Cross-synergism in enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosics: mathematical correlations according to a hyperbolic model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tarantili, P.A.; Koullas, D.P.; Christakopoulos, P.; Kekos, D.; Koukios, E.G.; Macris, B.J. [National Technical Univ. of Athens (Greece). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

1996-10-01

The effect of cross-synergism in enzymatic hydrolysis of ball-milled Avicell, alkali-treated straw cellulose (ATSC), cotton and filter paper was investigated using mixtures of Fusarium oxysporum and Neurospora crassa enzymes. The experimental data were fitted according to an empirical hyperbolic model which utilized two parameters, the maximum conversion ({chi}{sub max}) and the enzymatic hydrolysis time corresponding to 50% of {chi}{sub max} (t{sub 1/2}). The model can predict conversion of polysaccharides as a function of hydrolysis time. Both model parameters were found to be strongly dependent on the crystallinity index as well as on the degree of delignification of the substrate. Up to 60% cellulose hydrolysis can be achieved when the crystallinity index of Avicell is reduced from 94.8% to 63.3%. The percentage increase of {chi}{sub max} due to delignification was higher than the corresponding increase of t{sub 1/2}. The extent of cross-synergism depends strongly on crystallinity index and degree of delignification. This type of synergism has been found to be significant in the case of substrates which are resistant to hydrolysis, such as Avicell (with high crystallinity index) or cotton. Cross-synergism phenomena caused by enzymatic mixtures can double cellulose hydrolysis yield with delignified straw as compared to the hydrolysis yields achieved by single-microorganism cellulases. (author)

Synergic effect of tribenzylamine on the extraction of Fe(III) with 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone in chloroform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheema, M.N.; Saeed, M.M.; Qureshi, I.H.

1980-01-01

Synergic effect of tribenzylamine (TBA) on the solvent extraction of Fe(III), Co(II) and Cu(II), by thenoyltrifluoracetone (HTTA) in chloroform from aqueous medium of ionic strength 0.33 M (H + ,NaClO 4 ) has been studied. For trivalent iron an enhanced extraction > 98% was observed at pH 2.5 and the equilibrium was attained within 5 minutes. Extraction parameters such as concentrations of HTTA, TBA and pH were optimised by a triangular co-ordinate graph. The stoichiometry of the extractable adduct Fe (TTA) 3 TBA was established by slope analysis. Extraction and formation constants of extractable species were computed. (orig.) [de

Investigation on antibacterial synergism of Origanum vulgare and Thymus vulgaris essential oils

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Stojković D.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Essential oils are well known as strong antimicrobial agents of plant origin. In spite of this, the antimicrobial synergism of essential oils isolated from different plant species is poorly investigated. The following study examines the synergism of the essential oils of Origanum vulgare L. and Thymus vulgaris L against pathogenic bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhimurium. First, the antibacterial effect of the oils was tested, and the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC of both oils were determined using the microdilution method. To test whether the oils act synergistically, every possible combination of essential oil concentrations was used in a dynamic checkerboard method. The results indicated that the oils indeed acted synergistically with fractional inhibitory concentration indexes of 0.45 and 0.50. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 173032

Study of Crossling Agent and Couplink Agent Synergism on Mechanical Properties of HDPE-Cu Composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mashuri; Sujud, A.A.; Karo Karo, Aloma

2001-01-01

The effects of crosslink agents, coupling agents and synergism on mechanical properties of HDPE-Cu composites materials has been investigated. The crosslink was made with dicumyl peroxide as crosslink agents of 2% concentration, so the interface adhesion of matrix-filler was made with 3-amino propyl triethoxysilane as coupling agents of 0.5% concentration. The results of research's showed, that the crosslink and interface adhesion of matrix-filler can increase tensile strength and elongation at break of HDPE-Cu composites. The synergism of two agents can increase tensile strength to 20% and elongation at break to 23% of HDPE-Cu composites materials

Synergism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bekkum, D.W. van

1988-12-01

This report makes part of a series of eight reports which have been drawn up in behalf of the dutch Policy Notition Radiation Standards (BNS). In this report a survey is given of the actual scientific assumptions concerning the origine of tumours caused by exposure to ionizing radiation and other carcinogentia. It appears that the process of carcinogenesis is extended over a long period and proceeds probably via a large number of steps (subprocesses). Some of these steps take place under influence of materials or agentia which themselves cannot cause cancer. In this report the term synergisme means all those combinations of carcinogentia and other influences which together have more effect than may be expected on the base of a simple addition. A survey is given of the actually known factors which influence the induction of tumours and of their supposed way of operation. Two examples of tumours which can be induced by radiation and in which synergistic influences can play an important role are elucidated: breast cancer and hormones, and lung cancer and smoking. It is concluded that the influence of synergistic factors upon radiation carcinogenesis has to be evaluated for each tumour type separately. It is recommended, in the assession of the radiation limits, to take into account the specific sensitivity of subpopulations which have been exposed to synergistic factors and in particular for those tumours in which synergistic factors have a large influence. The elaboration of the quantitative meaning of these synergisms for the radiation hazard will require much more research. (author). 32 refs.; 3 figs.; 1 tab

Bacteriophage-antibiotic synergism to control planktonic and biofilm ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Bacteriophage-antibiotic synergism to control planktonic and biofilm producing clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Amina Amal Mahmoud Nouraldin, Manal Mohammad Baddour, Reem Abdel Hameed Harfoush, Sara AbdelAziz Mohamed Essa ...

Synergism between rocuronium and cisatracurium: comparison of the Minto and Greco interaction models.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, Soeun; Kwon, Jae Young; Kim, Hae-Kyu; Kim, Tae Kyun

2016-08-01

This study was conducted to investigate the pharmacodynamic interaction between rocuronium and cisatracurium using the response surface model, which is not subject to the limitations of traditional isobolographic analysis. One hundred and twenty patients were randomly allocated to receive one of the fifteen predefined combinations of rocuronium and cisatracurium. To study single drugs, cisatracurium 0.2, 0.15, or 0.1 mg/kg or rocuronium 0.8, 0.6 or 0.4 mg/kg doses were administered alone. To study the pharmacodynamic interaction, drugs were applied in three types of combination ratio, i.e., half dose of each drug alone, 75% of each single dose of rocuronium and 25% of each single dose of cisatracurium, and vice versa. Train-of-four (TOF) ratio and T1% (first twitch of the TOF presented as percentage compared to the initial T1) were used as pharmacodynamic endpoints, and the Greco and Minto models were used as surface interaction models. The interaction term α of the Greco model for TOF ratio and T1% measurements showed synergism with values of 0.977 and 1.12, respectively. Application of the Minto model resulted in U50 (θ) values (normalized unit of concentration that produces 50% of the maximal effect in the 0 rocuronium and cisatracurium exhibit synergism. Response surface modeling of the interaction between rocuronium and cisatracurium, based on considerations of their effects on muscle relaxation as measured by TOF ratio and T1%, indicated that the two drugs show considerable synergism.

Role of synergism effect of mixed metal oxides on molecular hydrogen formation from photocatalitic water splitting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmudov, H.M.; Ismayilova, M.K.; Jafarova, N.A.; Azizova, K.V.

2017-01-01

The paper deals with hydrogen production using photocatalysis. In particular, we focus on the role of synergism on the reaction rate. For hydrogen production presented photocatalyst is composed of nanoAl_2O_3 and dispers TiO_2. Yet, the presence of the two mixed metal oxides together results in considerable enhancement of the reaction rate. The main reason for this is the increase of the charge carriers lifetime allowing for electron transfer to hydrogen ions and hole transfer to oxygen ions. It was investigated the mechanism of water splitting in presence of mixed nanocatalysed. It has been shown that the effect occurs during irradiation as a result of photooxidation of water with mixed metal oxides catalyst.

Synergic effect of the TiO2-CeO2 nanoconjugate system on the band-gap for visible light photocatalysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Contreras-García, M.E.; García-Benjume, M. Lorena; Macías-Andrés, Víctor I.; Barajas-Ledesma, E.; Medina-Flores, A.; Espitia-Cabrera, M.I.

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Nanostructured TiO 2 -CeO 2 films are successfully synthesized by combining of sputtering and electrophoresis methods. • Synergic effect of CeO 2 on TiO 2 band gap was demonstrated, CeO 2 diminishes it from 3.125 to 2.74. • Morphologic characterization of the nanoconjugate TiO 2 -CeO 2 films by different microscopy techniques. - Abstract: The TiO 2 -CeO 2 photocatalytic system in films is proposed here, in order to obtain photocatalytic systems that can be excited by solar light. The films were obtained through the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of TiO 2 -CeO 2 gel on sputtered Ti Corning glass substrates. The synergic effect of CeO 2 in TiO 2 films was analyzed as a function of the optical band gap reduction at different concentrations (1, 5, 10, and 15 mol%). The effect of two thermal treatments was also evaluated. The lowest band gap value was obtained for the sample with 5 mol% ceria that was thermally treated at 700 °C. The nanostructured films were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high angle annular dark field (HAADF), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The nanocomposites were formed by TiO 2 and CeO 2 nanoparticles in the anatase and fluorite type phases, respectively

[Synergism inhibition of curcumin combined with cisplatin on T24 bladder carcinoma cells and its related mechanism].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shao-nan; Yong, Qun; Wu, Xin-li; Liu, Xiao-ping

2014-11-01

To investigate the synergism inhibition of curcumin combined with cisplatin on T24 bladder carcinoma cells and the down-regulating effect of curcumin on the Keapl-Nrf2 pathway, a well recognized anti-drug pathway in almost drugged tumor cells. T24 cells were cultured and treated with increasing concentrations of curcumin(5 ,10 and 20 µmol/mL) combined with cisplatin(30 µg/mL) for 24 hours. The inhibitory effects on T24 cells were tested with MTI colorimetric assay. Nuclear Nrf2 and Keapl , cytoplasmic Keapl and two typical phase II enzymes (GSTP1 and NQOl) were checked with Western blotting. The proliferation of T24 cells was significantly inhibited by different concentrations of curcumin combined with cisplatin. After the treatment with different concentrations of curcumin, Nuclear Nrf2 was decreased but Keapl was increased, and GSTP1 and NQO1 were decreased. Synergism inhibition of curcumin combined with cisplatin on T24 bladder carcinoma cells is observed in this research. The Keapl-Nrf2 pathway in T24 cells is down-regulated by curcumin. The expression of typical phase I enzymes (GSTP1 and NQO1) mediated by Nrf2 are decreased by curcumin. The sensitivity of tumor cells to chemotherapeutic drugs is then enhanced. These may be the mechanism of synergism effect of curcumin combined with cisplatin.

Synergism between plant extract and antimicrobial drugs used on Staphylococcus aureus diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joyce Elaine Cristina Betoni

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Searches for substances with antimicrobial activity are frequent, and medicinal plants have been considered interesting by some researchers since they are frequently used in popular medicine as remedies for many infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to verify the synergism between 13 antimicrobial drugs and 8 plant extracts - "guaco" (Mikania glomerata, guava (Psidium guajava, clove (Syzygium aromaticum, garlic (Allium sativum, lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus, ginger (Zingiber officinale, "carqueja" (Baccharis trimera, and mint (Mentha piperita - against Staphylococcus aureus strains, and for this purpose, the disk method was the antimicrobial susceptibility test performed. Petri dishes were prepared with or without dilution of plant extracts at sub-inhibitory concentrations in Mueller-Hinton Agar (MHA, and the inhibitory zones were recorded in millimeters. In vitro anti-Staphylococcus aureus activities of the extracts were confirmed, and synergism was verified for all the extracts; clove, guava, and lemongrass presented the highest synergism rate with antimicrobial drugs, while ginger and garlic showed limited synergistic capacity.

Analgesic synergism of gabapentin and carbamazepine in rat model ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Analgesic synergism of gabapentin and carbamazepine in rat model of diabetic neuropathic pain. Sinan Mohammed Abdullah AL-Mahmood, Shahrin Tarmizi Bin Che Abdullah, Nik Nur Fatnoon Nik Ahmad, Abdul Hadi Bin Mohamed, Tariq Abdul Razak ...

Mutational synergism between p-fluorophenylalaline and UV in Coprinus lagopus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Talmud, P.J.

1977-01-01

The amino acid analogue p-fluorophenylalanine (PFP) is mutagenic to Coprinus lagopus due to its incorporation into proteins. Spontaneous mutations, PFP and UV mutagenesis and PFP/UV synergism have been studied in a UV resistant strain and in two complementing UV sensitive mutant strains. By comparison to the UV resistant strain, one UV sensitive strain shows normal spontaneous mutations, 1.4% PFP-induced mutations and 50-fold UV mutagenesis. The second UV sensitive strain has 19-fold spontaneous mutation frequency and slightly elevated UV mutagenesis. In all 3 strains the PFP/UV synergism is comparable (4-5 times the arithmetic expected). The results indicate that PFP mutagenesis is due to the incorporation of PFP into enzymes normally functioning in the organism but which also participate in UV repair mechanisms. A model is proposed for UV repair which is based on a PFP sensitive excision repair system of at least two enzymes, an alternative 'error-proof' pathway which is not susceptible to PFP and an 'error-prone' pathway which is responsible for UV mutagenesis and is susceptible to PFP as shown by the PFP/UV synergism. Because PFP is given before UV treatment, this implies a UV inducible cofactor and a PFP sensitive enzyme which only functions after UV activation

SUMO-Dependent Synergism Involving Heat Shock Transcription Factors with Functions Linked to Seed Longevity and Desiccation Tolerance

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Raúl Carranco

2017-06-01

Full Text Available A transcriptional synergism between HaHSFA9 (A9 and HaHSFA4a (A4a contributes to determining longevity and desiccation tolerance of sunflower (Helianthus annuus, L. seeds. Potential lysine SUMOylation sites were identified in A9 and A4a and mutated to arginine. We show that A9 is SUMOylated in planta at K38. Although we did not directly detect SUMOylated A4a in planta, we provide indirect evidence from transient expression experiments indicating that A4a is SUMOylated at K172. Different combinations of wild type and SUMOylation site mutants of A9 and A4a were analyzed by transient expression in sunflower embryos and leaves. Although most of the precedents in literature link SUMOylation with repression, the A9 and A4a synergism was fully abolished when the mutant forms for both factors were combined. However, the combination of mutant forms of A9 and A4a did not affect the nuclear retention of A4a by A9; therefore, the analyzed mutations would affect the synergism after the mutual interaction and nuclear co-localization of A9 and A4a. Our results suggest a role for HSF SUMOylation during late, zygotic, embryogenesis. The SUMOylation of A9 (or A4a would allow a crucial, synergic, transcriptional effect that occurs in maturing sunflower seeds.

Synergism between arsenite and proteasome inhibitor MG132 over cell death in myeloid leukaemic cells U937 and the induction of low levels of intracellular superoxide anion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lombardo, Tomás; Cavaliere, Victoria; Costantino, Susana N.; Kornblihtt, Laura; Alvarez, Elida M.; Blanco, Guillermo A.

2012-01-01

Increased oxygen species production has often been cited as a mechanism determining synergism on cell death and growth inhibition effects of arsenic-combined drugs. However the net effect of drug combination may not be easily anticipated solely from available knowledge of drug-induced death mechanisms. We evaluated the combined effect of sodium arsenite with the proteasome inhibitor MG132, and the anti-leukaemic agent CAPE, on growth-inhibition and cell death effect in acute myeloid leukaemic cells U937 and Burkitt's lymphoma-derived Raji cells, by the Chou–Talalay method. In addition we explored the association of cytotoxic effect of drugs with changes in intracellular superoxide anion (O 2 − ) levels. Our results showed that combined arsenite + MG132 produced low levels of O 2 − at 6 h and 24 h after exposure and were synergic on cell death induction in U937 cells over the whole dose range, although the combination was antagonistic on growth inhibition effect. Exposure to a constant non-cytotoxic dose of 80 μM hydrogen peroxide together with arsenite + MG132 changed synergism on cell death to antagonism at all effect levels while increasing O 2 − levels. Arsenite + hydrogen peroxide also resulted in antagonism with increased O 2 − levels in U937 cells. In Raji cells, arsenite + MG132 also produced low levels of O 2 − at 6 h and 24 h but resulted in antagonism on cell death and growth inhibition. By contrast, the combination arsenite + CAPE showed high levels of O 2 − production at 6 h and 24 h post exposure but resulted in antagonism over cell death and growth inhibition effects in U937 and Raji cells. We conclude that synergism between arsenite and MG132 in U937 cells is negatively associated to O 2 − levels at early time points after exposure. -- Highlights: ► Arsenic combined cytotoxic and anti-proliferative effects by Chou–Talalay method. ► Cytotoxic effect associated with superoxide levels as assessed by flow cytometry. ► Synergism

Synergism between rare earth cerium(IV) ion and vanillin on the corrosion of cold rolled steel in 1.0 M HCl solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Xianghong [Department of Fundamental Courses, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224 (China)], E-mail: xianghong-li@163.com; Deng Shuduan [Department of Wood Science and Technology, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224 (China); Fu Hui [Department of Fundamental Courses, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224 (China); Mu Guannan [Department of Chemistry, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China)

2008-12-15

The synergism between rare earth cerium(IV) ion and vanillin on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in 1.0 M HCl solution was first investigated by weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometer (UV-vis), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The results revealed that vanillin had a moderate inhibitive effect, and the adsorption of vanillin obeyed the Temkin adsorption isotherm. For rare earth Ce{sup 4+}, it had a negligible effect. However, incorporation of Ce{sup 4+} with vanillin significantly improved the inhibition performance, and produced strong synergistic inhibition effect. Depending on the results, the synergism mechanism was proposed.

Synergism between rare earth cerium(IV) ion and vanillin on the corrosion of cold rolled steel in 1.0 M HCl solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xianghong; Deng Shuduan; Fu Hui; Mu Guannan

2008-01-01

The synergism between rare earth cerium(IV) ion and vanillin on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in 1.0 M HCl solution was first investigated by weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometer (UV-vis), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The results revealed that vanillin had a moderate inhibitive effect, and the adsorption of vanillin obeyed the Temkin adsorption isotherm. For rare earth Ce 4+ , it had a negligible effect. However, incorporation of Ce 4+ with vanillin significantly improved the inhibition performance, and produced strong synergistic inhibition effect. Depending on the results, the synergism mechanism was proposed

Radiation-thermal degradation of PE and PVC: Mechanism of synergism and dose rate effects

Science.gov (United States)

Clough, Roger L.; Gillen, Kenneth T.

Polyethylene insulation and polyvinyl chloride jacketing materials that had been in use in a nuclear application were recently found to be substantially deteriorated. The damage had occurred under conditions where both the total estimated dose (about 2.5 Mrad) and the operating temperatures (about 43°C average) seemed relatively moderate. These results prompted us to initiate a program to study polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene degradation under conditions of combined γ-radiation and elevated temperature environments. A number of interesting aging effects were observed, including 1) a striking synergism between radiation and temperature and 2) strong dose-rate dependent effects which occur over a wide range of dose rates. The aging effects are explained in terms of a chain branching degradation mechanism involving thermally induced breakdown of peroxides which are formed in reactions initiated by the radiation. Evidence for this mechanism is derived from infrared spectra, from sequential radiation-elevated temperature experiments including experiments under inert atmosphere, from activation energy estimates and from a new technique involving treatment of intact samples with PH 3 for chemical reduction of peroxides. The results of our studies raise significant doubts about the utility of earlier compilations which purportedly serve as radiation life expectancy guides by indicating "tolerable radiation doses" for a variety of polymers.

75 FR 42744 - Synergics Roth Rock Wind Energy, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate Filing...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-22

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. ER10-1637-000] Synergics Roth Rock Wind Energy, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate Filing Includes Request...-referenced proceeding of Synergics Roth Rock Wind Energy, LLC's application for market-based rate authority...

75 FR 42743 - Synergics Roth Rock North Wind Energy, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-22

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. ER10-1673-000] Synergics Roth Rock North Wind Energy, LLC; Supplemental Notice That Initial Market-Based Rate Filing Includes...-referenced proceeding of Synergics Roth Rock North Wind Energy, LLC's application for market- based rate...

Synergic antibacterial activity of some essential oils from Lamiaceae

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Sh. Fahimi

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Background and objectives: Despite the vast production of new antibiotics in the last three decades, resistance to these drugs by microorganisms has increased and essential oils (EOs have been recognized to possess antimicrobial properties. Methods:  In the present study, EOs obtained from aerial parts of Thymus vulgaris L., Lavandula angustifolia Mill., Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Mentha piperita L., were evaluated for their single and binary combined antibacterial activities against four Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Results: The results exhibited that some of the tested essential oils revealed antibacterial activities against the examined pathogens using broth microdilution method. Maximum activity of the testedessential oils was obtained from the combination of T. vulgaris and M. piperita essential oils against Staphylococcus aureus (MIC= 0.625 mg/mL. Conclusion: Combinations of the essential oils in this study showed synergic action against some pathogenic microorganisms which could be considered in medical and food industries as preservatives.

