-rule method. In the light meson and heavy quark limit the results are very similar and also agree with the well-known PCAC and scaling predictions respectively. The corrections to light meson pole dominance are generally small while those to the heavy quark limit are found to be sensitive to the binding energy (i.e. meson and quark mass differences). For standard values of quark masses we obtainfπ=132 MeV,fk=161 MeV,fB=128±28 MeV,fD=175±13 MeV,fBs=144±30 MeV andfDs=193±12 MeV.

Estradiol, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione and CA125 in patients with ovarian carcinoma.

1992

Estradiol, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione and CA125 were assayed in 25 women (12 oophorectomized before entering the study) with ovarian carcinoma. The data from patients were ordered according to the presence or absence of the gonads. The patients with ovaries (Group A) showed significantly higher levels of estradiol (p less than 0.01), progesterone (p less than 0.01) and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (p less than 0.01) than controls. This difference was not observed between oophorectomized patients (Group B) and controls. CA125 levels were significantly higher in patients that in controls (p less than 0.001) irrespective of the ovarian status of the patients. Eleven patien…

Response functions for infinite fermion systems with velocity dependent interactions

1992

Response functions of infinite Fermi systems are studied in the framework of the self-consistent random phase approximation (RPA). Starting from an effective interaction with velocity and density dependence, or equivalently from a local energy density functional, algebraic expressions for the RPA response function are derived. Simple formulae for the energy-weighted and polarizability sum rules are obtained. The method is illustrated by applications to nuclear matter and liquid 3 He. In nuclear matter, it is shown that existing Skyrme interactions give spin-isospin response functions close to those calculated with finite range interactions. The different renormalization of longitudinal and …

Metal complexes of phenobarbituric acid. Chelating behavior of the phenobarbiturate ring. Anticonvulsant properties of the K2[Cu(N-methylphenobarbitu…

1992

Abstract Na2Ni(phenobarbiturato)4·3H2O, Na2Ni3(phenobarbiturato)2(OH)6·4H2O, and NaZn(phenobarbiturato)2(OH)·H2O derivatives were prepared from Ni(II) and Zn(II) and phenobarbital. The Na2Ni(phenobarbiturato)4·3H2O complex is diamagnetic and isostructural with the complex previously reported, Na2Cu(phenobarbiturato)4, suggesting a square-planar environment around the Ni(II) ion. The DMF solutions of this complex show the existence of two species. The EPR spectra of the Cu(II) doped complex show the hyperfine and superhyperfine structures. The covalence parameters α2, β2, and δ2 show a strong bonding in the equatorial plane and suggests the formation of a [CuN4] chromophore. The anticonvulsa…

Revealing the Majorana nature of heavy neutrinos via a heavy Higgs boson

1992

Abstract Analyzing several recently proposed models, based on simple extensions of the standard model (SM), with heavy Majorana neutrinos, it is shown that the change of detecting lepton number violation through their production and subsequent decays may be significantly enhanced, if a heavy Higgs boson with mass within a reasonably broad range is present.

The gene of hepatocyte growth factor is expressed in fat-storing cells of rat liver and is downregulated during cell growth and by transforming growt…

1992

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been detected in non-parenchymal cells but not in hepatocytes. We performed Northern blot analysis of total RNA extracted from rat hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, endothelial cells and fat-storing (Ito-) cells. Total RNA was extracted from fat-storing cells at different times after isolation and from cells treated with different amounts of transforming growth factor beta. The RNA was hybridized with HGF, fibronectin-, and alpha-actin-specific cDNA probes, consecutively. We found an abundant amount of HGF mRNA in freshly isolated fat-storing cells, but not in other liver cells. The amount of the HGF transcripts decreases significantly in FSC during the time of …

Expression of R-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, a ketone body converting enzyme in heart and liver mitochondria of ruminant and non-ruminant mammals

1992

1. The properties of rat liver and bovine heart R-3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (BDH) have been extensively studied in the past 20 years, but little is known concerning the biogenesis and the regulation of this dehydrogenase over different species. 2. In addition, controversial results were often reported concerning the activity, the level and the subcellular location of this enzyme in ruminants. 3. BDH activity found in liver and kidney mitochondria from ruminants (cow and sheep) is low, while it is much higher in rat. 4. However, the enzyme activity is detected in microsomes and in cytosol of liver and of kidney cells from ruminants. These activities are not correlated to ketonaemia lev…

Considerations on the dipole moment of molecules forming the twisted intramolecular charge transfer state

1992

Several derivatives of dual-fluorescing dimethylaminobenzonitrile (DMABN) are compared regarding their ground and excited-state dipole moments extracted from electro-optical emission and solvatochromic measurements. The comparison includes bridged model compounds as well as compounds with different degrees of steric hindrance to planarity, as well as ester and carbazolyl derivatives. The results are discussed on the basis of the twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) model, the most widely accepted model. They show that (i) the dipole moment of the A (TICT) state (long-wavelength band) shows only little solvent sensitivity (polarizability), (ii) this observed small dependence of the …

Kinetics of correlated annealing of radiation defects in alkali halide crystals

1992

Abstract Kinetics of the correlated annealing of pairs of neutral (F-H) Frenkel defects in the KBr crystal is treated theoretically, taking into account defect diffusion, and annihilation at short distances stimulated by an elastic interaction. It is shown that an elastic interaction affects the annealing kinetics and the survival probability of close geminate detects considerably. The widespread description of the correlated annealing in terms of a first-order reaction fails for close defects yielding effective energies which in fact differ essentially from an activation energy of diffusion. Ea, even if it is corrected by an interaction energy. The effect of the initial distribution of def…

Treatment of prepubertal periodontitis. A case report and discussion.

1992

Abstract This paper reports the treatment of prepubertal periodontitis in a 3–year-old girl with Papillon-Lefevre Syndrome. Initially, the patient was found to have a myeloperoxidase deficiency and microbiological tests have identified Bacteroides and Fusobacterium, in 60% and 25%, respectively of the total number of microbial flora cultivated. The initial treatment was extraction of all the primary teeth with grade 3 mobility, scaling, root planing and daily subgingival irrigation with a 0.2% solution of chlorhexidine. Several months before the eruption of the first permanent molars, the rest of the primary teeth were extracted. The patient was treated with daily subgingival irrigation of …

Different and common intracellular calcium-stores mobilized by noradrenaline and caffeine in vascular smooth muscle.

1992

Noradrenaline (NA) 1 microM and caffeine (CAF) 10 mM induce a contractile response in isolated rat aorta maintained at 37 degrees C either in the presence or absence of extracellular calcium. In Ca-free media the contractile response was reduced and contractile activity of CAF only occurred at 25 degrees C. NA induced a biphasic response in Ca-free medium, with a fast phasic contraction followed by a smaller more sustained contraction. The response induced by CAF consisted of a fast transient contraction which returned to a level below the resting tone. After washing, further addition of NA or CAF evoked no increase in smooth muscle tension. The influence of Mg-depletion in the extracellula…

Molecular cloning ofTrichophyton mentagrophytes DNA sequences with promoter activity inEscherichia coli

1992

A promoter probe library from the dermatophyte fungusTrichophyton mentagrophytes has been constructed in the pVB32 plasmid vector. Using this library, a set ofT. mentagrophytes DNA sequences with promoter activity inEscherichia coli has been cloned. The size and the resistance phenotype conferred by these DNA fragments varied. Southern blot analysis confirmed that they were derived fromT. mentagrophytes genomic DNA.

A method for the investigation of high-order two-frequency asynchronous oscillators

1992

A general method for analysing asynchronous high-order two-frequency oscillators is presented. the oscillator model is made up of a GC non-linear parallel group embedded in a linear lumped time-invariant network of any order. the approach devised rests on the identification of a pair of narrow-band impedance operators which permit one to derive first-approximation steady state and dynamic equations in the phasor domain—as well as stability criteria—in a simple and expressive manner. Previous results from averaging and perturbation treatments on fourth-order asynchronous oscillators are shown to be obtainable from this theory as particular cases. the sixth-order oscillator chosen as an appli…

Lactic Acid Bacteria in Spanish Red Rose and White Musts and Wines under Cellar Conditions

1992

The dynamics of the lactic acid bacterial (LAB) population in different cellars, fermentation conditions and musts were analyzed. The number of LAB in fresh musts diminished quickly in the first few days, but an increase of these bacteria occurred during the later stages of the alcoholic fermentation. The species found in fresh musts were Lactobacillus plantarum, L. hilgardii, L. brevis, L. confusus, and Leuc. onostoc paramesenteroides. At the end of fermentation only L. hilgardii, Leuc. oenos and L. fructivorans were isolated. The API 50 CHL system was not useful to identify strains of Leuc. oenos species. All the isolated strains degraded malic acid in synthetic medium but only two strain…

Relaxor ferroelectric ceramics of LiTaO3-type

1992

Abstract A ferroelectric relaxation has been identified in Li1-xCax (Ta1-xZrx)O3(x = 0.15 and 0.20) ceramics with LiTaO3-type structure. The relaxation frequency fr is minimum and the dispersion step (ϵ′S - ϵ′∞) is maximum at TC. When x increases, a higher conductivity associated with a lower activation energy and a decrease of the magnitude of fr at Tc are observed, while the unit cell volume becomes larger, TC lower and the transition more diffuse.

Use of the polymerase chain reaction to demonstrate hepatitis B virus DNA in serum of children with chronic hepatitis B.