Synergism between arsenite and proteasome inhibitor MG132 over cell death in myeloid leukaemic cells U937 and the induction of low levels of intracellular superoxide anion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lombardo, Tomás [Laboratorio de Immunotoxicologia (LaITO), IDEHU-CONICET, Hospital de Clínicas, José de San Martín, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires (Argentina); Cavaliere, Victoria; Costantino, Susana N. [Laboratorio de Inmunología Tumoral (LIT), IDEHU-CONICET, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, UBA, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Kornblihtt, Laura [Servicio de Hematología, Hospital de Clínicas, José de San Martín (UBA), Buenos Aires (Argentina); Alvarez, Elida M. [Laboratorio de Inmunología Tumoral (LIT), IDEHU-CONICET, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, UBA, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Blanco, Guillermo A., E-mail: gblanco@ffyb.uba.ar [Laboratorio de Immunotoxicologia (LaITO), IDEHU-CONICET, Hospital de Clínicas, José de San Martín, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Buenos Aires (Argentina)

2012-02-01

Increased oxygen species production has often been cited as a mechanism determining synergism on cell death and growth inhibition effects of arsenic-combined drugs. However the net effect of drug combination may not be easily anticipated solely from available knowledge of drug-induced death mechanisms. We evaluated the combined effect of sodium arsenite with the proteasome inhibitor MG132, and the anti-leukaemic agent CAPE, on growth-inhibition and cell death effect in acute myeloid leukaemic cells U937 and Burkitt's lymphoma-derived Raji cells, by the Chou–Talalay method. In addition we explored the association of cytotoxic effect of drugs with changes in intracellular superoxide anion (O{sub 2}{sup −}) levels. Our results showed that combined arsenite + MG132 produced low levels of O{sub 2}{sup −} at 6 h and 24 h after exposure and were synergic on cell death induction in U937 cells over the whole dose range, although the combination was antagonistic on growth inhibition effect. Exposure to a constant non-cytotoxic dose of 80 μM hydrogen peroxide together with arsenite + MG132 changed synergism on cell death to antagonism at all effect levels while increasing O{sub 2}{sup −} levels. Arsenite + hydrogen peroxide also resulted in antagonism with increased O{sub 2}{sup −} levels in U937 cells. In Raji cells, arsenite + MG132 also produced low levels of O{sub 2}{sup −} at 6 h and 24 h but resulted in antagonism on cell death and growth inhibition. By contrast, the combination arsenite + CAPE showed high levels of O{sub 2}{sup −} production at 6 h and 24 h post exposure but resulted in antagonism over cell death and growth inhibition effects in U937 and Raji cells. We conclude that synergism between arsenite and MG132 in U937 cells is negatively associated to O{sub 2}{sup −} levels at early time points after exposure. -- Highlights: ► Arsenic combined cytotoxic and anti-proliferative effects by Chou–Talalay method. ► Cytotoxic effect

Plant Essential Oils Synergize and Antagonize Toxicity of Different Conventional Insecticides against Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

Science.gov (United States)

Faraone, Nicoletta; Hillier, N. Kirk; Cutler, G. Christopher

2015-01-01

Plant-derived products can play an important role in pest management programs. Essential oils from Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) and Thymus vulgaris (thyme) and their main constituents, linalool and thymol, respectively, were evaluated for insecticidal activity and synergistic action in combination with insecticides against green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). The essential oils and their main constituents exerted similar insecticidal activity when aphids were exposed by direct sprays, but were non-toxic by exposure to treated leaf discs. In synergism experiments, the toxicity of imidacloprid was synergized 16- to 20-fold by L. angustifolia and T. vulgaris essential oils, but far less synergism occurred with linalool and thymol, indicating that secondary constituents of the oils were probably responsible for the observed synergism. In contrast to results with imidacloprid, the insecticidal activity of spirotetramat was antagonized by L. angustifolia and T. vulgaris essential oils, and linalool and thymol. Our results demonstrate the potential of plant essential oils as synergists of insecticides, but show that antagonistic action against certain insecticides may occur. PMID:26010088

Investigation of the synergic effect of some neutral organophosphoric compounds on the extraction of uranium from phosphoric acid solutions by D1-(2-Ethyl Hexyl) phosphoric acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stas, J.; Khorfan, S.; Koudsi, Y.

1998-05-01

The extraction of uranium (VI) from pure phosphoric acid media by D2EHPA/Kerosene has been studied. The mechanism of the extraction was found as follows: The logarithm of the equilibrium constant of the extraction (LogKex) was found (3.06), (3.32), (3.24), (3.3) for the following phosphoric acid concentrations respectively (1), (2), (3), (4) Mol/1, and the enthalpy change DELTA H was found (-100.68 kj/mol). (-76 kj/mol) for (1), (2) mol/1 phosphoric acid concentrations. The synergic effect of TOPO, TBP, and TBPI with DEHPA have been studied during the extraction of uranium from pure phosphoric acid and Syrian commercial phosphoric acid. The synergic effect increases as follows: TBP< TBPI<< TOPO (In pure phosphoric acid), TBPI approx TBP<< TOPO (In Syrian commercial phosphoric acid). The difficulty of extracting uranium (VI) from Syrian commercial phosphoric acid in comparison with pure phosphoric acid is due to the presence of several impurities capable of complexing uranium, and a small amounts of solid and organic matters, all these are factors which reduce the distribution coefficient of uranium. (Author)

Conservation of apple and pear juice concentrates. Synergic effect of heat and radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaupert, N.L.; Lescano, H.G.; Kotliar, N.

1981-01-01

This paper aims at assessing the feasibility for conserving apple and pear-juice concentrates through the synergic action of heat and radiation. The material was packed in sterile 100-μm polyethylene bags and, after the treatment was applied, the resulting fractions were stored under room temperature (25 0 C+-1 0 C). The temperature applied to the samples before irradiation was 50 0 C during 10 minutes and the doses were 100, 200, 300 and 400 krad. For such purposes, a 60 Co 165-krad/h source was used, located in a mobile irradiator. Periodical microbiological, chemical and organoleptic controls of the food were performed on both control and on irradiated samples, with or without heat. A single alterating microorganism was isolated from all the samples, which was featured as Saccharomyces rouxii. Adopting the temperature as an application variable and the absorbed dose as a constant, the above osmophilic yeast is considerably more sensitive to radiations when it is suspended in a 50% sucrose solution, after the latter was submitted to a 50 0 C temperature treatment. It has been proved that 72.5 krad are needed to attain the reduction of a logarithmic cycle in the Saccharomyces rouxii population irradiated at room temperature, while 36 krad are needed if the sample has been previously heated to 50 0 C for 10 minutes. An attempt was made to apply the synergism of such process to the juice concentrate. Below 50 0 C associated with 400 krad gamma radiation, a total inactivation took place in the Saccharomyces rouxii during the 150 days under analysis. Colour changes were detected in the concentrate; however, the acceptability features for consumption remained at a normal value (level 5) in a hedonic scale of 7 points. (author)

Synergic effect of the TiO{sub 2}-CeO{sub 2} nanoconjugate system on the band-gap for visible light photocatalysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Contreras-García, M.E. [Instituto de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, edificio “U”, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, C.P. 58060, Morelia, Michoacán (Mexico); García-Benjume, M. Lorena, E-mail: lbenjume@yahoo.com [Instituto de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, edificio “U”, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, C.P. 58060, Morelia, Michoacán (Mexico); Macías-Andrés, Víctor I. [Instituto de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, edificio “U”, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, C.P. 58060, Morelia, Michoacán (Mexico); Barajas-Ledesma, E. [Universidad de La Ciénega del Estado de Michoacán de Ocampo, Avenida Universidad 3000, C.P. 59000, Sahuayo, Michoacán (Mexico); Medina-Flores, A. [Instituto de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas, edificio “U”, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, C.P. 58060, Morelia, Michoacán (Mexico); Espitia-Cabrera, M.I. [Facultad de Ingeniería Química, edificio “M”, Ciudad Universitaria, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, C.P. 58060, Morelia, Michoacán (Mexico)

2014-04-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Nanostructured TiO{sub 2}-CeO{sub 2} films are successfully synthesized by combining of sputtering and electrophoresis methods. • Synergic effect of CeO{sub 2} on TiO{sub 2} band gap was demonstrated, CeO{sub 2} diminishes it from 3.125 to 2.74. • Morphologic characterization of the nanoconjugate TiO{sub 2}-CeO{sub 2} films by different microscopy techniques. - Abstract: The TiO{sub 2}-CeO{sub 2} photocatalytic system in films is proposed here, in order to obtain photocatalytic systems that can be excited by solar light. The films were obtained through the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of TiO{sub 2}-CeO{sub 2} gel on sputtered Ti Corning glass substrates. The synergic effect of CeO{sub 2} in TiO{sub 2} films was analyzed as a function of the optical band gap reduction at different concentrations (1, 5, 10, and 15 mol%). The effect of two thermal treatments was also evaluated. The lowest band gap value was obtained for the sample with 5 mol% ceria that was thermally treated at 700 °C. The nanostructured films were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high angle annular dark field (HAADF), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The nanocomposites were formed by TiO{sub 2} and CeO{sub 2} nanoparticles in the anatase and fluorite type phases, respectively.

Strong Delayed Interactive Effects of Metal Exposure and Warming: Latitude-Dependent Synergisms Persist Across Metamorphosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Debecker, Sara; Dinh, Khuong V; Stoks, Robby

2017-02-21

As contaminants are often more toxic at higher temperatures, predicting their impact under global warming remains a key challenge for ecological risk assessment. Ignoring delayed effects, synergistic interactions between contaminants and warming, and differences in sensitivity across species' ranges could lead to an important underestimation of the risks. We addressed all three mechanisms by studying effects of larval exposure to zinc and warming before, during, and after metamorphosis in Ischnura elegans damselflies from high- and low-latitude populations. By integrating these mechanisms into a single study, we could identify two novel patterns. First, during exposure zinc did not affect survival, whereas it induced mild to moderate postexposure mortality in the larval stage and at metamorphosis, and very strongly reduced adult lifespan. This severe delayed effect across metamorphosis was especially remarkable in high-latitude animals, as they appeared almost insensitive to zinc during the larval stage. Second, the well-known synergism between metals and warming was manifested not only during the larval stage but also after metamorphosis, yet notably only in low-latitude damselflies. These results highlight that a more complete life-cycle approach that incorporates the possibility of delayed interactions between contaminants and warming in a geographical context is crucial for a more realistic risk assessment in a warming world.

Vorinostat synergizes with ridaforolimus and abrogates the ridaforolimus-induced activation of AKT in synovial sarcoma cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Sherif S; Cranmer, Lee D

2014-11-18

Curative treatments for patients with metastatic synovial sarcoma (SS) do not exist, and such patients have a poor prognosis. We explored combinations of molecularly-targeted and cytotoxic agents to identify synergistic treatment combinations in SS cells. Two SS cell lines (HS-SY-II and SYO-I) were treated with single agents or combinations of molecularly targeted therapies (HDAC inhibitor, vorinostat; mTOR inhibitor, ridaforolimus) and cytotoxic agents. After 72 hours, cell viability was measured using the MTS cell proliferation assay. Combination Indices (CI) were calculated to determine whether each combination was synergistic, additive, or antagonistic. Western Blot analysis assessed alterations in total and phospho-AKT protein levels in response to drug treatment. We determined the single-agent IC50 for ridaforolimus, vorinostat, doxorubicin, and melphalan in HS-SY-II and SYO-I. Synergism was apparent in cells co-treated with ridaforolimus and vorinostat: CI was 0.28 and 0.63 in HS-SY-II and SYO-I, respectively. Ridaforolimus/doxorubicin and ridaforolimus/melphalan exhibited synergism in both cell lines. An additive effect was observed with combination of vorinostat/doxorubicin in both cell lines. Vorinostat/melphalan was synergistic in HS-SY-II and additive in SYO-I. Western blot analysis demonstrated that ridaforolimus increased pAKT-ser473 levels; this effect was abrogated by vorinostat co-treatment. The combination of ridaforolimus and vorinostat demonstrates in vitro synergism in SS. Addition of vorinostat abrogated ridaforolimus-induced AKT activation. Since AKT activation is a possible mechanism of resistance to mTOR inhibitors, adding vorinostat (or another HDAC inhibitor) may be a route to circumvent AKT-mediated resistance to mTOR inhibitors.

Investigation on synergism of composite additives for zinc corrosion inhibition in alkaline solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou Hebing [School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641 (China); Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Technology on Energy Storage and Power Generation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Engineering Research Center of Materials and Technology for Electrochemical Energy Storage (Ministry of Education), South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Huang Qiming; Liang Man; Lv Dongsheng; Xu Mengqing; Li Hong [Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Technology on Energy Storage and Power Generation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Engineering Research Center of Materials and Technology for Electrochemical Energy Storage (Ministry of Education), South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Li Weishan, E-mail: liwsh@scnu.edu.cn [School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641 (China); Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Technology on Energy Storage and Power Generation of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Engineering Research Center of Materials and Technology for Electrochemical Energy Storage (Ministry of Education), South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006 (China)

2011-07-15

Highlights: {yields} An kind of environmentally benign organic composite additives is used firstly. {yields} The corrosion of zinc is inhibited used the organic compound as additive. {yields} The rate performance of the battery used the organic compound as additive is improved. {yields} The synergism of composite additives for zinc corrosion inhibition is investigated. - Abstract: The synergism of imidazole (IMZ) and poly(ethylene glycol) 600 (PEG) for zinc corrosion inhibition in 3 mol L{sup -1} KOH solution was investigated using a combination of electrochemical and gravimetric methods, and the surface morphology of the zinc was observed by scanning electron microscopy. It is found that there is a synergistic effect between IMZ and PEG for the zinc corrosion inhibition. The difference in molecular structure, ring for IMZ and chain for PEG, and in binding atoms with zinc, nitrogen in IMZ and oxygen in PEG, contributes to this synergistic effect. IMZ inhibits zinc corrosion by mainly depressing the anodic reaction, whereas PEG by depressing the cathodic reaction. The storage performance of the zinc-manganese dioxide batteries using IMZ and/or PEG as inhibitors was determined by discharge test, with a comparison of the battery using mercury as the inhibitor. The battery containing 0.05% IMZ + 0.05% PEG exhibits better performance than the mercury-containing battery, especially when discharged at high rate.

Antibacterial activity of three newly-synthesized chalcones & synergism with antibiotics against clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragana D Bozic

2014-01-01

Interpretation & conclusions: o0 ur study demonstrated that three newly-synthesized chalcones exhibited significant anti-MRSA effect and synergism with non-β-lactam antibiotics. The most effective compound was 1,3-Bis-(2-hydroxy-phenyl-propenone. Our results provide useful information for future research of possible application of chalcones in combination with conventional anti-MRSA therapy as promising new antimicrobial agents.

PSA-operations synergism for the advanced test reactor shutdown operations PSA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atkinson, S.A.

1996-01-01

The Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) for shutdown operations, cask handling, and canal draining is a successful example of the importance of good PSA-operations synergism for achieving a realistic and accepted assessment of the risks and for achieving desired risk reduction and safety improvement in a best and cost-effective manner. The implementation of the agreed-upon upgrades and improvements resulted in the reductions of the estimated mean frequency for core or canal irradiated fuel uncovery events, a total reduction in risk by a factor of nearly 1000 to a very low and acceptable risk level for potentially severe events

Protection against ionising radiation and synergism with thiols by zinc aspartate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Floersheim, G.L.; Floersheim, P.

1986-01-01

Pre-treatment with zinc aspartate protected mice against the lethal effects of radiation and raised the LD 50 from 8 gy to 12.2 Gy. Zinc chloride and zinc sulphate were clearly less active. The radioprotective effect of zinc aspartate was equivalent to cysteamine and slightly inferior to S,2-aminoethylisothiourea (AET). Zinc aspartate displayed a similar therapeutic index to the thiols but could be applied at an earlier time before irradiation. Synergistic effects occurred with the combined administration of zinc aspartate and thiols. By giving zinc aspartate with cysteamine, the LD 50 was increased to 13.25 Gy and, by combining it in the optimal protocol with AET, to 17.3 Gy. The radioprotection by zinc and its synergism with thiols is explained by the stabilisation of thiols through the formation of zinc complexes. (author)

Towards a synergic innovation management model: the interplay of market, technology, and management innovations

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Leonard Tchuta

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines a model of firm innovation management known as the synergic innovation management model. Building on the theory of dynamic capabilities and core competence, the paper suggest three capabilities of firms namely market, technology, management capabilities that drive firms’ innovations. The combination of these three capabilities creates a unique configuration for a firm known as the firm’s core competence that informs the firm's strategic decisions. The synergic innovation management model guides firm in the simultaneous exploration of market, technology, and management innovations required for sustainable business. The paper concludes with limitations of the model and suggestions for further research.

Isobolographic Analysis for Additive, Synergism and Antagonism Effects in Binary Mixture of Mesosulfuron + Iodosulfuron and Clodinafop-Propargyl

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A. A Chitband

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The reduction of herbicide applications is a main research priority in recent years for herbicide reducing the risk of side-effects and costs from herbicides. Therefore To predicting additive, synergism or antagonism effects mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron and clodinafop-propargyl two herbicides mixture on wild oat with isobole curvatures, greenhouse experimental in completely randomized design with 36 treatments (in dose-response arrangements and four replicates for each experiment treatments were conducted at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Treatments included mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron alone at doses of 0 , 2.4, 6, 12, 18 and 24 g ai ha-1, clodinafop alone at doses of 0, 6.4, 16, 32, 48 and 64 g ai ha-1 and six mixtures ratio of doses of two herbicides above mentioned as 100:0%,75:25%, 50:50%, 25:75% , 10:90% and 0:100%. The results showed mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron and clodinafop-propargyl at high dose rates showed complete control of wild oat. In addition Concentration Addition (CA model describe Fitted the data better than Hewlett and Voelund models. On the other hand, herbicides combination with each other showed additive effects on wild oat control, As by increasing the clodinafop-propargyl ratio in mixtures (90% clodinafop-propargyl + 10% mesosulfuron + iodosulfuron increased wild oat control compared with other mixing ratios remarkably.

Comparative Bio-Efficacy and Synergism of New Generation Polyfluorobenzyl and Conventional Pyrethroids Against Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Manas; Akulwad, Ambadas; Kshirsagar, Rajendra; Muthukrishnan, Siva

2018-05-28

Intensive exposure to insecticides has resulted in the evolution of insecticide resistance in the mosquitoes. We tested the bio-efficacy of two Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae) laboratory strains differentially bio-responsive to pyrethroids to understand the comparative efficacy of different polyfluorobenzyle and conventional pyrethroid molecules and the role of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) in synergizing these molecules in increased tolerance of mosquitoes to these molecules. We have taken deltamethrin (α-cyano pyrethroid with phenoxybenzyl moiety); permethrin (phenoxybenzyl pyrethroid without an α-cyano group); transfluthrin, dimefluthrin, metofluthrin, and meperfluthrin (polyfluorinated benzyl compounds); and prallethrin (modified cyclopentadienone compound) for this study. We found higher bio-efficacy in dimefluthrin, metofluthrin, and meperfluthrin compared with transfluthrin against tested mosquito strains. We found that transfluthrin exhibited synergism with PBO, which supports the hypothesis that P450 enzymes could play a role in the detoxification process of transfluthrin, which was earlier not believed. However, other polyfluorobenzyl pyrethroids with a 4-(methoxymethyl) phenyl capping in the tetrafluorobenzyl ring (dimefluthrin, metofluthrin, and meperfluthrin) exhibit greater synergism with PBO compared with transfluthrin. Further study is required to understand the mechanism for higher synergistic ratios in polyfluorobenzyl pyrethroids with 4-(methoxymethyl) phenyl moiety and ascertain the possible involvement of novel mechanisms that may involve in developing resistance. This is the first report of comparative bio-efficacy of multiple polyfluorobenzyl pyrethroids and PBO synergism against mosquitoes.

Study on the synergic effect of natural compounds on the microbial quality decay of packed fish hamburger.

Science.gov (United States)

Corbo, M R; Speranza, B; Filippone, A; Granatiero, S; Conte, A; Sinigaglia, M; Del Nobile, M A

2008-10-31

The effectiveness of natural compounds in slowing down the microbial quality decay of refrigerated fish hamburger is addressed in this study. In particular, the control of the microbiological spoilage by combined use of three antimicrobials, and the determination of their optimal composition to extend the fish hamburger Microbiological Stability Limit (MAL) are the main objectives of this work. Thymol, grapefruit seed extract (GFSE) and lemon extract were tested for monitoring the cell growth of the main fish spoilage microorganisms (Pseudomonas fluorescens, Photobacterium phosphoreum and Shewanella putrefaciens), inoculated in fish hamburgers, and the growth of mesophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria. A Central Composite Design (CCD) was developed to highlight a possible synergic effect of the above natural compounds. Results showed an increase in the MAL value for hamburgers mixed with the antimicrobial compounds, compared to the control sample. The optimal antimicrobial compound composition, which corresponds to the maximal MAL value determined in this study, is: 110 mgL(-1) of thymol, 100 mgL(-1) of GFSE and 120 mgL(-1) of lemon extract. The presence of the natural compounds delay the sensorial quality decay without compromising the flavor of the fish hamburgers.

Synergic effect of tungstophosphoric acid and sonication for rapid synthesis of crystalline nanocellulose.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamid, Sharifah Bee Abd; Zain, Siti Khadijah; Das, Rasel; Centi, Gabriele

2016-03-15

The utilization of sonication in combination with tungstophosphoric acid (PWA) catalyst reduces dramatically the time of operations from 30h to 10min by using an optimum sonication power of 225W. The basic cellulosic structure is maintained, allowing preparing high-quality nanocellulose. The size of the nanocellulose obtained was in the range from 15 to 35nm in diameter and several hundred nanometers in length, with a high crystallinity of about 88%. The nanocellulose shows a surface charge of -38.2mV which allows to obtaina stable colloidal suspension. The surface tension of the stable, swollen aqueous nanocellulose was close to that of water. These characteristics, together with the fast procedure allowed from the synergic combination of PWA and sonication, evidence the high potential of the proposed method for the industrial production of nanocellulose having the properties required in many applications. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Synergic effects in the extraction of paracetamol from aqueous NaCl solution by the binary mixtures of diethyl ether and low molecular weight primary alcohols

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolić, G. M.; Živković, J. V.; Atanasković, D. S.; Nikolić, M. G.

2013-12-01

Liquid-liquid extraction of paracetamol from aqueous NaCl solutions was performed with diethyl ether, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, isobutanol, 1-pentanol, and binary mixtures diethyl ether/1-propanol, diethyl ether/1-butanol, and diethyl ether/isobutanol. Among the pure solvents investigated in this study best extraction efficacy was obtained with 1-butanol. Synergic effects in the extraction with binary mixtures was investigated and compared with some other systems used for the extraction of poorly extractable compounds. Results obtained in this study may be of both fundamental and practical importance.

Antibacterial activity of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and its synergism with β-lactam antibiotics sensitizing carbapenem-associated multidrug resistant clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Spencer; Razqan, Ghaida Saleh Al; Kwon, Dong H

2017-01-15

Infections caused by Acinetobacter baumannii were responsive to conventional antibiotic therapy. However, recently, carbapenem-associated multidrug resistant isolates have been reported worldwide and present a major therapeutic challenge. Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (EGCG) extracted from green tea exhibits antibacterial activity. We evaluated the antibacterial activity of EGCG and possible synergism with antibiotics in carbapenem-associated multidrug resistant A. baumannii. A potential mechanism for synergism was also explored. Seventy clinical isolates of A. baumannii collected from geographically different areas were analyzed by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of EGCG. Checkerboard and time-killing assays were performed to exam the synergism between EGCG and antibiotics. The effects of EGCG on a multidrug efflux pump inhibitor (1-[1-naphthylmethyl] piperazine; NMP) and β-lactamase production were also examined in A. baumannii. Sixty-three of 70 clinical isolates of A. baumannii carried carbapenemase-encoding genes with carbapenem-associated multidrug resistance. Levels of MIC and MBC of EGCG ranged from 64 to 512µg/ml and from 128 to ≥1024µg/ml, respectively among the clinical isolates. MIC 90 and MBC 86 levels were 256µg/ml and 512µg/ml of EGCG, respectively. Subinhibitory concentration of EGCG in combination with all antibiotics tested, including carbapenem, sensitized (MICs fall≤1.0µg/ml) all carbapenem-associated multidrug resistant isolates. Checkerboard and time-killing assays showed synergism between EGCG and meropenem (or carbenicillin) counted as fractional inhibitory concentration of 2log10 within 12h, respectively. EGCG significantly increased the effect of NMP but was unrelated to β-lactamase production in A. baumannii, suggesting EGCG may be associated with inhibition of efflux pumps. Overall we suggest that EGCG-antibiotic combinations might provide an alternative approach to treat

Synergism between Basic Asp49 and Lys49 Phospholipase A2 Myotoxins of Viperid Snake Venom In Vitro and In Vivo

Science.gov (United States)

Mora-Obando, Diana; Fernández, Julián; Montecucco, Cesare; Gutiérrez, José María; Lomonte, Bruno

2014-01-01

Two subtypes of phospholipases A2 (PLA2s) with the ability to induce myonecrosis, ‘Asp49’ and ‘Lys49’ myotoxins, often coexist in viperid snake venoms. Since the latter lack catalytic activity, two different mechanisms are involved in their myotoxicity. A synergism between Asp49 and Lys49 myotoxins from Bothrops asper was previously observed in vitro, enhancing Ca2+ entry and cell death when acting together upon C2C12 myotubes. These observations are extended for the first time in vivo, by demonstrating a clear enhancement of myonecrosis by the combined action of these two toxins in mice. In addition, novel aspects of their synergism were revealed using myotubes. Proportions of Asp49 myotoxin as low as 0.1% of the Lys49 myotoxin are sufficient to enhance cytotoxicity of the latter, but not the opposite. Sublytic amounts of Asp49 myotoxin also enhanced cytotoxicity of a synthetic peptide encompassing the toxic region of Lys49 myotoxin. Asp49 myotoxin rendered myotubes more susceptible to osmotic lysis, whereas Lys49 myotoxin did not. In contrast to myotoxic Asp49 PLA2, an acidic non-toxic PLA2 from the same venom did not markedly synergize with Lys49 myotoxin, revealing a functional difference between basic and acidic PLA2 enzymes. It is suggested that Asp49 myotoxins synergize with Lys49 myotoxins by virtue of their PLA2 activity. In addition to the membrane-destabilizing effect of this activity, Asp49 myotoxins may generate anionic patches of hydrolytic reaction products, facilitating electrostatic interactions with Lys49 myotoxins. These data provide new evidence for the evolutionary adaptive value of the two subtypes of PLA2 myotoxins acting synergistically in viperid venoms. PMID:25290688

Conifer flavonoid compounds inhibit detoxification enzymes and synergize insecticides.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhiling; Zhao, Zhong; Cheng, Xiaofei; Liu, Suqi; Wei, Qin; Scott, Ian M

2016-02-01

Detoxification by glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) and esterases are important mechanisms associated with insecticide resistance. Discovery of novel GST and esterase inhibitors from phytochemicals could provide potential new insecticide synergists. Conifer tree species contain flavonoids, such as taxifolin, that inhibit in vitro GST activity. The objectives were to test the relative effectiveness of taxifolin as an enzyme inhibitor and as an insecticide synergist in combination with the organophosphorous insecticide, Guthion (50% azinphos-methyl), and the botanical insecticide, pyrethrum, using an insecticide-resistant Colorado potato beetle (CPB) Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) strain. Both taxifolin and its isomer, quercetin, increased the mortality of 1(st) instar CPB larvae after 48h when combined with Guthion, but not pyrethrum. Taxifolin had greater in vitro esterase inhibition compared with the commonly used esterase inhibitor, S, S, S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate (DEF). An in vivo esterase and GST inhibition effect after ingestion of taxifolin was measured, however DEF caused a greater suppression of esterase activity. This study demonstrated that flavonoid compounds have both in vitro and in vivo esterase inhibition, which is likely responsible for the insecticide synergism observed in insecticide-resistant CPB. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

North American Invasion of the Tawny Crazy Ant (Nylanderia fulva) Is Enabled by Pheromonal Synergism from Two Separate Glands.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qing-He; McDonald, Danny L; Hoover, Doreen R; Aldrich, Jeffrey R; Schneidmiller, Rodney G

2015-09-01

A new invader, the "tawny crazy ant", Nylanderia fulva (Hymenoptera: Formicidae; Formicinae), is displacing the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), in the southern U.S., likely through its superior chemical arsenal and communication. Alone, formic acid is unattractive, but this venom (= poison) acid powerfully synergizes attraction of tawny crazy ants to volatiles from the Dufour's gland secretion of N. fulva workers, including the two major components, undecane and 2-tridecanone. The unexpected pheromonal synergism between the Dufour's gland and the venom gland appears to be another key factor, in addition to previously known defensive and detoxification semiochemical features, for the successful invasion and domination of N. fulva in the southern U.S. This synergism is an efficient mechanism enabling N. fulva workers to outcompete Solenopsis and other ant species for food and territory. From a practical standpoint, judicious point-source release formulation of tawny crazy ant volatiles may be pivotal for enhanced attract-and-kill management of this pest.

Biotic and abiotic factors investigated in two Drosophila species – evidence of both negative and positive fitness effects of interactions on performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ørsted, Michael; Schou, Mads Fristrup; Kristensen, Torsten Nygård

2017-01-01

more informative descriptions of complex interactions we implemented re-conceptualised definitions of synergism and antagonism. We found approximately equal proportions of synergistic and antagonistic interactions in both species, however the effects of interactions on performance differed between...

A combination of additives can synergically decrease acrylamide content in gingerbread without compromising sensory quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Komprda, Tomáš; Pridal, Antonin; Mikulíková, Renata; Svoboda, Zdeněk; Cwiková, Olga; Nedomová, Šárka; Sýkora, Vladimír

2017-02-01

The present study tested whether replacement of the leavening agent ammonium carbonate by sodium hydrogen carbonate in combination with calcium cation and acidifying agent will synergically decrease acrylamide (AA) content in gingerbread. The type of leavening agent and the presence of Ca 2+ and citric acid accounted for 33.6%, 13.2% and 53.2% of the explained variability of the AA content, respectively (P sensory analysis did not indicate any significant deterioration (P > 0.05) in the organoleptic quality of gingerbread produced using calcium cation and citric acid. The present study demonstrates that the combination of additives NaHCO 3 /Ca 2+ /citric acid synergically decreases AA content in gingerbread without compromising the sensory quality. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Synergic effect of gamma radiation with thermal treatment for conserving natural apple juice from Gala variety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blumer, L.; Domarco, R.E.; Spoto, M.H.F.; Walder, J.M.M.; Matraia, C.

1995-01-01

This paper aims at the feasibility of a new method for conserving natural apple juice using no chemicals. The apple juice was extract from Gala apple variety and was bottled in sterile 100 ml amber vials. The samples were treated by: heat at 60 0 C for 20 minutes; heat at 80 0 C for 20 minutes; radiation; radiation plus heat (60 0 ); radiation plus heat 80 0 C. The radiation doses were 0,2,4 and 6 kGy at the dose rate of 1.6 kGy/h. The juice quality control was carried out by chemical analysis (total soluble solids, pH, acidity, ascorbic acid) following the AOAC methodology. The samples were stored under refrigeration conditions 5±3 0 C) up to 180 days. It was observed an alteration of the total soluble solids and the pH during the storage period for all treatments. The pH was also affected by the combined treatments (radiation plus heat). The acidity was affected by the interaction of storage period and heat temperature. The ascorbic acid was affected by the synergic effect of heat and radiation and by the interaction radiation and storage period. (author). 8 refs, 6 figs

Inter-domain Synergism Is Required for Efficient Feeding of Cellulose Chain into Active Site of Cellobiohydrolase Cel7A.

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Kont, Riin; Kari, Jeppe; Borch, Kim; Westh, Peter; Väljamäe, Priit

2016-12-09

Structural polysaccharides like cellulose and chitin are abundant and their enzymatic degradation to soluble sugars is an important route in green chemistry. Processive glycoside hydrolases (GHs), like cellobiohydrolase Cel7A of Trichoderma reesei (TrCel7A) are key components of efficient enzyme systems. TrCel7A consists of a catalytic domain (CD) and a smaller carbohydrate-binding module (CBM) connected through the glycosylated linker peptide. A tunnel-shaped active site rests in the CD and contains 10 glucose unit binding sites. The active site of TrCel7A is lined with four Trp residues with two of them, Trp-40 and Trp-38, in the substrate binding sites near the tunnel entrance. Although addressed in numerous studies the elucidation of the role of CBM and active site aromatics has been obscured by a complex multistep mechanism of processive GHs. Here we studied the role of the CBM-linker and Trp-38 of TrCel7A with respect to binding affinity, on- and off-rates, processivity, and synergism with endoglucanase. The CBM-linker increased the on-rate and substrate affinity of the enzyme. The Trp-38 to Ala substitution resulted in increased off-rates and decreased processivity. The effect of the Trp-38 to Ala substitution on on-rates was strongly dependent on the presence of the CBM-linker. This compensation between CBM-linker and Trp-38 indicates synergism between CBM-linker and CD in feeding the cellulose chain into the active site. The inter-domain synergism was pre-requisite for the efficient degradation of cellulose in the presence of endoglucanase. © 2016 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Trace levels of innate immune response modulating impurities (IIRMIs synergize to break tolerance to therapeutic proteins.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Verthelyi

Full Text Available Therapeutic proteins such as monoclonal antibodies, replacement enzymes and toxins have significantly improved the therapeutic options for multiple diseases, including cancer and inflammatory diseases as well as enzyme deficiencies and inborn errors of metabolism. However, immune responses to these products are frequent and can seriously impact their safety and efficacy. Of the many factors that can impact protein immunogenicity, this study focuses on the role of innate immune response modulating impurities (IIRMIs that could be present despite product purification and whether these impurities can synergize to facilitate an immunogenic response to therapeutic proteins. Using lipopolysaccharide (LPS and CpG ODN as IIRMIs we showed that trace levels of these impurities synergized to induce IgM, IFNγ, TNFα and IL-6 expression. In vivo, trace levels of these impurities synergized to increase antigen-specific IgG antibodies to ovalbumin. Further, whereas mice treated with human erythropoietin showed a transient increase in hematocrit, those that received human erythropoietin containing low levels of IIRMIs had reduced response to erythropoietin after the 1(st dose and developed long-lasting anemia following subsequent doses. This suggests that the presence of IIRMIs facilitated a breach in tolerance to the endogenous mouse erythropoietin. Overall, these studies indicate that the risk of enhancing immunogenicity should be considered when establishing acceptance limits of IIRMIs for therapeutic proteins.

Trace levels of innate immune response modulating impurities (IIRMIs) synergize to break tolerance to therapeutic proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Verthelyi, Daniela; Wang, Vivian

2010-12-22

Therapeutic proteins such as monoclonal antibodies, replacement enzymes and toxins have significantly improved the therapeutic options for multiple diseases, including cancer and inflammatory diseases as well as enzyme deficiencies and inborn errors of metabolism. However, immune responses to these products are frequent and can seriously impact their safety and efficacy. Of the many factors that can impact protein immunogenicity, this study focuses on the role of innate immune response modulating impurities (IIRMIs) that could be present despite product purification and whether these impurities can synergize to facilitate an immunogenic response to therapeutic proteins. Using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and CpG ODN as IIRMIs we showed that trace levels of these impurities synergized to induce IgM, IFNγ, TNFα and IL-6 expression. In vivo, trace levels of these impurities synergized to increase antigen-specific IgG antibodies to ovalbumin. Further, whereas mice treated with human erythropoietin showed a transient increase in hematocrit, those that received human erythropoietin containing low levels of IIRMIs had reduced response to erythropoietin after the 1(st) dose and developed long-lasting anemia following subsequent doses. This suggests that the presence of IIRMIs facilitated a breach in tolerance to the endogenous mouse erythropoietin. Overall, these studies indicate that the risk of enhancing immunogenicity should be considered when establishing acceptance limits of IIRMIs for therapeutic proteins.

Synergism in mutations induction in Tradescantia by plants protection agents acting jointly with ionizing radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cebulska-Wasilewska, A.; Smagala, J.

1990-01-01

Tradescantia was first treated by plants protection agents such as: Ambusz, Afalton, Ripcord, Decis, deltametryne and after that irradiated with X radiation. The synergism of both factors was observed. The mutation frequency dependence on radiation doses was studied. 7 figs., 4 refs. (A.S.)

Caffeine synergizes with another coffee component to increase plasma GCSF: linkage to cognitive benefits in Alzheimer's mice.

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Cao, Chuanhai; Wang, Li; Lin, Xiaoyang; Mamcarz, Malgorzata; Zhang, Chi; Bai, Ge; Nong, Jasson; Sussman, Sam; Arendash, Gary

2011-01-01

Retrospective and prospective epidemiologic studies suggest that enhanced coffee/caffeine intake during aging reduces risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Underscoring this premise, our studies in AD transgenic mice show that long-term caffeine administration protects against cognitive impairment and reduces brain amyloid-β levels/deposition through suppression of both β- and γ-secretase. Because coffee contains many constituents in addition to caffeine that may provide cognitive benefits against AD, we examined effects of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee on plasma cytokines, comparing their effects to caffeine alone. In both AβPPsw+PS1 transgenic mice and non-transgenic littermates, acute i.p. treatment with caffeinated coffee greatly and specifically increased plasma levels of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF), IL-10, and IL-6. Neither caffeine solution alone (which provided high plasma caffeine levels) or decaffeinated coffee provided this effect, indicating that caffeine synergized with some as yet unidentified component of coffee to selectively elevate these three plasma cytokines. The increase in GCSF is particularly important because long-term treatment with coffee (but not decaffeinated coffee) enhanced working memory in a fashion that was associated only with increased plasma GCSF levels among all cytokines. Since we have previously reported that long-term GCSF treatment enhances cognitive performance in AD mice through three possible mechanisms (e.g., recruitment of microglia from bone marrow, synaptogenesis, and neurogenesis), the same mechanisms could be complimentary to caffeine's established ability to suppress Aβ production. We conclude that coffee may be the best source of caffeine to protect against AD because of a component in coffee that synergizes with caffeine to enhance plasma GCSF levels, resulting in multiple therapeutic actions against AD.

A toxin-binding alkaline phosphatase fragment synergizes Bt toxin Cry1Ac against susceptible and resistant Helicoverpa armigera.

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Wenbo Chen

Full Text Available Evolution of resistance by insects threatens the continued success of pest control using insecticidal crystal (Cry proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt in sprays and transgenic plants. In this study, laboratory selection with Cry1Ac yielded five strains of cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, with resistance ratios at the median lethal concentration (LC50 of activated Cry1Ac ranging from 22 to 1700. Reduced activity and reduced transcription of an alkaline phosphatase protein that binds Cry1Ac was associated with resistance to Cry1Ac in the four most resistant strains. A Cry1Ac-binding fragment of alkaline phosphatase from H. armigera (HaALP1f was not toxic by itself, but it increased mortality caused by Cry1Ac in a susceptible strain and in all five resistant strains. Although synergism of Bt toxins against susceptible insects by toxin-binding fragments of cadherin and aminopeptidase N has been reported previously, the results here provide the first evidence of synergism of a Bt toxin by a toxin-binding fragment of alkaline phosphatase. The results here also provide the first evidence of synergism of a Bt toxin by any toxin-binding peptide against resistant insects.

Synergism between fentanyl and tramadol in tonic inflammatory pain: the orofacial formalin test.

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Miranda, Hugo F; Noriega, Viviana; Zepeda, Ramiro J; Sierralta, Fernando; Prieto, Juan C

2012-06-01

Opioids have been used for long time to management of pain, the coadministration of two opioids may induce synergism. The present study was conducted to determine the antinociceptive interaction between the dual mechanism of action of tramadol compared to the main of fentanyl antinociception in the orofacial formalin which represents a model of persistent cutaneous nociception in the region innervated by the trigeminal nerve. The i.p. administration of tramadol and fentanyl induced a dose-dependent antinociception with an ED(50) of 2.97 ± 0.32 mg/kg for phase I and 1.79 ± 0.30 mg/kg for phase II and 0.062 ± 0.0040 mg/kg in phase I and 0.041 ± 0.0039 mg/kg in phase II, respectively. The coadministration of fentanyl with tramadol induced synergism in both phases of the test with an interaction index of 0.343 and 0.163 for phase I and phase II, respectively. This finding could be explained by the more complex pharmacology of tramadol compared to fentanyl.

Synergism between hydrogen peroxide and seventeen acids against five agri-food-borne fungi and one yeast strain.

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Martin, H; Maris, P

2012-12-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate fungicidal efficacy of hydrogen peroxide administered in combination with 17 mineral and organic acids authorized for use in the food industry. The assays were performed on a 96-well microplate using a microdilution technique based on the checkerboard titration method. The six selected strains (one yeast and five fungi) were reference strains and strains representative of contaminating fungi found in the food industry. Each synergistic hydrogen peroxide/acid combination found after fifteen minutes contact time at 20 °C in distilled water was then tested in conditions simulating four different use conditions. Twelve combinations were synergistic in distilled water, eleven of these remained synergistic with one or more of the four mineral and organic interfering substances selected. Hydrogen peroxide/formic acid combination remained effective against four strains and was never antagonistic against the other two fungi. Combinations with propionic acid and acetic acid stayed synergistic against two strains. Those with oxalic acid and lactic acid kept their synergism only against Candida albicans. No synergism was detected against Penicillium cyclopium. Synergistic combinations of disinfectants were revealed, among them the promising hydrogen peroxide/formic acid combination. A rapid screening method developed in our laboratory for bacteria was adapted to fungi and used to reveal the synergistic potential of disinfectants and/or sanitizers combinations. © 2012 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

Systems modeling of anti-apoptotic pathways in prostate cancer: psychological stress triggers a synergism pattern switch in drug combination therapy.

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Xiaoqiang Sun

Full Text Available Prostate cancer patients often have increased levels of psychological stress or anxiety, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between psychological stress and prostate cancer as well as therapy resistance have been rarely studied and remain poorly understood. Recent reports show that stress inhibits apoptosis in prostate cancer cells via epinephrine/beta2 adrenergic receptor/PKA/BAD pathway. In this study, we used experimental data on the signaling pathways that control BAD phosphorylation to build a dynamic network model of apoptosis regulation in prostate cancer cells. We then compared the predictive power of two different models with or without the role of Mcl-1, which justified the role of Mcl-1 stabilization in anti-apoptotic effects of emotional stress. Based on the selected model, we examined and quantitatively evaluated the induction of apoptosis by drug combination therapies. We predicted that the combination of PI3K inhibitor LY294002 and inhibition of BAD phosphorylation at S112 would produce the best synergistic effect among 8 interventions examined. Experimental validation confirmed the effectiveness of our predictive model. Moreover, we found that epinephrine signaling changes the synergism pattern and decreases efficacy of combination therapy. The molecular mechanisms responsible for therapeutic resistance and the switch in synergism were explored by analyzing a network model of signaling pathways affected by psychological stress. These results provide insights into the mechanisms of psychological stress signaling in therapy-resistant cancer, and indicate the potential benefit of reducing psychological stress in designing more effective therapies for prostate cancer patients.

Lurbinectedin induces depletion of tumor-associated macrophages, an essential component of its in vivo synergism with gemcitabine, in pancreatic adenocarcinoma mouse models

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Céspedes, María Virtudes; Guillén, María José; López-Casas, Pedro Pablo; Sarno, Francesca; Gallardo, Alberto; Álamo, Patricia; Cuevas, Carmen; Hidalgo, Manuel; Galmarini, Carlos María; Allavena, Paola; Avilés, Pablo; Mangues, Ramón

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT We explored whether the combination of lurbinectedin (PM01183) with the antimetabolite gemcitabine could result in a synergistic antitumor effect in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) mouse models. We also studied the contribution of lurbinectedin to this synergism. This drug presents a dual pharmacological effect that contributes to its in vivo antitumor activity: (i) specific binding to DNA minor grooves, inhibiting active transcription and DNA repair; and (ii) specific depletion of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). We evaluated the in vivo antitumor activity of lurbinectedin and gemcitabine as single agents and in combination in SW-1990 and MIA PaCa-2 cell-line xenografts and in patient-derived PDA models (AVATAR). Lurbinectedin-gemcitabine combination induced a synergistic effect on both MIA PaCa-2 [combination index (CI)=0.66] and SW-1990 (CI=0.80) tumor xenografts. It also induced complete tumor remissions in four out of six patient-derived PDA xenografts. This synergism was associated with enhanced DNA damage (anti-γ-H2AX), cell cycle blockage, caspase-3 activation and apoptosis. In addition to the enhanced DNA damage, which is a consequence of the interaction of the two drugs with the DNA, lurbinectedin induced TAM depletion leading to cytidine deaminase (CDA) downregulation in PDA tumors. This effect could, in turn, induce an increase of gemcitabine-mediated DNA damage that was especially relevant in high-density TAM tumors. These results show that lurbinectedin can be used to develop ‘molecularly targeted’ combination strategies. PMID:27780828

Lurbinectedin induces depletion of tumor-associated macrophages, an essential component of its in vivo synergism with gemcitabine, in pancreatic adenocarcinoma mouse models

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María Virtudes Céspedes

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We explored whether the combination of lurbinectedin (PM01183 with the antimetabolite gemcitabine could result in a synergistic antitumor effect in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA mouse models. We also studied the contribution of lurbinectedin to this synergism. This drug presents a dual pharmacological effect that contributes to its in vivo antitumor activity: (i specific binding to DNA minor grooves, inhibiting active transcription and DNA repair; and (ii specific depletion of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs. We evaluated the in vivo antitumor activity of lurbinectedin and gemcitabine as single agents and in combination in SW-1990 and MIA PaCa-2 cell-line xenografts and in patient-derived PDA models (AVATAR. Lurbinectedin-gemcitabine combination induced a synergistic effect on both MIA PaCa-2 [combination index (CI=0.66] and SW-1990 (CI=0.80 tumor xenografts. It also induced complete tumor remissions in four out of six patient-derived PDA xenografts. This synergism was associated with enhanced DNA damage (anti-γ-H2AX, cell cycle blockage, caspase-3 activation and apoptosis. In addition to the enhanced DNA damage, which is a consequence of the interaction of the two drugs with the DNA, lurbinectedin induced TAM depletion leading to cytidine deaminase (CDA downregulation in PDA tumors. This effect could, in turn, induce an increase of gemcitabine-mediated DNA damage that was especially relevant in high-density TAM tumors. These results show that lurbinectedin can be used to develop ‘molecularly targeted’ combination strategies.

Bifurcation-based approach reveals synergism and optimal combinatorial perturbation.