1992

The polymerase chain reaction was used to investigate the presence of hepatitis B virus DNA in sera of 61 children with chronic hepatitis B and negative results on dot biot hybridization tests. Our results demonstrate that most chronic carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen in childhood have hepatitis B virus DNA detectable by polymerase chain reaction in their serum and must be considered infectious.

More clues about Sensory Impact of Sotolon in Some Flor Sherry Wines

1992

The olfactory impact of sotolon [4,5-dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone] in wines was first demonstrated in botrytized wines. In sherry wines it was recently found to occur at concentrations varying from 0 to 500 ppb. The olfactory detection threshold of a sample of purified racemic sotolon was determined to be lower (15 ppb) in white wine than its concentration in most sherries. Its flavor impact in sherries was calculated to be between 1 and 25 OUV. Using MCA of the data obtained from 22 wines (white wines, rancios, Spanish and French sherries) during two tasting sessions by wine professionals, significant positive correlations were found-between the concentration of sotolon and the typica…

Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis. A case report

1992

A 33-year-old woman three weeks after a febrile illness presented with a syndrome of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia and areflexia (SOAA) that characterizes clinically both Bickerstaff and Miller Fisher syndromes. The normality of the electrophysiological tests performed, the CSF findings and the magnetic resonance images proved that the syndrome stemmed from brainstem pathology.

A purification algorithm for semi-infinite programming

1992

Abstract In this paper we present a purification algorithm for semi-infinite linear programming. Starting with a feasible point, the algorithm either finds an improved extreme point or concludes with the unboundedness of the problem. The method is based on the solution of a sequence of linear programming problems. The study of some recession conditions has allowed us to establish a weak assumption for the finite convergence of this algorithm. Numerical results illustrating the method are given.

Mathematical description of the stimuli to the lateral line system of fish derived from a three-dimensional flow field analysis

1992

The spatial distributions of the stimuli to the lateral line system of a fish moving alongside or above a plane surface are derived mathematically. The derivation was done from the analysis of the three-dimensional potential flow field on the surface of fish with bodies of circular cross-section with different shapes.

Occurrence and pathogenicity of Yersinia ruckeri at fish farms in northern and central Finland

1992

. Salmonid fish at fish farms in northern and central Finland and perch, Perca fluviatilis L., roach, Rutilus rutilus (L.), and whitefish, Coregonus sp., from four lakes in central Finland were studied between 1985 and 1990 for the occurrence of Yersinia ruckeri. The bacteria were found in fish from both areas, but in most cases, only single diseased salmon, Salmo salar L., brown trout, S. trutta L., rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), whitefish and perch were encountered and were always connected with stress conditions. One clinical outbreak occured in salmon fingerlings in northern Finland, and the fish were successfully treated with trimethoprim-sulpha. Monthly monitoring of la…

Synthesis of tritiated derivatives of the diphenylether herbicides acifluorfen and acifluorfen methyl

1992

Acifluorfen 1 and acifluorfen methyl 2, two herbicides of the diphenylether family, are inhibitors of protoporphyrinogen oxidases. Two tritiated derivatives of these compounds, namely 3-[3H]-5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitrobenzoic acid [3H]-1, and methyl 3-[3H]-5-[2-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]-2-nitrobenzoic acid [3H]-2, have been synthesised from 3-[3H]-5-hydroxybenzoic acid, in order to probe their interactions with the target enzymes.

2-Aryl-substituted, benzo-anellated 5-membered heterocyclic compounds as potentially active substances for the cardiovascular system: 1,3-Benzothiazo…

1992

In the course of investigations on structure-activity relationships of calcium antagonists analogous to fostedil, a series of 2-aryl- and 2-arylvinyl-substituted 1,3-henzothiazoles and 1,3-benzoxazoles bearing a phosphonate group on the phenyl ring has been synthesized by cyclization, bromination, and subsequent Michaelis-Arbuzow reaction. Pharmacological investigations on isolated organs from guinea pigs revealed both negative inotropic effects and a relaxing action on smooth musculature; these activities were particularly pronounced in the 1,3-benzothiazole compound group.

Effects of cigarette smoking or ingestion of nicotine on platelet 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels in smokers and non-smokers.

1992

Platelets of healthy smokers and non-smokers were prepared and their content of 5-hydroxytryptamine was determined by HPLC with electrochemical detection. Platelet 5-HT levels in smokers (728 +/- 156 pmol per 10(8) platelets, mean +/- SEM, n = 9) were significantly higher than those in non-smokers (353 +/- 156 pmol per 10(8) platelets, n = 11). Smoking of a single cigarette caused a transient increase in platelet 5-HT levels by about 350% in non-smokers, but had no additional effect in smokers. Similarly, chewing of nicotine gum (4-8 mg nicotine) resulted in a transient increase in platelet 5-HT by about 100% in non-smokers, but not in smokers. In conclusion, smoking of cigarettes can cause…