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Liu, Yanwei; Li, Shanshan; Liu, Zengrong; Wang, Ruiqi

2016-06-01

Cells accomplish the process of fate decisions and form terminal lineages through a series of binary choices in which cells switch stable states from one branch to another as the interacting strengths of regulatory factors continuously vary. Various combinatorial effects may occur because almost all regulatory processes are managed in a combinatorial fashion. Combinatorial regulation is crucial for cell fate decisions because it may effectively integrate many different signaling pathways to meet the higher regulation demand during cell development. However, whether the contribution of combinatorial regulation to the state transition is better than that of a single one and if so, what the optimal combination strategy is, seem to be significant issue from the point of view of both biology and mathematics. Using the approaches of combinatorial perturbations and bifurcation analysis, we provide a general framework for the quantitative analysis of synergism in molecular networks. Different from the known methods, the bifurcation-based approach depends only on stable state responses to stimuli because the state transition induced by combinatorial perturbations occurs between stable states. More importantly, an optimal combinatorial perturbation strategy can be determined by investigating the relationship between the bifurcation curve of a synergistic perturbation pair and the level set of a specific objective function. The approach is applied to two models, i.e., a theoretical multistable decision model and a biologically realistic CREB model, to show its validity, although the approach holds for a general class of biological systems.

New insights into the synergism of nucleoside analogs with radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Michael W; Parker, William B; Xu, Bo

2013-01-01

Nucleoside analogs have been frequently used in combination with radiotherapy in the clinical setting, as it has long been understood that inhibition of DNA repair pathways is an important means by which many nucleoside analogs synergize. Recent advances in our understanding of the structure and function of deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), a critical enzyme required for the anti-tumor activity for many nucleoside analogs, have clarified the mechanistic role this kinase plays in chemo- and radio-sensitization. A heretofore unrecognized role of dCK in the DNA damage response and cell cycle machinery has helped explain the synergistic effect of these agents with radiotherapy. Since most currently employed nucleoside analogs are primarily activated by dCK, these findings lend fresh impetus to efforts focused on profiling and modulating dCK expression and activity in tumors. In this review we will briefly review the pharmacology and biochemistry of the major nucleoside analogs in clinical use that are activated by dCK. This will be followed by discussions of recent advances in our understanding of dCK activation via post-translational modifications in response to radiation and current strategies aimed at enhancing this activity in cancer cells

Factors influencing the synergism between cobalt-60 gamma radiation and 13kHz ultrasound of the bacterium Escherichia coli B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crundell, M.J.

1982-04-01

A detailed description is given of the level of synergism observed using the bacterium Escherichia coli B when the dose and dose rate of both ultrasound and gamma radiation were varied. As an essential pre-requisite, techniques for the measurement of these parameters were developed. Prior to the main investigation, a systematic study of the dose rate effects of the separate irradiations was made so that any anomalous behaviour could be investigated as regards the synergistic effect. The study led to a model for the synergistic effect being proposed in order to explain the observed behaviour. This model was tested further by a series of experiments in which recovery after sonication or gamma irradiation was compared. (author)

Antioxidative and prooxidative effects in food lipids and synergism with α-tocopherol of açaí seed extracts and grape rachis extracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melo, Priscilla Siqueira; Arrivetti, Leandro de Oliveira Rodrigues; de Alencar, Severino Matias

2016-01-01

Extracts of açaí seed and of grape rachis alone or in combination with α-tocopherol were evaluated as antioxidants in (i) bulk soybean oil, (ii) soybean oil liposomes and (iii) soybean-oil/water emulsions. The extracts made with 57% aqueous ethanol showed an antioxidant activity not dependent...... on concentration for grape rachis extracts and a concentration-dependent prooxidative activity for açaí seed extracts in bulk soybean oil. Both the extracts, however, protected liposome suspensions and oil/water emulsions against lipid oxidation. Synergism was demonstrated when extracts were combined with α......-tocopherol, effects explained by the solubility of extract components in the water-phase and of α-tocopherol in the lipid-phase. Phenolic profiling of the extracts by U-HPLC-ESI-LTQ-MS was used to identify active antioxidants. Açaí seed and grape rachis extracts served as good sources of procyanidins and flavan-3-ols...

Antimicrobial Activity of Piper gaudichaudianum Kuntze and Its Synergism with Different Antibiotics

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Benedito Prado Dias Filho

2011-12-01

Full Text Available One of the oldest forms of medical practice is the use of plants for the treatment and prevention of diseases that affect humans. We have studied the antimicrobial activity and synergism of Piper gaudichaudianum Kuntze with different antibiotics. The crude extract from the leaves of P. gaudichaudianum was submitted to chromatographic separation, resulting in five fractions. Fraction F3 contained a chromone (2,2-dimethyl-6-carboxycroman-4-one, and fraction F2 contained isomers that are prenylated derivatives of benzoic acid [4-hydroxy-(3',7'-dimethyl-1'-oxo-octa-E-2'-6'-dienylbenzoic acid and 4-hydroxy-(3',7'-dimethyl-1'-oxo-octa-2'-Z-6'-dienyl benzoic acid]. The chemical structures of both compounds were determined by analysis of 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, COZY, DEPT, HMQC, and HMBC spectral data, and by comparison with data in the literature. The crude extract, fraction F2, and fraction F3 showed good activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Candida tropicalis. The two benzoic acid derivatives only showed activity against S. aureus and B. subtilis. The bioauthographic analysis showed an inhibition zone only in fraction F2. Fractions F2 and F3 showed synergism in combination with ceftriaxone, tetracycline, and vancomycin. Morphological changes in form and structure were found by scanning electron microscopy in S. aureus treated with the combination of fraction F2 with vancomycin.

Synergism between rare earth cerium(IV) ion and vanillin on the corrosion of steel in H2SO4 solution: Weight loss, electrochemical, UV-vis, FTIR, XPS, and AFM approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Xianghong; Deng Shuduan; Fu Hui; Mu Guannan; Zhao Ning

2008-01-01

The synergism between rare earth cerium(IV) ion and vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzaldehyde) on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in 1.0 M H 2 SO 4 solution at five temperatures ranging from 20 to 60 deg. C was first studied by weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization methods. The inhibited solutions were analyzed by ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometer (UV-vis). The adsorbed film of CRS surface containing optimum doses of the blends Ce 4+ -vanillin was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The results revealed that vanillin had a moderate inhibitive effect, and the inhibition efficiency (IE) increased with the vanillin concentration. The adsorption of vanillin obeyed Temkin adsorption isotherm. Polarization curves showed that vanillin was a mixed-type inhibitor in sulfuric acid, while prominently inhibited the cathodic reaction. For the cerium(IV) ion, it had a negligible effect, and the maximum IE was only about 20%. However, incorporation of Ce 4+ with vanillin improved significantly the inhibition performance. The IE for Ce 4+ in combination with vanillin was higher than the summation of IE for single Ce 4+ and single vanillin, which was synergism in nature. A high inhibition efficiency, 98% was obtained by a mixture of 25-200 mg l -1 vanillin and 300-475 mg l -1 Ce 4+ . UV-vis showed that the new complex of Ce 4+ -vanillin was formed in 1.0 M H 2 SO 4 for Ce 4+ combination with vanillin. Polarization studies showed that the complex of Ce 4+ -vanillin acted as a mixed-type inhibitor, which drastically inhibits both anodic and cathodic reactions. FTIR and XPS revealed that a protective film formed in the presence of both vanillin and Ce 4+ was composed of cerium oxide and the complex of Ce 4+ -vanillin. The synergism between Ce 4+ and vanillin could also be evidenced by AFM images. Depending on the results, the synergism mechanism was discussed

Synergism between Medihoney and rifampicin against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA.

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Patrick Müller

Full Text Available Skin and chronic wound infections caused by highly antibiotic resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA are an increasing and urgent health problem worldwide, particularly with sharp increases in obesity and diabetes. New Zealand manuka honey has potent broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, has been shown to inhibit the growth of MRSA strains, and bacteria resistant to this honey have not been obtainable in the laboratory. Combinational treatment of chronic wounds with manuka honey and common antibiotics may offer a wide range of advantages including synergistic enhancement of the antibacterial activity, reduction of the effective dose of the antibiotic, and reduction of the risk of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Medihoney in combination with the widely used antibiotic rifampicin on S. aureus. Using checkerboard microdilution assays, time-kill curve experiments and agar diffusion assays, we show a synergism between Medihoney and rifampicin against MRSA and clinical isolates of S. aureus. Furthermore, the Medihoney/rifampicin combination stopped the appearance of rifampicin-resistant S. aureus in vitro. Methylglyoxal (MGO, believed to be the major antibacterial compound in manuka honey, did not act synergistically with rifampicin and is therefore not the sole factor responsible for the synergistic effect of manuka honey with rifampicin. Our findings support the idea that a combination of honey and antibiotics may be an effective new antimicrobial therapy for chronic wound infections.

Liquid-liquid extraction and separation of VIII group elements, especially ruthenium, by synergic combinations or aromatic polyimines and micellar cationic exchangers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vitart, X.

1991-01-01

This thesis aims to characterize and to quantify the chemical equilibria involved in d-elements liquid-liquid extraction systems, especially elements belonging to the VIII group (Fe, Ni, Co, Ru, Rh, Pd, Pt). These systems are composed of synergic combination of aromatic polyimines and micellar cationic exchangers. Substitutions are first performed in aqueous acidic media by aromatic polyimines; then extractions are operated using micellic canionic exchangers. Chemical equilibria, selectivity effects, especially those due to ion-pair formations, kinetics, extractant behaviour are analysed and quantified [fr

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mixed Culture of Blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius L.) Juice: Synergism in the Aroma Compounds Production

Science.gov (United States)

Ragazzo-Sánchez, Juan Arturo; Ortiz-Basurto, Rosa Isela; Luna-Solano, Guadalupe; Calderón-Santoyo, Montserrat

2014-01-01

Blackberry (Rubus sp.) juice was fermented using four different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Vitilevure-CM4457, Enoferm-T306, ICV-K1, and Greroche Rhona-L3574) recognized because of their use in the wine industry. A medium alcoholic graduation spirit (component analysis (PCA), and factorial discriminant analysis (DFA) permit to demonstrate the synergism between the strains. PMID:25506606

Home cooking and ingredient synergism improve lycopene isomer production in Sofrito.

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Rinaldi de Alvarenga, José Fernando; Tran, Camilla; Hurtado-Barroso, Sara; Martinez-Huélamo, Miriam; Illan, Montserrat; Lamuela-Raventos, Rosa M

2017-09-01

There has been increasing interest in tomato products rich in lycopene Z-isomers since these carotenoids present greater bioavailability and antioxidant capacity than the all-E lycopene form. Intrinsic food properties as well as processing and the interaction between dietary components can all influence the content, type and bioavailability of carotenoids. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether carotenoid content and isomerization in tomato-based Mediterranean sofrito is affected by the process of home cooking and the presence of other ingredients such as extra virgin olive oil, onion and garlic. We used a full factorial design to clarify the contribution of each ingredient to the carotenoid composition of sofrito and to determine whether this can be improved by the cooking time and ingredient synergism. Cooking time and onion content were associated with a higher production of 5-Z-lycopene, 9-Z-lycopene and 13-Z-lycopene in sofrito. Onion proved to be the most interesting ingredient in the sofrito formulation due to their enhancing effect on lycopene isomerization. The use of onion combined with an adequate processing time may improve the bioavailability of lycopene in tomato products. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ball-in-ball ZrO2 nanostructure for simultaneous CT imaging and highly efficient synergic microwave ablation and tri-stimuli-responsive chemotherapy of tumors.

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Long, Dan; Niu, Meng; Tan, Longfei; Fu, Changhui; Ren, Xiangling; Xu, Ke; Zhong, Hongshan; Wang, Jingzhuo; Li, Laifeng; Meng, Xianwei

2017-06-29

Combined thermo-chemotherapy displays outstanding synergically therapeutic efficiency when compared with standalone thermotherapy and chemotherapy. Herein, we developed a smart tri-stimuli-responsive drug delivery system involving X@BB-ZrO 2 NPs (X represents loaded IL, DOX, keratin and tetradecanol) based on novel ball-in-ball-structured ZrO 2 nanoparticles (BB-ZrO 2 NPs). The microwave energy conversion efficiency of BB-ZrO 2 NPs was 41.2% higher than that of traditional single-layer NPs due to the cooperative action of self-reflection and spatial confinement effect of the special two-layer hollow nanostructure. The tri-stimuli-responsive controlled release strategy indicate that integrated pH, redox and microwaves in single NPs based on keratin and tetradecanol could effectively enhance the specific controlled release of DOX. The release of DOX was only 8.1% in PBS with pH = 7.2 and GSH = 20 μM. However, the release could reach about 50% at the tumor site (pH = 5.5, GSH = 13 mM) under microwave ablation. The as-made X@BB-ZrO 2 NPs exhibited perfect synergic therapy effect of chemotherapy and microwave ablation both in subcutaneous tumors (H22 tumor-bearing mice) and deep tumors (liver transplantation VX2 tumor-bearing rabbit model). There was no recurrence and death in the X@BB-ZrO 2 + MW group during the therapy of subcutaneous tumors even on the 42 nd day. The growth rates in the deep tumor of the control, MW and X@BB-ZrO 2 + MW groups were 290.1%, 14.1% and -42% 6 days after ablation, respectively. Dual-source CT was used to monitor the metabolism behavior of the as-made BB-ZrO 2 NPs and traditional CT was utilized to monitor the tumor growth in rabbits. Frozen section examination and ICP results indicated the precise control of drug delivery and enhanced cytotoxicity by the tri-stimuli-responsive controlled release strategy. The ball-in-ball ZrO 2 NPs with high microwave energy conversion efficiency were first developed for synergic microwave ablation and

Inter-domain synergism is required for efficient feeding of cellulose chain into active site of cellobiohydrolase Cel7A

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kont, Riin; Kari, Jeppe; Borch, Kim

2016-01-01

systems. TrCel7A consists of catalytic domain (CD) and a smaller carbohydrate binding module (CBM) connected through the glycosylated linker peptide. A tunnel shaped active site rests in the CD and contains 10 glucose unit binding sites. The active site of TrCel7A is lined with four Trp residues with two...... to Ala substitution on on-rates was strongly dependent on the presence of the CBM-linker. This compensation between CBM-linker and Trp-38 indicates synergism between CBM-linker and CD in feeding the cellulose chain into the active site. The inter-domain synergism was pre-requisite for the efficient......Structural polysaccharides like cellulose and chitin are abundant and their enzymatic degradation to soluble sugars is an important route in green chemistry. Processive glycoside hydrolases (GHs), like cellobiohydrolase Cel7A of Trichoderma reesei (TrCel7A) are key components of efficient enzyme...

Development and validation of a general approach to predict and quantify the synergism of anti-cancer drugs using experimental design and artificial neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Pivetta, Tiziana; Isaia, Francesco; Trudu, Federica; Pani, Alessandra; Manca, Matteo; Perra, Daniela; Amato, Filippo; Havel, Josef

2013-10-15

The combination of two or more drugs using multidrug mixtures is a trend in the treatment of cancer. The goal is to search for a synergistic effect and thereby reduce the required dose and inhibit the development of resistance. An advanced model-free approach for data exploration and analysis, based on artificial neural networks (ANN) and experimental design is proposed to predict and quantify the synergism of drugs. The proposed method non-linearly correlates the concentrations of drugs with the cytotoxicity of the mixture, providing the possibility of choosing the optimal drug combination that gives the maximum synergism. The use of ANN allows for the prediction of the cytotoxicity of each combination of drugs in the chosen concentration interval. The method was validated by preparing and experimentally testing the combinations with the predicted highest synergistic effect. In all cases, the data predicted by the network were experimentally confirmed. The method was applied to several binary mixtures of cisplatin and [Cu(1,10-orthophenanthroline)2(H2O)](ClO4)2, Cu(1,10-orthophenanthroline)(H2O)2(ClO4)2 or [Cu(1,10-orthophenanthroline)2(imidazolidine-2-thione)](ClO4)2. The cytotoxicity of the two drugs, alone and in combination, was determined against human acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia cells (CCRF-CEM). For all systems, a synergistic effect was found for selected combinations. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lovastatin induces apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells and synergizes with doxorubicin: potential therapeutic relevance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martirosyan, Anna; Clendening, James W; Goard, Carolyn A; Penn, Linda Z

2010-01-01

Ovarian carcinoma is a rarely curable disease, for which new treatment options are required. As agents that block HMG-CoA reductase and the mevalonate pathway, the statin family of drugs are used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and have been shown to trigger apoptosis in a tumor-specific manner. Recent clinical trials show that the addition of statins to traditional chemotherapeutic strategies can increase efficacy of targeting statin-sensitive tumors. Our goal was to assess statin-induced apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells, either alone or in combination with chemotherapeutics, and then determine these mechanisms of action. The effect of lovastatin on ovarian cancer cell lines was evaluated alone and in combination with cisplatin and doxorubicin using several assays (MTT, TUNEL, fixed PI, PARP cleavage) and synergy determined by evaluating the combination index. The mechanisms of action were evaluated using functional, molecular, and pharmacologic approaches. We demonstrate that lovastatin induces apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells in a p53-independent manner and synergizes with doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic agent used to treat recurrent cases of ovarian cancer. Lovastatin drives ovarian tumor cell death by two mechanisms: first, by blocking HMG-CoA reductase activity, and second, by sensitizing multi-drug resistant cells to doxorubicin by a novel mevalonate-independent mechanism. This inhibition of drug transport, likely through inhibition of P-glycoprotein, potentiates both DNA damage and tumor cell apoptosis. The results of this research provide pre-clinical data to warrant further evaluation of statins as potential anti-cancer agents to treat ovarian carcinoma. Many statins are inexpensive, off-patent generic drugs that are immediately available for use as anti-cancer agents. We provide evidence that lovastatin triggers apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells as a single agent by a mevalonate-dependent mechanism. Moreover, we also show lovastatin synergizes

In Vitro Synergism between Azithromycin or Terbinafine and Topical Antimicrobial Agents against Pythium insidiosum

Science.gov (United States)

Itaqui, Sabrina R.; Verdi, Camila M.; Tondolo, Juliana S. M.; da Luz, Thaisa S.; Alves, Sydney H.; Santurio, Janio M.

2016-01-01

We describe here in vitro activity for the combination of azithromycin or terbinafine and benzalkonium, cetrimide, cetylpyridinium, mupirocin, triclosan, or potassium permanganate. With the exception of potassium permanganate, the remaining antimicrobial drugs were active and had an MIC90 between 2 and 32 μg∕ml. The greatest synergism was observed for the combination of terbinafine and cetrimide (71.4%). In vivo experimental evaluations will clarify the potential of these drugs for the topical treatment of lesions caused by Pythium insidiosum. PMID:27216049

Synergized mechanistic and solar photocatalysis features of N-TiO2 functionalised activated carbon

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Kah Hon Leong

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A TiO2 photocatalysts was successfully functionalised by employing nitrogen (N as a dopant on activated carbon (AC support as synergist. Two different types of activated carbon adopting namely Garcinia mangostana and palm shell as precursor were chosen as an activated carbon support. Thus the synthesized samples were examined for its physical and chemistry properties through advanced microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The results revealed the contribution of adsorbent support through the rich surface area while doping of nitrogen contributed for effectively utilizing the incident photons by narrowing the band gap energy. The synergetic adsorption-photocatalytic activity was investigated by adopting batik dye, Remazol Brilliant Blue Dye (RBB as model pollutant. Thus the N-TiO2 functionalised activated carbon demonstrated excellent adsorption-photocatalytic activity with 80% removal efficiency in 6 h. The synergism of adsorption-photocatalysis portrayed the alternative for treating recalcitrant RBB a predominant dye found in batik textile industry wastewater.

Silver nanoparticles: Antimicrobial activity, cytotoxicity, and synergism with N-acetyl cysteine.

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Hamed, Selwan; Emara, Mohamed; Shawky, Riham M; El-Domany, Ramadan A; Youssef, Tareq

2017-08-01

The fast progression of nanotechnology has led to novel therapeutic interventions. Antimicrobial activities of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were tested against standard ATCC strains of Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 9144), Escherichia coli (O157:H7), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), and Candida albicans (ATCC 90028) in addition to 60 clinical isolates collected from cancer patients. Antimicrobial activity was tested by disk diffusion method and MIC values for Ag NPs alone and in combination with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) against tested pathogens were determined by broth microdilution method. Ag NPs showed a robust antimicrobial activity against all tested pathogens and NAC substantially enhanced the antimicrobial activity of Ag NPs against all tested pathogens. Synergism between Ag NPs and NAC has been confirmed by checkerboard assay. The effect of Ag NPs on tested pathogens was further scrutinized by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) which showed disruption of cell wall in both bacteria and fungi. Ag NPs abrogated the activity of respiratory chain dehydrogenase of all tested pathogens and released muramic acid content from S. aureus in culture. The cytotoxic effect of Ag NPs alone and in combination with NAC was examined using human HepG2 cells and this revealed no cytotoxicity at MIC values of Ag NPs and interestingly, NAC reduced the cytotoxic effect of Ag NPs at concentrations higher than their MIC values. Taken together, Ag NPs have robust antimicrobial activity and NAC substantially enhances their antimicrobial activities against MDR pathogens which would provide a novel safe, effective, and inexpensive therapeutic approach to control the prevalence of MDR pathogens. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

SYNERGIC TRIAL (SYNchronizing Exercises, Remedies in Gait and Cognition) a multi-Centre randomized controlled double blind trial to improve gait and cognition in mild cognitive impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Montero-Odasso, Manuel; Almeida, Quincy J; Burhan, Amer M; Camicioli, Richard; Doyon, Julien; Fraser, Sarah; Li, Karen; Liu-Ambrose, Teresa; Middleton, Laura; Muir-Hunter, Susan; McIlroy, William; Morais, José A; Pieruccini-Faria, Frederico; Shoemaker, Kevin; Speechley, Mark; Vasudev, Akshya; Zou, G Y; Berryman, Nicolas; Lussier, Maxime; Vanderhaeghe, Leanne; Bherer, Louis

2018-04-16

Physical exercise, cognitive training, and vitamin D are low cost interventions that have the potential to enhance cognitive function and mobility in older adults, especially in pre-dementia states such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Aerobic and progressive resistance exercises have benefits to cognitive performance, though evidence is somewhat inconsistent. We postulate that combined aerobic exercise (AE) and progressive resistance training (RT) (combined exercise) will have a better effect on cognition than a balance and toning control (BAT) intervention in older adults with MCI. We also expect that adding cognitive training and vitamin D supplementation to the combined exercise, as a multimodal intervention, will have synergistic efficacy. The SYNERGIC trial (SYNchronizing Exercises, Remedies in GaIt and Cognition) is a multi-site, double-blinded, five-arm, controlled trial that assesses the potential synergic effect of combined AE and RT on cognition and mobility, with and without cognitive training and vitamin D supplementation in older adults with MCI. Two-hundred participants with MCI aged 60 to 85 years old will be randomized to one of five arms, four of which include combined exercise plus combinations of dual-task cognitive training (real vs. sham) and vitamin D supplementation (3 × 10,000 IU/wk. vs. placebo) in a quasi-factorial design, and one arm which receives all control interventions. The primary outcome measure is the ADAS-Cog (13 and plus modalities) measured at baseline and at 6 months of follow-up. Secondary outcomes include neuroimaging, neuro-cognitive performance, gait and mobility performance, and serum biomarkers of inflammation (C reactive protein and interleukin 6), neuroplasticity (brain-derived neurotropic factor), endothelial markers (vascular endothelial growth factor 1), and vitamin D serum levels. The SYNERGIC Trial will establish the efficacy and feasibility of a multimodal intervention to improve cognitive performance

Synergism between caffeine and γ-radiation in the induction of dominant lethal mutations in oocytes and spermatozoa of Musca domestica

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Targa, H.J.

1983-01-01

Caffeine was studied with regard to its synergism with γ-radiation in the induction of dominant lethal mutations in S14 oocytes and mature spermatozoa of M. domestica. In S14 oocytes an increase in the frequency of such a type of mutation was observed only when the exposure to γ-radiation followed a pretreatment with a diet containing 0.2% of caffeine. Negative results were obtained with (a) post-treatment with the same kind of diet, (b) pretreatment with diets containing 0.1 and 0.02% of caffeine and (c) exposure to the radiation 6 h after interruption of the feeding treatment with the diet containing 0.2% of caffeine. Such influence of the conditions under which the treatment is performed and the synergistic effects is probably related to the food intake pattern and the rapid metabolism of the caffeine. When the 0.2% caffeine pretreatment was combined with an exposure of the oocytes to variable doses of γ-radiation, the increments in the mutations observed seemed to be negatively correlated to the radiation doses used. Also, under such conditions, the dose/survival relationship fits well an exponential curve expressed by in y=-0.866chi. With mature spermatozoa, synergism by caffeine was found only when the females, after having been mated with the irradiated males, were fed for 24 h on a diet supplemented with 0.2% of caffeine. (orig.)

Saccharomyces cerevisiae mixed culture of blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius L.) juice: synergism in the aroma compounds production.

Science.gov (United States)

Bautista-Rosales, Pedro Ulises; Ragazzo-Sánchez, Juan Arturo; Ruiz-Montañez, Gabriela; Ortiz-Basurto, Rosa Isela; Luna-Solano, Guadalupe; Calderón-Santoyo, Montserrat

2014-01-01

Blackberry (Rubus sp.) juice was fermented using four different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Vitilevure-CM4457, Enoferm-T306, ICV-K1, and Greroche Rhona-L3574) recognized because of their use in the wine industry. A medium alcoholic graduation spirit (industrial scale was obtained. Alcoholic fermentations were performed at 28°C, 200 rpm, and noncontrolled pH. The synergistic effect on the aromatic compounds production during fermentation in mixed culture was compared with those obtained by monoculture and physic mixture of spirits produced in monoculture. The aromatic composition was determined by HS-SPME-GC. The differences in aromatic profile principally rely on the proportions in aromatic compounds and not on the number of those compounds. The multivariance analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and factorial discriminant analysis (DFA) permit to demonstrate the synergism between the strains.

Will Synergizing Vaccination with Therapeutics Boost Measles Virus Eradication?

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Plemper, Richard K; Hammond, Anthea L

2014-01-01

Introduction Measles virus is a major human pathogen responsible for approximately 150,000 measles deaths annually. The disease is vaccine preventable and eradication of the virus is considered feasible in principle. However, a herd immunity exceeding 95% is required to prevent sporadic viral outbreaks in a population. Declining disease prevalence combined with public anxieties about vaccination safety has increased vaccine refusal especially in the European region, which has resulted in measles resurgence in some areas. Areas covered Here, we discuss whether synergizing effective measles therapeutics with vaccination could contribute to solving an endgame conundrum of measles elimination by accelerating the eradication effort. Based on an anticipated use for protection of high-risk contacts of confirmed measles cases through post-exposure prophylaxis, we identify key elements of the desirable drug profile, review current disease management strategies and the state of experimental inhibitor candidates, evaluate the risk associated with viral escape from inhibition, and consider the potential of measles therapeutics for the management of persistent viral infection of the CNS. Assuming a post-measles world with waning measles immunity, we contemplate the possible impact of therapeutics on controlling the threat imposed by closely related zoonotic pathogens of the same genus as measles virus. Expert opinion Efficacious therapeutics given for post-exposure prophylaxis of high-risk social contacts of confirmed index cases may aid measles eradication by closing herd immunity gaps due to vaccine refusal or failure in populations with overall good vaccination coverage. The envisioned primarily prophylactic application of measles therapeutics to a predominantly pediatric and/or adolescent patient population dictates the drug profile; the article must be safe and efficacious, orally available, shelf-stable at ambient temperature, and amenable to cost-effective manufacture

Glutathione and the Antioxidant Potential of Binary Mixtures with Flavonoids: Synergisms and Antagonisms

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Patrícia Valentão

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Polyphenols are able to trap free radicals, which contributes to their known antioxidant capacity. In plant extracts, these secondary metabolites may act in concert, in a way that their combined activities will be superior to their individual effects (synergistic interaction. Several polyphenols have demonstrated clear antioxidant properties in vitro, and many of their biological actions have been attributed to their intrinsic reducing capabilities. As so, the intake of these compounds at certain concentrations in the diet and/or supplementation may potentiate the activity of reduced form glutathione (GSH, thus better fighting oxidative stress. The aim of this work was to predict a structure-antioxidant activity relationship using different classes of flavonoids and to assess, for the first time, possible synergisms and antagonisms with GSH. For these purposes a screening microassay involving the scavenging of DPPH• was applied. In general, among the tested compounds, those lacking the catechol group in B ring showed antagonistic behaviour with GSH. Myricetin displayed additive effect, while quercetin, fisetin, luteolin, luteolin-7-O-glucoside, taxifolin and (+-catechin demonstrated synergistic actions. Furthermore, adducts formed at C2′ and C5′ of the B ring seem to be more important for the antioxidant capacity than adducts formed at C6 and C8 of the A ring.

Synergism between rare earth cerium(IV) ion and vanillin on the corrosion of steel in H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} solution: Weight loss, electrochemical, UV-vis, FTIR, XPS, and AFM approaches

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Xianghong [Department of Fundamental Courses, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224 (China)], E-mail: xianghong-li@163.com; Deng Shuduan [Department of Wood Science and Technology, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224 (China); Fu Hui [Department of Fundamental Courses, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224 (China); Mu Guannan [Department of Chemistry, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091 (China); Zhao Ning [Department of Fundamental Courses, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224 (China)

2008-06-30

The synergism between rare earth cerium(IV) ion and vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzaldehyde) on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in 1.0 M H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} solution at five temperatures ranging from 20 to 60 deg. C was first studied by weight loss and potentiodynamic polarization methods. The inhibited solutions were analyzed by ultraviolet and visible spectrophotometer (UV-vis). The adsorbed film of CRS surface containing optimum doses of the blends Ce{sup 4+}-vanillin was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The results revealed that vanillin had a moderate inhibitive effect, and the inhibition efficiency (IE) increased with the vanillin concentration. The adsorption of vanillin obeyed Temkin adsorption isotherm. Polarization curves showed that vanillin was a mixed-type inhibitor in sulfuric acid, while prominently inhibited the cathodic reaction. For the cerium(IV) ion, it had a negligible effect, and the maximum IE was only about 20%. However, incorporation of Ce{sup 4+} with vanillin improved significantly the inhibition performance. The IE for Ce{sup 4+} in combination with vanillin was higher than the summation of IE for single Ce{sup 4+} and single vanillin, which was synergism in nature. A high inhibition efficiency, 98% was obtained by a mixture of 25-200 mg l{sup -1} vanillin and 300-475 mg l{sup -1} Ce{sup 4+}. UV-vis showed that the new complex of Ce{sup 4+}-vanillin was formed in 1.0 M H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} for Ce{sup 4+} combination with vanillin. Polarization studies showed that the complex of Ce{sup 4+}-vanillin acted as a mixed-type inhibitor, which drastically inhibits both anodic and cathodic reactions. FTIR and XPS revealed that a protective film formed in the presence of both vanillin and Ce{sup 4+} was composed of cerium oxide and the complex of Ce{sup 4+}-vanillin. The synergism between Ce{sup 4+} and vanillin could also be evidenced

Separation and determination of a trace amount of lithium as its thenoyltrifluoroacetone complex with 12-crown-4 by means of synergic extraction and flame photometry

OpenAIRE

Itoh, Tatsuo; Billah, Mokarram; Honjo, Takaharu; Terada, Kikuo

1991-01-01

A new method for the separation and determination of a trace amount of lithium in ppb∼ppm level in water as its thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) complex with 12-crown-4 (12C4) has been established by means of synergic extraction and back extraction combined with flame photometry. The effect of various factors (pH, solvent, reagent concentration, shaking time, preconcentration factor, and foreign ions etc.) on the extraction and back extraction of lithium has been investigated. Here the lithium T...

Proposta metodológica para análise da ocorrência de sinergismo e efeitos potencializadores entre aleloquímicos Methodological proposal for analysis of synergism and potentializing effects among allelochemicals

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A.P.S. Souza Filho

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Os procedimentos envolvendo a análise de sinergismo entre aleloquímicos têm envolvido, basicamente, a utilização de concentrações fixas. Neste trabalho, propõe-se um modelo teórico envolvendo quatro possibilidades de respostas: uma que demonstra a existência de sinergismo (possibilidade A do modelo; outra que revela a inexistência de sinergismo (possibilidade B do modelo; e duas que revelam que uma substância potencializa o efeito de outra (possibilidades C e D do modelo. Para efeito de teste do modelo, utilizaram-se duas substâncias químicas (ácido 3,4,5-trimetoxibenzóico [S1] e ácido verátrico [S2] isoladas das folhas de Parkia pendula, com atividade alelopática já comprovada, nas seguintes proporções: S1 pura, S2 pura e combinações de S1 e S2, nas seguintes proporções: 3:1, 1:1 e 1:3. Como plantas indicadoras foram utilizadas as plantas daninhas malícia (Mimosa pudica e mata-pasto (Senna obtusifolia. Os resultados, analisados em relação às quatro possibilidades estabelecidas no modelo teórico, permitiram inferir a inexistência de efeitos sinérgicos entre as duas substâncias testadas. As variações entre os resultados obtidos e a possibilidade B do modelo podem ser atribuídas ao potencial inibitório da substância e à sensibilidade das espécies receptoras às substâncias testadas.The procedures involving the analysis of synergism between allelochemicals have basically involved the use of fixed concentrations. This work deals with theoretical model involving four possibilities of response: one demonstraing the existence of synergism (possibility A of the model; one demonstraing the absence of synergism (possibility B of the model and two showing that a substance potentializes the effect of another (possibilities C and D of the model. Two isolated chemical substances (3,4,5-trimetoxybenzoic acid [S1] and 3,4-dimetoxybenzoic acid [S2] were used to test the model, isolated from Parkia pendula leaves with

Nature and prevalence of non-additive toxic effects in industrially relevant mixtures of organic chemicals.

Science.gov (United States)

Parvez, Shahid; Venkataraman, Chandra; Mukherji, Suparna

2009-06-01

The concentration addition (CA) and the independent action (IA) models are widely used for predicting mixture toxicity based on its composition and individual component dose-response profiles. However, the prediction based on these models may be inaccurate due to interaction among mixture components. In this work, the nature and prevalence of non-additive effects were explored for binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures composed of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs). The toxicity of each individual component and mixture was determined using the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition assay. For each combination of chemicals specified by the 2(n) factorial design, the percent deviation of the predicted toxic effect from the measured value was used to characterize mixtures as synergistic (positive deviation) and antagonistic (negative deviation). An arbitrary classification scheme was proposed based on the magnitude of deviation (d) as: additive (50%, class-IV) antagonistic/synergistic. Naphthalene, n-butanol, o-xylene, catechol and p-cresol led to synergism in mixtures while 1, 2, 4-trimethylbenzene and 1, 3-dimethylnaphthalene contributed to antagonism. Most of the mixtures depicted additive or antagonistic effect. Synergism was prominent in some of the mixtures, such as, pulp and paper, textile dyes, and a mixture composed of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. The organic chemical industry mixture depicted the highest abundance of antagonism and least synergism. Mixture toxicity was found to depend on partition coefficient, molecular connectivity index and relative concentration of the components.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mixed Culture of Blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius L. Juice: Synergism in the Aroma Compounds Production

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Pedro Ulises Bautista-Rosales

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Blackberry (Rubus sp. juice was fermented using four different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Vitilevure-CM4457, Enoferm-T306, ICV-K1, and Greroche Rhona-L3574 recognized because of their use in the wine industry. A medium alcoholic graduation spirit (<6GL° with potential to be produced at an industrial scale was obtained. Alcoholic fermentations were performed at 28C°, 200 rpm, and noncontrolled pH. The synergistic effect on the aromatic compounds production during fermentation in mixed culture was compared with those obtained by monoculture and physic mixture of spirits produced in monoculture. The aromatic composition was determined by HS-SPME-GC. The differences in aromatic profile principally rely on the proportions in aromatic compounds and not on the number of those compounds. The multivariance analysis, principal component analysis (PCA, and factorial discriminant analysis (DFA permit to demonstrate the synergism between the strains.

Autoradiographic studies with the 14C-IAA in relation to synergism between auxin and non-auxin chemicals in the rooting of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cuttings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaudhury, K.G.; Basu, R.N.

1980-01-01

Indole and α-naphthol significantly synergized the IAA-induced rooting of P. vulqaris cuttings. The pattern of incorporation of radiocarbon of IAA-I- 14 C and IAA-2- 14 C supplied to the base of the cuttings was, however, not altered by the synergists and the same radioactive metabolites were located on the radioautograms of ethanolic extracts of the hypocotyls of cuttings under the different treatments. The results thereby discount the possibility of formation of bioactive complexes between auxins and synergists as the mechanism of synergism in rooting. The synergists, however, influenced the extent of incorporation of radiocarbon of the labelled auxin molecules into some of the radioactive metabolites. (auth.)

Synergic effect of salivary pH baselines and low pH intakes on the force relaxation of orthodontic latex elastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ajami, Shabnam; Farjood, Amin; Zare, Mahbubeh

2017-01-01

Latex elastics are still in common use due to their low cost and high flexibility to improve sagittal discrepancies or interdigitation of teeth. Mechanical properties of elastics are influenced by several environmental factors such as pH changes. This study evaluated similar latex elastics to define the influence of synergic effect of intermittent low pH and various baselines pH of saliva. Four groups of latex elastics (3-M Unitek, 3/16 inch) were tested ( n = 15 in each group). Two groups of elastics were immersed in two tanks of artificial saliva with different pH levels of 7 and 5, and two groups were immersed in two tanks of artificial saliva with intermittent drop of pH to 4. The force was measured when the elastics were stretched to 25 mm. These measurements were taken in 0, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h for each group. Repeated measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA) and post-hoc Tukey's test were used to assess the findings. The level of significance was 0.05%. The interaction between pH and time analyzed with RMANOVA showed no significant differences ( P > 0.05) except in 36 h ( P = 0.014). The Tukey's analysis showed that each comparison between any two groups did not indicate significant differences ( P > 0.05) except between Groups 1 and 3 and between Groups 2 and 3 ( P pH and force degradation in latex elastic band except in 36 h.

Phenobarbital induction and chemical synergism demonstrate the role of UDP-glucuronosyltransferases in detoxification of naphthalophos by Haemonchus contortus larvae.

Science.gov (United States)

Kotze, Andrew C; Ruffell, Angela P; Ingham, Aaron B

2014-12-01

We used an enzyme induction approach to study the role of detoxification enzymes in the interaction of the anthelmintic compound naphthalophos with Haemonchus contortus larvae. Larvae were treated with the barbiturate phenobarbital, which is known to induce the activity of a number of detoxification enzymes in mammals and insects, including cytochromes P450 (CYPs), UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UDPGTs), and glutathione (GSH) S-transferases (GSTs). Cotreatment of larvae with phenobarbital and naphthalophos resulted in a significant increase in the naphthalophos 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) compared to treatment of larvae with the anthelmintic alone (up to a 28-fold increase). The phenobarbital-induced drug tolerance was reversed by cotreatment with the UDPGT inhibitors 5-nitrouracil, 4,6-dihydroxy-5-nitropyrimidine, probenecid, and sulfinpyrazone. Isobologram analysis of the interaction of 5-nitrouracil with naphthalophos in phenobarbital-treated larvae clearly showed the presence of strong synergism. The UDPGT inhibitors 5-nitrouracil, 4,6-dihydroxy-5-nitropyrimidine, and probenecid also showed synergistic effects with non-phenobarbital-treated worms (synergism ratio up to 3.2-fold). This study indicates that H. contortus larvae possess one or more UDPGT enzymes able to detoxify naphthalophos. In highlighting the protective role of this enzyme group, this study reveals the potential for UDPGT enzymes to act as a resistance mechanism that may develop under drug selection pressure in field isolates of this species. In addition, the data indicate the potential for a chemotherapeutic approach utilizing inhibitors of UDPGT enzymes as synergists to increase the activity of naphthalophos against parasitic worms and to combat detoxification-mediated drug resistance if it arises in the field. Copyright © 2014, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Synergism between diabetic and radiation retinotherapy: case report and review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viebahn, M.; Barricks, M.E.; Osterloh, M.D.

1991-01-01

It is suspected that radiation retinopathy is more likely to develop in an eye with preexisting diabetic retinopathy than in a normal eye. However, there is only one report of this occurring, at a radiation dose of 4500 rads. We present a woman with minimal diabetic retinopathy who had breast carcinoma which was treated with chemotherapy but metastasised to the choroid. Within nine months of external beam radiation (3000 rads in fractions of 200 rads) a fulminant retinopathy evolved in that eye, while the non-radiated eye showed no change. The histopathology of radiation and diabetic retinopathy and causes for possible synergism are discussed. As this case report shows, radiation oncologists and ophthalmologists need to be aware of the risk that patients with minimal diabetic retinopathy who have undergone chemotherapy may suffer a dramatic visual loss from radiation therapy despite a radiation dose which is considered adequate, safe, and properly fractionated. (author)

Study on advanced nuclear fuel cycle of PWR/CANDU synergism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie Zhongsheng; Huo Xiaodong

2002-01-01

According to the concrete condition that China has both PWR and CANDU reactors, one of the advanced nuclear fuel cycle strategy of PWR/CANDU synergism ws proposed, i.e. the reprocessed uranium of spent PWR fuel was used in CANDU reactor, which will save the uranium resource, increase the energy output, decrease the quantity of spent fuels to be disposed and lower the cost of nuclear power. Because of the inherent flexibility of nuclear fuel cycle in CANDU reactor, the transition from the natural uranium to the recycled uranium (RU) can be completed without any changes of the structure of reactor core and operation mode. Furthermore, because of the low radiation level of RU, which is acceptable for CANDU reactor fuel fabrication, the present product line of fuel elements of CANDU reactor only need to be shielded slightly, also the conditions of transportation, operation and fuel management need not to be changed. Thus this strategy has significant practical and economical benefit

LMO1 Synergizes with MYCN to Promote Neuroblastoma Initiation and Metastasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Shizhen; Zhang, Xiaoling; Weichert-Leahey, Nina; Dong, Zhiwei; Zhang, Cheng; Lopez, Gonzalo; Tao, Ting; He, Shuning; Wood, Andrew C; Oldridge, Derek; Ung, Choong Yong; van Ree, Janine H; Khan, Amish; Salazar, Brittany M; Lummertz da Rocha, Edroaldo; Zimmerman, Mark W; Guo, Feng; Cao, Hong; Hou, Xiaonan; Weroha, S John; Perez-Atayde, Antonio R; Neuberg, Donna S; Meves, Alexander; McNiven, Mark A; van Deursen, Jan M; Li, Hu; Maris, John M; Look, A Thomas

2017-09-11

A genome-wide association study identified LMO1, which encodes an LIM-domain-only transcriptional cofactor, as a neuroblastoma susceptibility gene that functions as an oncogene in high-risk neuroblastoma. Here we show that dβh promoter-mediated expression of LMO1 in zebrafish synergizes with MYCN to increase the proliferation of hyperplastic sympathoadrenal precursor cells, leading to a reduced latency and increased penetrance of neuroblastomagenesis. The transgenic expression of LMO1 also promoted hematogenous dissemination and distant metastasis, which was linked to neuroblastoma cell invasion and migration, and elevated expression levels of genes affecting tumor cell-extracellular matrix interaction, including loxl3, itga2b, itga3, and itga5. Our results provide in vivo validation of LMO1 as an important oncogene that promotes neuroblastoma initiation, progression, and widespread metastatic dissemination. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Synergism between elevated pCO2 and temperature on the Antarctic sea ice diatom Nitzschia lecointei

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A. Torstensson

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Polar oceans are particularly susceptible to ocean acidification and warming. Diatoms play a significant role in sea ice biogeochemistry and provide an important food source to grazers in ice-covered oceans, especially during early spring. However, the ecophysiology of ice-living organisms has received little attention in terms of ocean acidification. In this study, the synergism between temperature and partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2 was investigated in relationship to the optimal growth temperature of the Antarctic sea ice diatom Nitzschia lecointei. Diatoms were kept in cultures at controlled levels of pCO2 (∼390 and ∼960 μatm and temperature (−1.8 and 2.5 °C for 14 days. Synergism between temperature and pCO2 was detected in growth rate and acyl lipid fatty acid (FA content. Optimal growth rate was observed around 5 °C in a separate experiment. Carbon enrichment only promoted (6% growth rate closer to the optimal growth, but not at the control temperature (−1.8 °C. At −1.8 °C and at ∼960 μatm pCO2, the total FA content was reduced relative to the ∼390 μatm treatment, although no difference between pCO2 treatments was observed at 2.5 °C. A large proportion (97% of the total FAs comprised on average of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA at −1.8 °C. Cellular PUFA content was reduced at ∼960 relative to ∼390 μatm pCO2. Effects of carbon enrichment may be different depending on ocean warming scenario or season, e.g. reduced cellular FA content in response to elevated CO2 at low temperatures only, reflected as reduced food quality for higher trophic levels. Synergy between warming and acidification may be particularly important in polar areas since a narrow thermal window generally limits cold-water organisms.

Glucocorticoid effect on melphalan cytotoxicity, cell-cycle position, cell size, and [3H]uridine incorporation in one of three human melanoma cell lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benckhuijsen, C.; Osman, A.M.; Hillebrand, M.J.; Smets, L.A.

1987-01-01

Three human melanoma cell lines of known content of specific glucocorticoid-binding sites were studied for colony formation after a microM dose of glucocorticoid combined with melphalan. In one of the three cell lines, M-5A, subcloned from M-5 (formerly designated RPMI 8322), the effect of combined treatment was markedly increased compared to that of melphalan even if the glucocorticoid was applied for 1 h only, 10 h before the melphalan. Semilogarithmic dose-effect plots for a reduction of final plating efficiency by glucocorticoid were curvilinear, according to a receptor-mediated process. The effects of glucocorticoid, melphalan, and their combination were linearized by bilogarithmic median-effect plotting which allowed the quantitation of a synergism which was more marked in case of glucocorticoid pretreatment, for 1 or 24 h, than on simultaneous exposure. According to sequential DNA per cell cytophotometry, melphalan abolished in M-5A a glucocorticoid-induced arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. The cytotoxic synergism correlated with an apparent stimulation by glucocorticoid of the rate of acid-insoluble incorporation of [ 3 H]uridine and [ 14 C]leucine and an increase in cell size and protein content in M-5A cells but not in the other two cell lines. The way in which glucocorticoids induce an enhanced susceptibility to melphalan is not clear. Our results appear compatible with a hypothesis that chromatin in a transcriptionally activated state is more vulnerable to cytotoxic attack by an alkylating agent than under average conditions

Widespread hypomethylation occurs early and synergizes with gene amplification during esophageal carcinogenesis.

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Hector Alvarez

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Although a combination of genomic and epigenetic alterations are implicated in the multistep transformation of normal squamous esophageal epithelium to Barrett esophagus, dysplasia, and adenocarcinoma, the combinatorial effect of these changes is unknown. By integrating genome-wide DNA methylation, copy number, and transcriptomic datasets obtained from endoscopic biopsies of neoplastic progression within the same individual, we are uniquely able to define the molecular events associated progression of Barrett esophagus. We find that the previously reported global hypomethylation phenomenon in cancer has its origins at the earliest stages of epithelial carcinogenesis. Promoter hypomethylation synergizes with gene amplification and leads to significant upregulation of a chr4q21 chemokine cluster and other transcripts during Barrett neoplasia. In contrast, gene-specific hypermethylation is observed at a restricted number of loci and, in combination with hemi-allelic deletions, leads to downregulatation of selected transcripts during multistep progression. We also observe that epigenetic regulation during epithelial carcinogenesis is not restricted to traditionally defined "CpG islands," but may also occur through a mechanism of differential methylation outside of these regions. Finally, validation of novel upregulated targets (CXCL1 and 3, GATA6, and DMBT1 in a larger independent panel of samples confirms the utility of integrative analysis in cancer biomarker discovery.

Antimicrobial synergism and cytotoxic properties of Citrus limon L., Piper nigrum L. and Melaleuca alternifolia (Maiden and Betche) Cheel essential oils.

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Nikolić, Miloš M; Jovanović, Katarina K; Marković, Tatjana Lj; Marković, Dejan Lj; Gligorijević, Nevenka N; Radulović, Siniša S; Kostić, Marina; Glamočlija, Jasmina M; Soković, Marina D

2017-11-01

The chemical composition, antimicrobial and synergistic effect, and cytotoxic activity of Citrus limon (lemon), Piper nigrum (green pepper) and Melaleuca alternifoila (tea tree) essential oils (EOs) were investigated. Chemical analyses of essential oils were tested by GC-FID and GC-MS spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activity assay was conducted using microdilution method against several oral bacteria and Candida spp. originating from the humans with oral disorders. The synergistic antimicrobial activity was evaluated using checkerboard method. The cytotoxicity evaluation of EOs was assessed using MTT test. Limonene (37.5%) and β-pinene (17.9%) were the major compounds in C. limon oil, β-pinene (34.4%), δ-3-carene (19.7%), limonene (18.7%) and α-pinene (10.4%) in P. nigrum oil and terpinen-4-ol (38.6%) and γ-terpinene (21.7%) in M. alternifolia oil. The broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity was achieved by tested three EOs, with C. limon oil being the strongest against bacteria and M. alternifolia oil strongest against fungi. The EOs demonstrated synergism; their combined application revealed an increase in antimicrobial activity. All tested essential oils showed lower cytotoxic activity in comparison with the positive control, and the obtained results confirmed a dose-dependent activity. The results of this study encourage use of tested EOs in development of a novel agent intended for prevention or therapy of corresponding oral disorders. © 2017 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

A homologous series of regioselectively tetradeprotonated group 8 metallocenes: new inverse crown ring compounds synthesized via a mixed sodium-magnesium tris(diisopropylamide) synergic base.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrikopoulos, Prokopis C; Armstrong, David R; Clegg, William; Gilfillan, Carly J; Hevia, Eva; Kennedy, Alan R; Mulvey, Robert E; O'Hara, Charles T; Parkinson, John A; Tooke, Duncan M

2004-09-22

Subjecting ferrocene, ruthenocene, or osmocene to the synergic amide base sodium-magnesium tris(diisopropylamido) affords a unique homologous series of metallocene derivatives of general formula [(M(C(5)H(3))(2))Na(4)Mg(4)(i-Pr(2)N)(8)] (where M = Fe (1), Ru (2), or Os (3)). X-ray crystallographic studies of 1-3 reveal a common molecular "inverse crown" structure comprising a 16-membered [(NaNMgN)(4)](4+) "host" ring and a metallocenetetraide [M(C(5)H(3))(2)](4-) "guest" core, the cleaved protons of which are lost selectively from the 1, 1', 3, and 3'-positions. Variable-temperature NMR spectroscopic studies indicate that 1, 2, and 3 each exist as two distinct interconverting conformers in arene solution, the rates of exchange of which have been calculated using coalescence and EXSY NMR measurements.

Successful phytoremediation of crude-oil contaminated soil at an oil exploration and production company by plants-bacterial synergism.

Science.gov (United States)

Fatima, Kaneez; Imran, Asma; Amin, Imran; Khan, Qaiser M; Afzal, Muhammad

2018-06-07

Phytoremediation is a promising approach for the cleanup of soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. This study aimed to develop plant-bacterial synergism for the successful remediation of crude oil-contaminated soil. A consortia of three endophytic bacteria was augmented to two grasses, Leptochloa fusca and Brachiaria mutica, grown in oil-contaminated soil (46.8 g oil kg -1 soil) in the vicinity of an oil exploration and production company. Endophytes augmentation improved plant growth, crude oil degradation, and soil health. Maximum oil degradation (80%) was achieved with B. mutica plants augmented with the endophytes and it was significantly (P oil reduction indicates that catabolic gene expression is important for hydrocarbon mineralization. This investigation showed that the use of endophytes with appropriate plant is an effective strategy for the cleanup of oil-contaminated soil under field conditions.

Astaxanthin protecting membrane integrity against photosensitized oxidation through synergism with other carotenoids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Hui-Hui; Liang, Ran; Han, Rui-Min

2015-01-01

using optical microscopy and digital image heterogeneity analysis. The lowest initial rate of GUV budding after the lag phase was seen for GUVs with astaxanthin as the least reducing carotenoid, while the lowest final level of entropy appeared for those with lycopene or β-carotene as a more reducing...... carotenoid. The combination of astaxanthin and lycopene gave optimal protection against budding with respect to both a longer lag phase and lower final level of entropy by combining good electron acceptance and good electron donation. Quenching of singlet oxygen by carotenoids close to chlorophyll...... a in the membrane interior in parallel with scavenging of superoxide radicals by astaxanthin anchored in the surface may explain the synergism between carotenoids involving both type I and type II photosensitization by chlorophyll a....

Western spruce budworm outbreaks did not increase fire risk over the last three centuries: A dendrochronological analysis of inter-disturbance synergism

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Aquila Flower; Daniel G. Gavin; Emily K. Heyerdahl; Russell A. Parsons; Gregory M. Cohn

2014-01-01

Insect outbreaks are often assumed to increase the severity or probability of fire occurrence through increased fuel availability, while fires may in turn alter susceptibility of forests to subsequent insect outbreaks through changes in the spatial distribution of suitable host trees. However, little is actually known about the potential synergisms between these...

Loss of C9ORF72 impairs autophagy and synergizes with polyQ Ataxin-2 to induce motor neuron dysfunction and cell death.

Science.gov (United States)

Sellier, Chantal; Campanari, Maria-Letizia; Julie Corbier, Camille; Gaucherot, Angeline; Kolb-Cheynel, Isabelle; Oulad-Abdelghani, Mustapha; Ruffenach, Frank; Page, Adeline; Ciura, Sorana; Kabashi, Edor; Charlet-Berguerand, Nicolas

2016-06-15

An intronic expansion of GGGGCC repeats within the C9ORF72 gene is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD). Ataxin-2 with intermediate length of polyglutamine expansions (Ataxin-2 Q30x) is a genetic modifier of the disease. Here, we found that C9ORF72 forms a complex with the WDR41 and SMCR8 proteins to act as a GDP/GTP exchange factor for RAB8a and RAB39b and to thereby control autophagic flux. Depletion of C9orf72 in neurons partly impairs autophagy and leads to accumulation of aggregates of TDP-43 and P62 proteins, which are histopathological hallmarks of ALS-FTD SMCR8 is phosphorylated by TBK1 and depletion of TBK1 can be rescued by phosphomimetic mutants of SMCR8 or by constitutively active RAB39b, suggesting that TBK1, SMCR8, C9ORF72, and RAB39b belong to a common pathway regulating autophagy. While depletion of C9ORF72 only has a partial deleterious effect on neuron survival, it synergizes with Ataxin-2 Q30x toxicity to induce motor neuron dysfunction and neuronal cell death. These results indicate that partial loss of function of C9ORF72 is not deleterious by itself but synergizes with Ataxin-2 toxicity, suggesting a double-hit pathological mechanism in ALS-FTD. © 2016 The Authors.

The synergic effect of activated carbon and Li3V1.95Ni0.05(PO4)3/C for the development of high energy and power electrodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Secchiaroli, M.; Marassi, R.; Wohlfahrt-Mehrens, M.; Dsoke, S.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Bi-material electrode composed by activated carbon and Li 3 V 1.95 Ni 0.05 (PO 4 ) 3 /C is proposed. • It is studied as high energy/power positive and negative electrodes, between 3.0–4.3 and 3.0–1.5 V vs. Li/Li + . • This electrode shows high specific capacity and capacity retention up to 26.6 A g −1 . • Excellent cycle stability is shown over 2000 cycles at 26.6 A g −1 . - Abstract: Exceptionally high specific capacities at ultrahigh charge/discharge currents have been obtained with a bi-material electrode prepared using Li 3 V 1.95 Ni 0.05 (PO 4 ) 3 /C (LVNP/C) and activated carbon (AC) as coexisting active materials. Thanks to the amphoteric properties of LVNP/C, this electrode designated as LVNP/C-AC, has been evaluated both as positive and negative electrode in 1 M LiPF 6 in EC:DMC (1:1). At high specific currents (26.6 A g −1 ), the bi-material electrode delivers specific capacities as high as 61 and 24 mAh g −1 , between 3.0–4.3 V and 3.0–1.5 V vs Li/Li + , respectively. By contrast, the corresponding values for LVNP/C are 49 and 18 mAh g −1 . In both potential windows, the bi-material electrode shows an excellent cycling stability over 2000 cycles at 26.6 A g −1 , with capacity retention of 95 and 89%, between 3.0–4.3 and 3.0–1.5 V vs Li/Li + , respectively. The synergic effect of the activated carbon on the electrochemical performances of Li 3 V 1.95 Ni 0.05 (PO 4 ) 3 /C is investigated by comparing the cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, electronic conductivity, galvanostatic cycling, and scanning electron microscopy of the bi-material electrode with the ones of LVNP/C. This study highlights the huge potentialities of this bi-material electrode for the development of high energy and high power Li-ion hybrid supercapacitors.

75 FR 57269 - Notice of Effectiveness of Exempt Wholesale Generator Status

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2010-09-20

... Effectiveness of Exempt Wholesale Generator Status September 13, 2010. Taloga Wind, LLC Docket Nos. EG10-40-000... Alta Wind V, LLC EG10-47-000 Synergics Roth Rock Wind Energy, LLC...... EG10-49-000 Synergics Roth Rock North Wind Energy, LLC EG10-50-000 Take notice that during the month of August 2010, the status of the...

75 FR 57013 - Notice of Effectiveness of Exempt Wholesale Generator Status; Taloga Wind, LLC, Stephentown...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-17

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. EG10-40-000, EG10-41-000, et al.] Notice of Effectiveness of Exempt Wholesale Generator Status; Taloga Wind, LLC, Stephentown...-000 Synergics Roth Rock Wind Energy, LLC EG10-49-000 Synergics Roth Rock North Wind Energy, LLC EG10...

Immunomodulating and Revascularizing Activity of Kalanchoe pinnata Synergize with Fungicide Activity of Biogenic Peptide Cecropin P1

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N. S. Zakharchenko

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Previously transgenic Kalanchoe pinnata plants producing an antimicrobial peptide cecropin P1 (CecP1 have been reported. Now we report biological testing K. pinnata extracts containing CecP1 as a candidate drug for treatment of wounds infected with Candida albicans. The drug constitutes the whole juice from K. pinnata leaves (not ethanol extract sterilized with nanofiltration. A microbicide activity of CecP1 against an animal fungal pathogen in vivo was demonstrated for the first time. However, a favorable therapeutic effect of the transgenic K. pinnata extract was attributed to a synergism between the fungicide activity of CecP1 and wound healing (antiscar, revascularizing, and immunomodulating effect of natural biologically active components of K. pinnata. A commercial fungicide preparation clotrimazole eliminated C. albicans cells within infected wounds in rats with efficiency comparable to CecP1-enriched K. pinnata extract. But in contrast to K. pinnata extract, clotrimazole did not exhibit neither wound healing activity nor remodeling of the scar matrix. Taken together, our results allow assumption that CecP1-enriched K. pinnata extracts should be considered as a candidate drug for treatment of dermatomycoses, wounds infected with fungi, and bedsores.

Immunomodulating and Revascularizing Activity of Kalanchoe pinnata Synergize with Fungicide Activity of Biogenic Peptide Cecropin P1.

Science.gov (United States)

Zakharchenko, N S; Belous, A S; Biryukova, Y K; Medvedeva, O A; Belyakova, A V; Masgutova, G A; Trubnikova, E V; Buryanov, Y I; Lebedeva, A A

2017-01-01

Previously transgenic Kalanchoe pinnata plants producing an antimicrobial peptide cecropin P1 (CecP1) have been reported. Now we report biological testing K. pinnata extracts containing CecP1 as a candidate drug for treatment of wounds infected with Candida albicans. The drug constitutes the whole juice from K. pinnata leaves (not ethanol extract) sterilized with nanofiltration. A microbicide activity of CecP1 against an animal fungal pathogen in vivo was demonstrated for the first time. However, a favorable therapeutic effect of the transgenic K. pinnata extract was attributed to a synergism between the fungicide activity of CecP1 and wound healing (antiscar), revascularizing, and immunomodulating effect of natural biologically active components of K. pinnata . A commercial fungicide preparation clotrimazole eliminated C. albicans cells within infected wounds in rats with efficiency comparable to CecP1-enriched K. pinnata extract. But in contrast to K. pinnata extract, clotrimazole did not exhibit neither wound healing activity nor remodeling of the scar matrix. Taken together, our results allow assumption that CecP1-enriched K. pinnata extracts should be considered as a candidate drug for treatment of dermatomycoses, wounds infected with fungi, and bedsores.

Viewing-position effects in the Stroop task: Initial fixation position modulates Stroop effects in fully colored words.

Science.gov (United States)

Perret, Patrick; Ducrot, Stéphanie

2010-08-01

In two experiments that we conducted with adult (Experiment 1) and child (Experiment 2) participants, we experimentally controlled the eyes' first fixation in the word using a variable viewing-position technique in a classical all-letter-coloring Stroop procedure. We explored the impact of initial-fixation position (optimal viewing position [OVP] vs. end of the word) on the magnitude of Stroop effects (both interference and facilitation). The results showed that both interference and facilitation effects were reduced when the first fixation was located at the end of the word rather than at the OVP. These data make a new contribution to the study of the role of low-level processes in Stroop effects and add support to the growing body of research indicating that oculomotor processes can act as moderators of cognitive processes in the determination of Stroop effects.

Modulation of DNA damage response and induction of apoptosis mediates synergism between doxorubicin and a new imidazopyridine derivative in breast and lung cancer cells.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Awady, Raafat A; Semreen, Mohammad H; Saber-Ayad, Maha M; Cyprian, Farhan; Menon, Varsha; Al-Tel, Taleb H

2016-01-01

DNA damage response machinery (DDR) is an attractive target of cancer therapy. Modulation of DDR network may alter the response of cancer cells to DNA damaging anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of a newly developed imidazopyridine (IAZP) derivative on the DDR after induction of DNA damage in cancer cells by doxorubicin. Cytotoxicity sulphrhodamine-B assay showed a weak anti-proliferative effect of IAZP alone on six cancer cell lines (MCF7, A549, A549DOX11, HepG2, HeLa and M8) and a normal fibroblast strain. Combination of IAZP with doxorubicin resulted in synergism in lung (A549) and breast (MCF7) cancer cells but neither in the other cancer cell lines nor in normal fibroblasts. Molecular studies revealed that synergism is mediated by modulation of DNA damage response and induction of apoptosis. Using constant-field gel electrophoresis and immunofluorescence detection of γ-H2AX foci, IAZP was shown to inhibit the repair of doxorubicin-induced DNA damage in A549 and MCF7 cells. Immunoblot analysis showed that IAZP suppresses the phosphorylation of the ataxia lelangiectasia and Rad3 related (ATR) protein, which is an important player in the response of cancer cells to chemotherapy-induced DNA damage. Moreover, IAZP augmented the doxorubicin-induced degradation of p21, activation of p53, CDK2, caspase 3/7 and phosphorylation of Rb protein. These effects enhanced doxorubicin-induced apoptosis in both cell lines. Our results indicate that IAZP is a promising agent that may enhance the cytotoxic effects of doxorubicin on some cancer cells through targeting the DDR. It is a preliminary step toward the clinical application of IAZP in combination with anticancer drugs and opens the avenue for the development of compounds targeting the DDR pathway that might improve the therapeutic index of anticancer drugs and enhance their cure rate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Emotional Effects of Positive Forms of Communication

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Светлана Валентиновна Ионова

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the problem of emotional significance of a positive form of speech. Based on the methodology of emotions linguistics, linguoecology, communicative linguistics and the methods of description, comparison and discourse analysis, the author distinguishes some types of speech situations that demonstrate visible differences between positive expression of emotions and their content and the pragmatic effect. The difference between the notions of “positive communication” and “positive form of communication” is demonstrated. Special attention is given to the following types of positive emotional communication: tolerant emotional communication, emotional emphasis, emotional neglect, and emotional tabooing. The utterances in situations of real and textual communication demonstrate negative effects of statements expressed in a positive form and identify the specifics of positive forms of emotional communication in comparison with rational communication.

Drinking water quality and chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu): synergic effects of fluoride, cadmium and hardness of water.

Science.gov (United States)

Wasana, Hewa M S; Aluthpatabendi, Dharshani; Kularatne, W M T D; Wijekoon, Pushpa; Weerasooriya, Rohan; Bandara, Jayasundera

2016-02-01

High prevalence of chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in some regions of the world is suspected mainly due to a toxin-mediated renal failure. We examined the incidence of CKDu and potable chemical water quality in a CKDu-affected region. This region has been identified as a high-risk zone for CKDu (location: latitude: 8.3500°-9.0000°, longitude: 80.3833°-81.3000°, North Central Province, NCP, Sri Lanka) by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, within this macro-region, small pockets of CKDu non-prevalence zones do exist; notably, the residents in those pockets consume spring water. Therefore, the drinking water quality of four areas, namely high-CKDu-prevalence areas (zone I), low-CKDu-prevalence area (zone II), the CKDu-free isolated pockets (zone III) and control areas (controls) were examined for F, Al, Cd, and As, and hardness and the statistical analysis were carried out to probe possible correlations among these parameters. The fluoride and hardness concentrations of water in zone III and control areas are much lower compared to zones I and II, and the water hardness is ~61 mg/L CaCO3. In zones I and II, the harness of drinking water is ~121-180 mg/L CaCO3; however, Al, Cd and As concentrations are almost comparable and below WHO recommendations. In most of the locations in zones I and II, the F concentration in drinking water is higher than the WHO recommendations. The peculiar distribution patterns of CKDu point to a synergic effect of trace elements in water for etiology of the disease.

Synergic development of pharmacokinetics and bioanalytical methods as support of pharmaceutical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Marzo, M; Ciccarelli, R; Di Iorio, P; Giuliani, P; Caciagli, F; Marzo, A

2016-06-01

The development of pharmacokinetics led this science to achieve a relevant role in the investigation of new chemical entities for therapeutic application, and has allowed a series of new useful realizations of out of patent drugs like prolonged release and delayed release formulations, therapeutic delivery system (TDS) for drugs to be active in systemic circulation avoiding the first pass effect, orodispersible and effervescent formulations, intramuscular and subcutaneous depot formulations acting over a long period, oral inhalatory systems, and drug association at fixed dose. The above applications had pharmacokinetics as protagonist and have required the support from bioanalytical methods to assay drug concentrations, even in pg·mL(-1) of plasma, that really have paralleled the synergic development of pharmacokinetics.The complexity of the above realizations required specific guidelines from the regulatory authorities, mainly the US FDA and EU EMA, which have normalized and, in most cases, simplified the above applications admitting some waivers of in vivo bioequivalence.However, this review highlights some critical points, not yet focused on by operating guidelines, which need to be clarified by regulatory authorities. One of the most relevant issues is about the planning and conducting bioavailability and bioequivalence trials with endogenous substances, that possess own homeostatic equilibria with fluctuations, in some cases with specific rhythms, like melatonin and female sex hormones. The baseline subtraction required by guidelines to define the net contribute to the exogenous absorbed drug in most cases is a non-solvable problem. © The Author(s) 2015.

Multistage Targeting Strategy Using Magnetic Composite Nanoparticles for Synergism of Photothermal Therapy and Chemotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi; Wei, Guoqing; Zhang, Xiaobin; Huang, Xuehui; Zhao, Jingya; Guo, Xing; Zhou, Shaobing

2018-03-01

Mitochondrial-targeting therapy is an emerging strategy for enhanced cancer treatment. In the present study, a multistage targeting strategy using doxorubicin-loaded magnetic composite nanoparticles is developed for enhanced efficacy of photothermal and chemical therapy. The nanoparticles with a core-shell-SS-shell architecture are composed of a core of Fe 3 O 4 colloidal nanocrystal clusters, an inner shell of polydopamine (PDA) functionalized with triphenylphosphonium (TPP), and an outer shell of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) linked to the PDA by disulfide bonds. The magnetic core can increase the accumulation of nanoparticles at the tumor site for the first stage of tumor tissue targeting. After the nanoparticles enter the tumor cells, the second stage of mitochondrial targeting is realized as the mPEG shell is detached from the nanoparticles by redox responsiveness to expose the TPP. Using near-infrared light irradiation at the tumor site, a photothermal effect is generated from the PDA photosensitizer, leading to a dramatic decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential. Simultaneously, the loaded doxorubicin can rapidly enter the mitochondria and subsequently damage the mitochondrial DNA, resulting in cell apoptosis. Thus, the synergism of photothermal therapy and chemotherapy targeting the mitochondria significantly enhances the cancer treatment. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Synergism in the sorption of europium on chromatographic supports impregnated with dicarbollide acid and bidentate phosphororganic extractant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svoboda, K.; Kyrs, M.; Vanura, P.

1997-01-01

Extraction chromatographic supports (XAD-7) impregnated with binary mixtures of cobalt dicarbollide and one of the two phosphororganic extractants (dibutyl-N,N-diethylcarbamoylmethyl phosphonate, DBDECMP, or octyl(phenyl)-N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethyl phosphine oxide, (CMPO) were prepared using methanolic solutions of the extractants and subsequent evaporation of methanol at room temperature. The molar ratios (x) in isomolar series of the two extractants were 0.025, 0.5, 0.75, and 1. The sorbents were used for investigating Eu capture from 0.1 and 1M HNO 3 solutions under static conditions (24 hours shaking, 2 cm 3 aqueous phase with 0.2 g sorbent, Eu initial concentrations 3 * 10 -9 , 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1M). The sorbents containing mixtures of extractants corresponding to the interpolated value x=0.45 (phosphororg./dicarb.) exhibited the highest values of the distribution ratios of Eu. A synergic effect of three orders of magnitude for low concentrations of Eu was observed. A tentative determination is given of the nature and the equilibrium constants of the chemical reactions assumed. (author)

POLYMERIZATION OF METHYL METHACRYLATE WITH ETHYLENE BRIDGED HETERODINUCLEAR METALLOCENE OF SAMARIUM AND TITANIUM-STUDY ON SYNERGISM AND KINETICS

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2001-01-01

Comparison of MMA polymerization results with samarocene chloride, titanocene chloride and the title heterodinuclear (Sm-Ti) catalyst, respectively, showed synergism in the Sm-Ligand-Ti system, which ob viously influenced the polymerization behaviors, for example, of yielding higher activity and higher molecular weight polymer. Kinetic studies on polymerization of MMA with ethylene bridged samarocene and titanocene chloride/M(i-Bu) 3 showed that the polymerization rate was first-order on the catalyst concentration, and 1.9- order on the monomer. The overall activation energy measured was 52.8 kJ/mol.

Anti-listerial synergism of leaf essential oil of Metasequoia glyptostroboides with nisin in whole, low and skim milks.

Science.gov (United States)

Bajpai, Vivek K; Yoon, Jung In; Bhardwaj, Monika; Kang, Sun Chul

2014-08-01

To examine the individual and synergistic anti-listerial effect of nisin and leaf essential oil of Metasequoia glyptostroboides (M. glyptostroboides) against one of the leading foodborne pathogens Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) ATCC 19116 in milk samples. The whole (8%), low (1%) and skim (no fat content) milk samples were inoculated with L. monocytogenes ATCC 19116 along with leaf essential oil of M. glyptostroboides or nisin alone as well in combinations. In this study, the leaf essential oil at the concentrations of 2% and 5% revealed strong anti-listerial effect against L. monocytogenes ATCC 19116 in all categories of milk samples. Nisin at the concentrations of 250 and 500 IU/mL displayed a strong inhibitory effect against ATCC 19116 as compared to the control group. Additionally, synergistic combinations of leaf essential oil (1%) and nisin (62.5, 125, 250 and 500 IU/mL) also had a remarkable anti-listerial synergism in all the tested milk samples including whole, low and skim milk after 14 days. As a major finding, the leaf essential oil of M. glyptostroboides might be a useful candidate for using in food industry to control the growth of foodborne pathogenic bacteria as confirmed by its potent anti-listerial synergistic effect with nisin against L. monocytogenes ATCC 19116 in different milk samples. Copyright © 2014 Hainan Medical College. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synergy Effect of Combining Fluorescence and Mid Infrared Fiber Spectroscopy for Kidney Tumor Diagnostics

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Andrey Bogomolov

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Matching pairs of tumor and non-tumor kidney tissue samples of four patients were investigated ex vivo using a combination of two methods, attenuated total reflection mid infrared spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy, through respectively prepared and adjusted fiber probes. In order to increase the data information content, the measurements on tissue samples in both methods were performed in the same 31 preselected positions. Multivariate data analysis revealed a synergic effect of combining the two methods for the diagnostics of kidney tumor compared to individual techniques.

Toxoplasmosis Complications and Novel Therapeutic Synergism Combination of Diclazuril plus Atovaquone

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Helieh S Oz

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Toxoplasmosis is a major cause of foodborne disease, congenital complication and morbidity. There is an urgent need for safe and effective therapies to encounter congenital and persisting toxoplasmosis. The hypothesis was: Combination Diclazuril plus Atovaquone to exert a novel therapeutic synergy to prevent toxoplasmosis syndromes. Methods. Pregnant dams were treated with Diclazuril and Atovaquone monotherapy or combination therapy and infected intraperitoneally with Toxoplasma tachyzoites (600. Results. Infected dams developed severe toxoplasmosis associated syndrome with increases in the abdominal adiposity surrounding uteri, gansterointestinal and other internal organs and excessive weight gain. Numerous organisms along with infiltration of inflammatory cells were detected scattered into adipose tissues. Combination therapy (p< 0.01 and to a lesser extent Diclazuril (p< 0.05 protected dams from inflammatory fat and excess weight gains. This was consistent with pancreatitis development in infected dams (versus normal p< 0.05 with infiltration of inflammatory cells, degeneration and necrosis of pancreatic cells followed by the degeneration and loss of islets. Combination and monotherapy protected dams from these inflammatory and pathological aspects of pancreatitis. Infected dams exhibited severe colitis, and colonic tissues significantly shortened in length. Brush border epithelial cells were replaced with infiltration of lymphocytes, granulocytes, and microabscess formations into cryptic microstructures. Combination therapy synergistically preserved colonic structure and normalized pathological damages (p< 0.001 and to a lesser degree Diclazuril monotherapy protected dams from colitis (p< 0.05 and gastrointestinal toxoplasmosis. Other complications included severe splenitis (p<0.001 and hepatitis (p<0.001 which were normalized with combination therapy. Conclusions. Combination Diclazuril plus Atovaquone was safe and with a novel therapeutic

The Akt inhibitor ISC-4 synergizes with cetuximab in 5-FU-resistant colon cancer.

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Joshua E Allen

Full Text Available Phenylbutyl isoselenocyanate (ISC-4 is an Akt inhibitor with demonstrated preclinical efficacy against melanoma and colon cancer. In this study, we sought to improve the clinical utility of ISC-4 by identifying a synergistic combination with FDA-approved anti-cancer therapies, a relevant and appropriate disease setting for testing, and biomarkers of response. We tested the activity of ISC-4 and 19 FDA-approved anticancer agents, alone or in combination, against the SW480 and RKO human colon cancer cell lines. A synergistic interaction with cetuximab was identified and validated in a panel of additional colon cancer cell lines, as well as the kinetics of synergy. ISC-4 in combination with cetuximab synergistically reduced the viability of human colon cancer cells with wild-type but not mutant KRAS genes. Further analysis revealed that the combination therapy cooperatively decreased cell cycle progression, increased caspase-dependent apoptosis, and decreased phospho-Akt in responsive tumor cells. The synergism between ISC-4 and cetuximab was retained independently of acquired resistance to 5-FU in human colon cancer cells. The combination demonstrated synergistic anti-tumor effects in vivo without toxicity and in the face of resistance to 5-FU. These results suggest that combining ISC-4 and cetuximab should be explored in patients with 5-FU-resistant colon cancer harboring wild-type KRAS.

The theory behind the age-related positivity effect

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Andrew E Reed

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The positivity effect refers to an age-related trend that favors positive over negative stimuli in cognitive processing. Relative to their younger counterparts, older people attend to and remember more positive than negative information. Since the effect was initially identified and the conceptual basis articulated (Mather & Carstensen, 2005 scores of independent replications and related findings have appeared in the literature. Over the same period, a number of investigations have failed to observe age differences in the cognitive processing of emotional material. When findings are considered in theoretical context, a reliable pattern of evidence emerges that helps to refine conceptual tenets. In this article we articulate the operational definition and theoretical foundations of the positivity effect and review the empirical evidence based on studies of visual attention, memory, decision-making, and neural activation. We conclude with a discussion of future research directions with emphasis on the conditions where a focus on positive information may benefit and/or impair cognitive performance in older people.

Investigation of surfactant/cosurfactant synergism impact on ibuprofen solubilization capacity and drug release characteristics of nonionic microemulsions.

Science.gov (United States)

Djekic, Ljiljana; Primorac, Marija; Filipic, Slavica; Agbaba, Danica

2012-08-20

The current study investigates the performances of the multicomponent mixtures of nonionic surfactants regarding the microemulsion stabilisation, drug solubilization and in vitro drug release kinetic. The primary surfactant was PEG-8 caprylic/capric glycerides (Labrasol). The cosurfactants were commercially available mixtures of octoxynol-12 and polysorbate 20 without or with the addition of PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil (Solubilisant gamma 2421 and Solubilisant gamma 2429, respectively). The oil phase of microemulsions was isopropyl myristate. Phase behaviour study of the pseudo-ternary systems Labrasol/cosurfactant/oil/water at surfactant-to-cosurfactant weight ratios (K(m)) 40:60, 50:50 and 60:40, revealed a strong synergism in the investigated tensides mixtures for stabilisation of microemulsions containing up to 80% (w/w) of water phase at surfactant +cosurfactant-to-oil weight ratio (SCoS/O) 90:10. Solubilization of a model drug ibuprofen in concentration common for topical application (5%, w/w) was achieved at the water contents below 50% (w/w). Drug free and ibuprofen-loaded microemulsions M1-M6, containing 45% (w/w) of water phase, were prepared and characterized by polarized light microscopy, conductivity, pH, rheological and droplet size measurements. In vitro ibuprofen release kinetics from the microemulsions was investigated using paddle-over-enhancer cell method and compared with the commercial 5% (w/w) ibuprofen hydrogel product (Deep Relief, Mentholatum Company Ltd., USA). The investigated microemulsions were isotropic, low viscous Bingham-type liquids with the pH value (4.70-6.61) suitable for topical application. The different efficiency of the tensides mixtures for microemulsion stabilisation was observed, depending on the cosurfactant type and K(m) value. Solubilisant gamma 2429 as well as higher K(m) (i.e., lower relative content of the cosurfactant) provided higher surfactant/cosurfactant synergism. The drug molecules were predominantly

Comparative toxicities and synergism of apple orchard pesticides to Apis mellifera (L. and Osmia cornifrons (Radoszkowski.

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David J Biddinger

Full Text Available The topical toxicities of five commercial grade pesticides commonly sprayed in apple orchards were estimated on adult worker honey bees, Apis mellifera (L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae and Japanese orchard bees, Osmia cornifrons (Radoszkowski (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae. The pesticides were acetamiprid (Assail 30SG, λ-cyhalothrin (Warrior II, dimethoate (Dimethoate 4EC, phosmet (Imidan 70W, and imidacloprid (Provado 1.6F. At least 5 doses of each chemical, diluted in distilled water, were applied to freshly-eclosed adult bees. Mortality was assessed after 48 hr. Dose-mortality regressions were analyzed by probit analysis to test the hypotheses of parallelism and equality by likelihood ratio tests. For A. mellifera, the decreasing order of toxicity at LD₅₀ was imidacloprid, λ-cyhalothrin, dimethoate, phosmet, and acetamiprid. For O. cornifrons, the decreasing order of toxicity at LD₅₀ was dimethoate, λ-cyhalothrin, imidacloprid, acetamiprid, and phosmet. Interaction of imidacloprid or acetamiprid with the fungicide fenbuconazole (Indar 2F was also tested in a 1∶1 proportion for each species. Estimates of response parameters for each mixture component applied to each species were compared with dose-response data for each mixture in statistical tests of the hypothesis of independent joint action. For each mixture, the interaction of fenbuconazole (a material non-toxic to both species was significant and positive along the entire line for the pesticide. Our results clearly show that responses of A. mellifera cannot be extrapolated to responses of O.cornifrons, and that synergism of neonicotinoid insecticides and fungicides occurs using formulated product in mixtures as they are commonly applied in apple orchards.

Emotional Effects of Positive Forms of Communication

OpenAIRE

Светлана Валентиновна Ионова

2015-01-01

The article discusses the problem of emotional significance of a positive form of speech. Based on the methodology of emotions linguistics, linguoecology, communicative linguistics and the methods of description, comparison and discourse analysis, the author distinguishes some types of speech situations that demonstrate visible differences between positive expression of emotions and their content and the pragmatic effect. The difference between the notions of “positive communication” and “pos...

Synergism of the method of characteristic, R-functions and diffusion solution for accurate representation of 3D neutron interactions in research reactors using the AGENT code system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hursin, Mathieu; Xiao Shanjie; Jevremovic, Tatjana

2006-01-01

This paper summarizes the theoretical and numerical aspects of the AGENT code methodology accurately applied for detailed three-dimensional (3D) multigroup steady-state modeling of neutron interactions in complex heterogeneous reactor domains. For the first time we show the fine-mesh neutron scalar flux distribution in Purdue research reactor (that was built over forty years ago). The AGENT methodology is based on the unique combination of the three theories: the method of characteristics (MOC) used to simulate the neutron transport in two-dimensional (2D) whole core heterogeneous calculation, the theory of R-functions used as a mathematical tool to describe the true geometry and fuse with the MOC equations, and one-dimensional (1D) higher-order diffusion correction of 2D transport model to account for full 3D heterogeneous whole core representation. The synergism between the radial 2D transport and the 1D axial transport (to take into account the axial neutron interactions and leakage), called the 2D/1D method (used in DeCART and CHAPLET codes), provides a 3D computational solution. The unique synergism between the AGENT geometrical algorithm capable of modeling any current or future reactor core geometry and 3D neutron transport methodology is described in details. The 3D AGENT accuracy and its efficiency are demonstrated showing the eigenvalues, point-wise flux and reaction rate distributions in representative reactor geometries. The AGENT code, comprising this synergism, represents a building block of the computational system, called the virtual reactor. Its main purpose is to perform 'virtual' experiments and demonstrations of various mainly university research reactor experiments

Time perspective and positivity effects in Alzheimer's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohn, Linzy; Kwong See, Sheree T; Fung, Helene H

2016-09-01

This study tested whether time perspective, a central tenant of socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, 2006), moderates positivity effects in emotional memory. To provide measures of time perspective, young (YA; M = 22.48 years), young-old (YO; M = 67.56 years), old-old adults (OO; M = 80.24 years), and participants with moderate severity Alzheimer's disease (PAD; M = 84.28 years) completed a line task and reported subjective age. As expected, YA, YO, and OO reported successively more constrained future time perspectives. PAD showed distortion in time perspective, envisioning a future comparable with the YO, although closer matched in chronological age to OO adults. To evince positivity effects, participants were oriented to pairs of emotional images and were then tested for memory (recall and recognition) of the images. Recall and recognition memory for the images indicated an age-related advantage for positive over negative material (positivity effects). Time perspective, however, did not moderate these age effects. In memory performance, PAD were more comparable with OO adults with whom they shared a similar chronological age, rather than YO adults, who had a corresponding time perspective. These results suggest that age correlates that are shared by PAD and OO, such as reduced processing resources, rather than time perspective, may drive the age associated positivity effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Chemotherapy synergizes with radioimmunotherapy targeting La autoantigen in tumors.

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Fares Al-Ejeh

Full Text Available To date, inefficient delivery of therapeutic doses of radionuclides to solid tumors limits the clinical utility of radioimmunotherapy. We aim to test the therapeutic utility of Yttrium-90 ((90Y-radio-conjugates of a monoclonal antibody, which we showed previously to bind specifically to the abundant intracellular La ribonucleoprotein revealed in dead tumor cells after DNA-damaging treatment.Immunoconjugates of the DAB4 clone of the La-specific monoclonal antibody, APOMAB, were prepared using the metal chelator, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA, and then radiolabeled with (90Y. Mice bearing established subcutaneous tumors were treated with (90Y-DOTA-DAB4 alone or after chemotherapy. Non-radiosensitizing cyclophosphamide/etoposide chemotherapy was used for the syngeneic EL4 lymphoma model. Radiosensitizing cisplatin/gemcitabine chemotherapy was used for the syngeneic Lewis Lung carcinoma (LL2 model, and for the xenograft models of LNCaP prostatic carcinoma and Panc-1 pancreatic carcinoma. We demonstrate the safety, specificity, and efficacy of (90Y-DOTA-DAB4-radioimmunotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy. EL4 lymphoma-bearing mice either were cured at higher doses of radioimmunotherapy alone or lower doses of radioimmunotherapy in synergy with chemotherapy. Radioimmunotherapy alone was less effective in chemo- and radio-resistant carcinoma models. However, radioimmunotherapy synergized with radiosensitizing chemotherapy to retard significantly tumor regrowth and so prolong the survival of mice bearing LL2, LNCaP, or Panc-1 subcutaneous tumor implants.We report proof-of-concept data supporting a unique form of radioimmunotherapy, which delivers bystander killing to viable cancer cells after targeting the universal cancer antigen, La, created by DNA-damaging treatment in neighboring dead cancer cells. Subsequently we propose that DAB4-targeted ionizing radiation induces additional cycles of tumor cell death

VGLUT3 does not synergize GABA/glycine release during functional refinement of an inhibitory auditory circuit

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Daniel T Case

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The vesicular glutamate transporter VGLUT3 is expressed at several locations not normally associated with glutamate release. Although the function of this protein remains generally elusive, when expressed in non-glutamatergic synaptic terminals, VGLUT3 can not only allow glutamate co-transmission but also synergize the action of non-glutamate vesicular transporters. Interestingly, in the immature glycinergic projection between the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB and the lateral superior olive (LSO of auditory brainstem, the transient early expression of VGLUT3 is required for normal developmental refinement. It has however been unknown whether the primary function of VGLUT3 in development of these inhibitory synapses is to enable glutamate release or to promote loading of inhibitory neurotransmitter through vesicular synergy. Using tissue from young mice in which Vglut3 had been genetically deleted, we evaluated inhibitory neurotransmission in the MNTB-LSO pathway. Our results show, in contrast to what has been seen at adult synapses, that VGLUT3 expression has little or no effect on vesicular synergy at the immature glycinergic synapse of brainstem. This finding supports the model that the primary function of increased VGLUT3 expression in the immature auditory brainstem is to enable glutamate release in a developing inhibitory circuit.

Total ginsenosides synergize with ulinastatin against septic acute lung injury and acute respir atory distress syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Rongju; Li, Yana; Chen, Wei; Zhang, Fei; Li, Tanshi

2015-01-01

Total ginsenosides synergize with ulinastatin (UTI) against septic acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We randomly divided 80 cases of severe sepsis-induced ALI and ARDS into a UTI group and a ginsenosides (GS)+UTI group. Continuous electrocardiac monitoring of pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and heart rate; invasive hemodynamic monitoring; ventilator-assisted breathing and circulation support; and anti-infection as well as UTI treatment were given in the UTI group with GS treatment added for 7 consecutive days in the GS+UTI group. The indicators of pulmonary vascular permeability, pulmonary circulation, blood gases, and hemodynamics as well as APACHE II and ALI scores were detected on days 1, 3, and 7. The ALI score in the GS+UTI group was significantly decreased (P UTI group, and the indicators of pulmonary capillary permeability such as pulmonary vascular permeability index, extravascular lung water index, and oxygenation index, in the GS+UTI group improved significantly more than that of the UTI group. The indicators of hemodynamics and pulmonary circulation such as cardiac index, intrathoracic blood volume index, and central venous pressure improved significantly (P UTI group was lower than that of the UTI group. GS can effectively collaborate with UTI against ALI and/or ARDS. PMID:26261640

Contextual effect of positive intergroup contact on outgroup prejudice

Science.gov (United States)

Christ, Oliver; Schmid, Katharina; Lolliot, Simon; Swart, Hermann; Stolle, Dietlind; Tausch, Nicole; Al Ramiah, Ananthi; Wagner, Ulrich; Vertovec, Steven; Hewstone, Miles

2014-01-01

We assessed evidence for a contextual effect of positive intergroup contact, whereby the effect of intergroup contact between social contexts (the between-level effect) on outgroup prejudice is greater than the effect of individual-level contact within contexts (the within-level effect). Across seven large-scale surveys (five cross-sectional and two longitudinal), using multilevel analyses, we found a reliable contextual effect. This effect was found in multiple countries, operationalizing context at multiple levels (regions, districts, and neighborhoods), and with and without controlling for a range of demographic and context variables. In four studies (three cross-sectional and one longitudinal) we showed that the association between context-level contact and prejudice was largely mediated by more tolerant norms. In social contexts where positive contact with outgroups was more commonplace, norms supported such positive interactions between members of different groups. Thus, positive contact reduces prejudice on a macrolevel, whereby people are influenced by the behavior of others in their social context, not merely on a microscale, via individuals’ direct experience of positive contact with outgroup members. These findings reinforce the view that contact has a significant role to play in prejudice reduction, and has great policy potential as a means to improve intergroup relations, because it can simultaneously impact large numbers of people. PMID:24591627

Contextual effect of positive intergroup contact on outgroup prejudice.

Science.gov (United States)

Christ, Oliver; Schmid, Katharina; Lolliot, Simon; Swart, Hermann; Stolle, Dietlind; Tausch, Nicole; Al Ramiah, Ananthi; Wagner, Ulrich; Vertovec, Steven; Hewstone, Miles

2014-03-18

We assessed evidence for a contextual effect of positive intergroup contact, whereby the effect of intergroup contact between social contexts (the between-level effect) on outgroup prejudice is greater than the effect of individual-level contact within contexts (the within-level effect). Across seven large-scale surveys (five cross-sectional and two longitudinal), using multilevel analyses, we found a reliable contextual effect. This effect was found in multiple countries, operationalizing context at multiple levels (regions, districts, and neighborhoods), and with and without controlling for a range of demographic and context variables. In four studies (three cross-sectional and one longitudinal) we showed that the association between context-level contact and prejudice was largely mediated by more tolerant norms. In social contexts where positive contact with outgroups was more commonplace, norms supported such positive interactions between members of different groups. Thus, positive contact reduces prejudice on a macrolevel, whereby people are influenced by the behavior of others in their social context, not merely on a microscale, via individuals' direct experience of positive contact with outgroup members. These findings reinforce the view that contact has a significant role to play in prejudice reduction, and has great policy potential as a means to improve intergroup relations, because it can simultaneously impact large numbers of people.

Synergism of thiocyanate ions and microinterfacial surface as driving forces for heavy multi-metals extraction

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Daniela Cadar

2018-05-01

Full Text Available A comprehensive study has been carried out to evaluate the extraction of heavy metals mixture (Co2+, Cr3+, Cu2+, Ni2+ from aqueous media by Winsor II non-ionic microemulsion, containing polyoxyethylene (4 lauryl ether as non-ionic surfactant and butyl acetate as organic phase. The extraction mechanism is based on the formation of thiocyanate complexes of metals and their transfer from aqueous to microemulsion phase, either towards the interfacial film of surfactant (Co2+ or into the core of micelles (Cr3+, Cu2+, Ni2+. The value of the distribution coefficient for Co2+ was higher than for the other studied metals and its extraction efficiency was not dependent on the working conditions, showing a maximum value (99.99% in all cases. By using successive extractions, chromium, nickel and copper ions that remained in the aqueous phase after first extraction were transported into the microemulsion phase, leading to an increase in the extraction efficiency up to 99.99% for chromium and copper, and 85% for nickel. Based on pH influence, a selective extraction of Co2+ and Cr3+ can be achieved, since the cobalt ions were completely extracted into the microemulsion phase at pH = 1, and the chromium ions still remained in the aqueous phase. Keywords: Nonionic microemulsion, Thiocyanate complexes of heavy metals, Simultaneous heavy metals extraction, Microinterfacial effect, Synergism

Synergism of antifungal activity between mitochondrial respiration inhibitors and kojic acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jong H; Campbell, Bruce C; Chan, Kathleen L; Mahoney, Noreen; Haff, Ronald P

2013-01-25

Co-application of certain types of compounds to conventional antimicrobial drugs can enhance the efficacy of the drugs through a process termed chemosensitization. We show that kojic acid (KA), a natural pyrone, is a potent chemosensitizing agent of complex III inhibitors disrupting the mitochondrial respiratory chain in fungi. Addition of KA greatly lowered the minimum inhibitory concentrations of complex III inhibitors tested against certain filamentous fungi. Efficacy of KA synergism in decreasing order was pyraclostrobin > kresoxim-methyl > antimycin A. KA was also found to be a chemosensitizer of cells to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), tested as a mimic of reactive oxygen species involved in host defense during infection, against several human fungal pathogens and Penicillium strains infecting crops. In comparison, KA-mediated chemosensitization to complex III inhibitors/H₂O₂ was undetectable in other types of fungi, including Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, and P. griseofulvum, among others. Of note, KA was found to function as an antioxidant, but not as an antifungal chemosensitizer in yeasts. In summary, KA could serve as an antifungal chemosensitizer to complex III inhibitors or H₂O₂ against selected human pathogens or Penicillium species. KA-mediated chemosensitization to H₂O₂ seemed specific for filamentous fungi. Thus, results indicate strain- and/or drug-specificity exist during KA chemosensitization.

Mutagenic synergism detected between 1,2-dibromoethane and X rays in the stamen hairs of Tradescantia clone BNL 4430

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao, Ling Zhi; Ichikawa, Sadao

1998-01-01

Mutagenic interaction between 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB) and X rays was studied in the stamen hairs of Tradescantia clone BNL 4430, a blue/pink heterozygote. The young inflorescence-bearing shoots with roots of this clone cultivated in a nutrient solution circulating growth chamber were used as the tester plants. EDB is a promutagen and also a bifunctional alkylating agent with a high Swain-Scott substrate constant, but is thought to react probably via SN 1 mechanism. After confirming the dose-dependent mutagenicities of aqueous solutions of EDB for the first time in Tradescantia stamen hairs, a combined treatment with EDB and X rays was conducted, exposing acutely to 578 mGy X rays at the midpoint of 66.5 mM EDB treatment for 4 h. The induced somatic mutation frequency determined after the combined treatment was significantly higher (at 0.1% level) than that expected from the additive effects of EDB and X rays, showing that EDB and X rays acted obviously synergistically. The confirmation of the mutagenic synergism between EDB and X rays is reported here for the first time, although a likelihood of synergistic effects of EDB with 3 H beta rays has been suggested earlier. (author)

Position-dependent Effects of Polylysine on Sec Protein Transport*

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Fu-Cheng; Bageshwar, Umesh K.; Musser, Siegfried M.

2012-01-01

The bacterial Sec protein translocation system catalyzes the transport of unfolded precursor proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane. Using a recently developed real time fluorescence-based transport assay, the effects of the number and distribution of positive charges on the transport time and transport efficiency of proOmpA were examined. As expected, an increase in the number of lysine residues generally increased transport time and decreased transport efficiency. However, the observed effects were highly dependent on the polylysine position in the mature domain. In addition, a string of consecutive positive charges generally had a more significant effect on transport time and efficiency than separating the charges into two or more charged segments. Thirty positive charges distributed throughout the mature domain resulted in effects similar to 10 consecutive charges near the N terminus of the mature domain. These data support a model in which the local effects of positive charge on the translocation kinetics dominate over total thermodynamic constraints. The rapid translocation kinetics of some highly charged proOmpA mutants suggest that the charge is partially shielded from the electric field gradient during transport, possibly by the co-migration of counter ions. The transport times of precursors with multiple positively charged sequences, or “pause sites,” were fairly well predicted by a local effect model. However, the kinetic profile predicted by this local effect model was not observed. Instead, the transport kinetics observed for precursors with multiple polylysine segments support a model in which translocation through the SecYEG pore is not the rate-limiting step of transport. PMID:22367204

Position-dependent effects of polylysine on Sec protein transport.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Fu-Cheng; Bageshwar, Umesh K; Musser, Siegfried M

2012-04-13

The bacterial Sec protein translocation system catalyzes the transport of unfolded precursor proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane. Using a recently developed real time fluorescence-based transport assay, the effects of the number and distribution of positive charges on the transport time and transport efficiency of proOmpA were examined. As expected, an increase in the number of lysine residues generally increased transport time and decreased transport efficiency. However, the observed effects were highly dependent on the polylysine position in the mature domain. In addition, a string of consecutive positive charges generally had a more significant effect on transport time and efficiency than separating the charges into two or more charged segments. Thirty positive charges distributed throughout the mature domain resulted in effects similar to 10 consecutive charges near the N terminus of the mature domain. These data support a model in which the local effects of positive charge on the translocation kinetics dominate over total thermodynamic constraints. The rapid translocation kinetics of some highly charged proOmpA mutants suggest that the charge is partially shielded from the electric field gradient during transport, possibly by the co-migration of counter ions. The transport times of precursors with multiple positively charged sequences, or "pause sites," were fairly well predicted by a local effect model. However, the kinetic profile predicted by this local effect model was not observed. Instead, the transport kinetics observed for precursors with multiple polylysine segments support a model in which translocation through the SecYEG pore is not the rate-limiting step of transport.

Combined environment aging effects: radiation-thermal degradation of polyvinylchloride and polyethylene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clough, R.L.; Gillen, K.T.

1981-01-01

Results are presented for a case of polymer aging in which powerful synergisms are found between radiation and temperature. This effect was observed with formulations of polyvinylchloride and polyethylene and occurred in simultaneous and sequential radiation-thermal experiments. Dose rate dependencies, which appear to be mechanistically related to the synergism, were also found. The evidence indicates that these aging effects are mediated by a thermally induced breakdown of peroxides initially formed by the radiation. Similar effects could be important to material degradation in a variety of other types of combined-stress environment. A new technique, which uses PH 3 treatment of intact polymer specimens to test for the importance of peroxides in the pathway that leads to changes in macroscopic tensile properties, is described

Wheel running decreases the positive reinforcing effects of heroin.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Mark A; Pitts, Elizabeth G

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of voluntary wheel running on the positive reinforcing effects of heroin in rats with an established history of drug self-administration. Rats were assigned to sedentary (no wheel) and exercise (wheel) conditions and trained to self-administer cocaine under positive reinforcement contingencies. Rats acquiring cocaine self-administration were then tested with various doses of heroin during daily test sessions. Sedentary rats self-administered more heroin than exercising rats, and this effect was greatest at low and moderate doses of heroin. These data suggest that voluntary wheel running decreases the positive reinforcing effects of heroin.

Flavonoids from Artemisia annua L. as Antioxidants and Their Potential Synergism with Artemisinin against Malaria and Cancer

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Jorge F.S. Ferreira

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Artemisia annua is currently the only commercial source of the sesquiterpene lactone artemisinin.Since artemisinin was discovered as the active component of A. annua in early 1970s, hundreds of papers have focused on the anti-parasitic effects of artemisinin and its semi-synthetic analogs dihydroartemisinin, artemether, arteether, and artesunate. Artemisinin per se has not been used in mainstream clinical practice due to its poor bioavailability when compared to its analogs. In the past decade, the work with artemisinin-based compounds has expanded to their anti-cancer properties. Although artemisinin is a major bioactive component present in the traditional Chinese herbal preparations (tea, leaf flavonoids, also present in the tea, have shown a variety of biological activities and may synergize the effects of artemisinin against malaria and cancer. However, only a few studies have focused on the potential synergistic effects between flavonoids and artemisinin. The resurgent idea that multi-component drug therapy might be better than monotherapy is illustrated by the recent resolution of the World Health Organization to support artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACT, instead of the previously used monotherapy with artemisinins. In this critical review we will discuss the possibility that artemisinin and its semi-synthetic analogs might become more effective to treat parasitic diseases (such as malaria and cancer if simultaneously delivered with flavonoids. The flavonoids present in A. annua leaves have been linked to suppression of CYP450 enzymes responsible for altering the absorption and metabolism of artemisinin in the body, but also have been linked to a beneficial immunomodulatory activity in subjects afflicted with parasitic and chronic diseases.

Serial position effects in mild cognitive impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Howieson, Diane B; Mattek, Nora; Seeyle, Adriana M; Dodge, Hiroko H; Wasserman, Dara; Zitzelberger, Tracy; Jeffrey, Kaye

2011-03-01

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is often associated with the preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Special scoring of word-list recall data for serial position has been suggested to improve discrimination of normal aging from dementia. We examined serial position effects in word-list recall for MCI participants compared to Alzheimer patients and controls. Individuals with MCI, like Alzheimer patients, had a diminished primacy effect in recalling words from a list. No alternative scoring system was better than standard scoring of word-list recall in distinguishing MCI patients from controls. Retention weighted scoring improved the discrimination of MCI and AD groups.

Further studies on selective radioprotection by organic zinc salts and synergism of zinc aspartate with WR 2721

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Floersheim, G.L.; Bieri, A.

1990-01-01

Protection of the haematocrit and thrombocytes by small doses of the aminothiol radioprotector WR 2721 was markedly improved by the concomitant administration of small doses of zinc aspartate. Zinc aspartate was the only one of the tested zinc salts not inhibiting the regression induced by radiotherapy of human tumours grown as xenografts in immunosuppressed mice. This also applied to zinc aspartate with WR 2721. A dose of zinc aspartate which afforded synergistic haematological protection did not enhance the toxicity of WR 2721. The synergism of zinc aspartate with WR 2721 and the differential radioprotection of the combined protocol may make it possible in clinical cancer radiotherapy to obtain selective radioprotection at a lower toxicity giving an improved therapeutic ratio compared with WR 2721 alone. (author)

The MDM2-inhibitor Nutlin-3 synergizes with cisplatin to induce p53 dependent tumor cell apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Deben, Christophe; Wouters, An; de Beeck, Ken Op; van Den Bossche, Jolien; Jacobs, Julie; Zwaenepoel, Karen; Peeters, Marc; Van Meerbeeck, Jan; Lardon, Filip; Rolfo, Christian; Deschoolmeester, Vanessa; Pauwels, Patrick

2015-01-01

The p53/MDM2 interaction has been a well-studied target for new drug design leading to the development of the small molecule inhibitor Nutlin-3. Our objectives were to combine Nutlin-3 with cisplatin (CDDP), a well-known activator of the p53 pathway, in a series of non-small cell lung cancer cell lines in order to increase the cytotoxic response to CDDP. We report that sequential treatment (CDDP followed by Nutlin-3), but not simultaneous treatment, resulted in strong synergism. Combination treatment induced p53's transcriptional activity, resulting in increased mRNA and protein levels of MDM2, p21, PUMA and BAX. In addition we report the induction of a strong p53 dependent apoptotic response and induction of G2/M cell cycle arrest. The strongest synergistic effect was observed at low doses of both CDDP and Nutlin-3, which could result in fewer (off-target) side effects while maintaining a strong cytotoxic effect. Our results indicate a promising preclinical potential, emphasizing the importance of the applied treatment scheme and the presence of wild type p53 for the combination of CDDP and Nutlin-3. PMID:26125230

Evaluating the effectiveness of brand-positioning strategies from a consumer perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fuchs, Christoph; Diamantopoulos, Adamantios

2010-01-01

- The findings should guide brand managers in selecting the most appropriate positioning strategies for their brands in high-involvement markets such as the automobile market. Originality/value - The study sheds initial light on the overall relative effectiveness of major positioning strategies. The study......Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to explore empirically the overall relative effectiveness of alternative positioning strategies from a consumer perspective. Design/methodology/approach - Two studies (within- and between-subjects design) are conducted aimed at evaluating the positioning...... of positioning strategy used affects the positioning success of a brand. More specifically, the study confirms normative arguments about the overall relative effectiveness of main positioning strategies by revealing that benefit-based positioning and surrogate (user) positioning generally outperform feature...

Integromics network meta-analysis on cardiac aging offers robust multi-layer modular signatures and reveals micronome synergism.

Science.gov (United States)

Dimitrakopoulou, Konstantina; Vrahatis, Aristidis G; Bezerianos, Anastasios

2015-03-04

The avalanche of integromics and panomics approaches shifted the deciphering of aging mechanisms from single molecular entities to communities of them. In this orientation, we explore the cardiac aging mechanisms - risk factor for multiple cardiovascular diseases - by capturing the micronome synergism and detecting longevity signatures in the form of communities (modules). For this, we developed a meta-analysis scheme that integrates transcriptome expression data from multiple cardiac-specific independent studies in mouse and human along with proteome and micronome interaction data in the form of multiple independent weighted networks. Modularization of each weighted network produced modules, which in turn were further analyzed so as to define consensus modules across datasets that change substantially during lifespan. Also, we established a metric that determines - from the modular perspective - the synergism of microRNA-microRNA interactions as defined by significantly functionally associated targets. The meta-analysis provided 40 consensus integromics modules across mouse datasets and revealed microRNA relations with substantial collective action during aging. Three modules were reproducible, based on homology, when mapped against human-derived modules. The respective homologs mainly represent NADH dehydrogenases, ATP synthases, cytochrome oxidases, Ras GTPases and ribosomal proteins. Among various observations, we corroborate to the involvement of miR-34a (included in consensus modules) as proposed recently; yet we report that has no synergistic effect. Moving forward, we determined its age-related neighborhood in which HCN3, a known heart pacemaker channel, was included. Also, miR-125a-5p/-351, miR-200c/-429, miR-106b/-17, miR-363/-92b, miR-181b/-181d, miR-19a/-19b, let-7d/-7f, miR-18a/-18b, miR-128/-27b and miR-106a/-291a-3p pairs exhibited significant synergy and their association to aging and/or cardiovascular diseases is supported in many cases by a

Doxil Synergizes with Cancer Immunotherapies to Enhance Antitumor Responses in Syngeneic Mouse Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan Rios-Doria

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Based on the previously described roles of doxorubicin in immunogenic cell death, both doxorubicin and liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil were evaluated for their ability to boost the antitumor response of different cancer immunotherapies including checkpoint blockers (anti–PD-L1, PD-1, and CTLA-4 mAbs and TNF receptor agonists (OX40 and GITR ligand fusion proteins in syngeneic mouse models. In a preventative CT26 mouse tumor model, both doxorubicin and Doxil synergized with anti–PD-1 and CTLA-4 mAbs. Doxil was active when CT26 tumors were grown in immunocompetent mice but not immunocompromised mice, demonstrating that Doxil activity is increased in the presence of a functional immune system. Using established tumors and maximally efficacious doses of Doxil and cancer immunotherapies in either CT26 or MCA205 tumor models, combination groups produced strong synergistic antitumor effects, a larger percentage of complete responders, and increased survival. In vivo pharmacodynamic studies showed that Doxil treatment decreased the percentage of tumor-infiltrating regulatory T cells and, in combination with anti–PD-L1, increased the percentage of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells. In the tumor, Doxil administration increased CD80 expression on mature dendritic cells. CD80 expression was also increased on both monocytic and granulocytic myeloid cells, suggesting that Doxil may induce these tumor-infiltrating cells to elicit a costimulatory phenotype capable of activating an antitumor T-cell response. These results uncover a novel role for Doxil in immunomodulation and support the use of Doxil in combination with checkpoint blockade or TNFR agonists to increase response rates and antitumor activity.

[Combined effect of sulbactam/cefoperazone and other antibiotics against clinical isolates of multi-resistant strains. II. In vitro combined effects of sulbactam/cefoperazone with imipenem/cilastatin, cefuzonam, flomoxef, amikacin or tobramycin].

Science.gov (United States)

Kouda, M; Kumagai, I; Kobayashi, J; Sugai, R; Matsuzaki, H

1991-02-01

We evaluated combined effects of sulbactam/cefoperazone (SBT/CPZ) with each of imipenem/cilastatin (IPM), cefuzonam, flomoxef, amikacin (AMK) and tobramycin (TOB) against 324 clinical strains. Through this study, we obtained the following results. 1. Against Serratia marcescens and Enterobacter cloacae, good synergism was obtained by combining SBT/CPZ with IPM, AMK, or TOB. 2. Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, good synergism was obtained by combining SBT/CPZ with AMK or TOB. 3. When SBT/CPZ was used in combination with IPM, antagonism was observed among about 45% of strains of P. aeruginosa.

Synergism of Antifungal Activity between Mitochondrial Respiration Inhibitors and Kojic Acid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronald P. Haff

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Co-application of certain types of compounds to conventional antimicrobial drugs can enhance the efficacy of the drugs through a process termed chemosensitization. We show that kojic acid (KA, a natural pyrone, is a potent chemosensitizing agent of complex III inhibitors disrupting the mitochondrial respiratory chain in fungi. Addition of KA greatly lowered the minimum inhibitory concentrations of complex III inhibitors tested against certain filamentous fungi. Efficacy of KA synergism in decreasing order was pyraclostrobin > kresoxim-methyl > antimycin A. KA was also found to be a chemosensitizer of cells to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, tested as a mimic of reactive oxygen species involved in host defense during infection, against several human fungal pathogens and Penicillium strains infecting crops. In comparison, KA-mediated chemosensitization to complex III inhibitors/H2O2 was undetectable in other types of fungi, including Aspergillus flavus, A. parasiticus, and P. griseofulvum, among others. Of note, KA was found to function as an antioxidant, but not as an antifungal chemosensitizer in yeasts. In summary, KA could serve as an antifungal chemosensitizer to complex III inhibitors or H2O2 against selected human pathogens or Penicillium species. KA-mediated chemosensitization to H2O2 seemed specific for filamentous fungi. Thus, results indicate strain- and/or drug-specificity exist during KA chemosensitization.

The histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA acts in synergism with fenretinide and doxorubicin to control growth of rhabdoid tumor cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kerl, Kornelius; Eveslage, Maria; Jung, Manfred; Meisterernst, Michael; Frühwald, Michael; Ries, David; Unland, Rebecca; Borchert, Christiane; Moreno, Natalia; Hasselblatt, Martin; Jürgens, Heribert; Kool, Marcel; Görlich, Dennis

2013-01-01

Rhabdoid tumors are highly aggressive malignancies affecting infants and very young children. In many instances these tumors are resistant to conventional type chemotherapy necessitating alternative approaches. Proliferation assays (MTT), apoptosis (propidium iodide/annexin V) and cell cycle analysis (DAPI), RNA expression microarrays and western blots were used to identify synergism of the HDAC (histone deacetylase) inhibitor SAHA with fenretinide, tamoxifen and doxorubicin in rhabdoidtumor cell lines. HDAC1 and HDAC2 are overexpressed in primary rhabdoid tumors and rhabdoid tumor cell lines. Targeting HDACs in rhabdoid tumors induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. On the other hand HDAC inhibition induces deregulated gene programs (MYCC-, RB program and the stem cell program) in rhabdoid tumors. These programs are in general associated with cell cycle progression. Targeting these activated pro-proliferative genes by combined approaches of HDAC-inhibitors plus fenretinide, which inhibits cyclinD1, exhibit strong synergistic effects on induction of apoptosis. Furthermore, HDAC inhibition sensitizes rhabdoid tumor cell lines to cell death induced by chemotherapy. Our data demonstrate that HDAC inhibitor treatment in combination with fenretinide or conventional chemotherapy is a promising tool for the treatment of chemoresistant rhabdoid tumors

Bactericide, Immunomodulating, and Wound Healing Properties of Transgenic Kalanchoe pinnata Synergize with Antimicrobial Peptide Cecropin P1 In Vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Lebedeva, A A; Zakharchenko, N S; Trubnikova, E V; Medvedeva, O A; Kuznetsova, T V; Masgutova, G A; Zylkova, M V; Buryanov, Y I; Belous, A S

2017-01-01

Procedure of manufacturing K. pinnata water extracts containing cecropin P1 (CecP1) from the formerly described transgenic plants is established. It included incubation of leaves at +4°C for 7 days, mechanical homogenization of leaves using water as extraction solvent, and heating at +70°C for inactivating plant enzymes. Yield of CecP1 (after heating and sterilizing filtration) was 0.3% of total protein in the extract. The water extract of K. pinnata + CecP1 exhibits favorable effect on healing of wounds infected with S. aureus (equal to Cefazolin) and with a combination of S. aureus with P. aeruginosa (better than Cefazolin). Wild-type K. pinnata extract exhibited evident microbicide activity against S. aureus with P. aeruginosa but it was substantially strengthened in K. pinnata + CecP1 extract. K. pinnata extracts (both wild-type and transgenic) did not exhibit general toxicity and accelerated wound recovery. Due to immunomodulating activity, wild-type K. pinnata extract accelerated granulation of the wound bed and marginal epithelialization even better than K. pinnata + CecP1 extract. Immunomodulating and microbicide activity of K. pinnata synergizes with microbicide activity of CecP1 accelerating elimination of bacteria.

Pharmacological synergism of bee venom and melittin with antibiotics and plant secondary metabolites against multi-drug resistant microbial pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Ani, Issam; Zimmermann, Stefan; Reichling, Jürgen; Wink, Michael

2015-02-15

The goal of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of bee venom and its main component, melittin, alone or in two-drug and three-drug combinations with antibiotics (vancomycin, oxacillin, and amikacin) or antimicrobial plant secondary metabolites (carvacrol, benzyl isothiocyanate, the alkaloids sanguinarine and berberine) against drug-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant microbial pathogens. The secondary metabolites were selected corresponding to the molecular targets to which they are directed, being different from those of melittin and the antibiotics. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) were evaluated by the standard broth microdilution method, while synergistic or additive interactions were assessed by checkerboard dilution and time-kill curve assays. Bee venom and melittin exhibited a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against 51 strains of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with strong anti-MRSA and anti-VRE activity (MIC values between 6 and 800 µg/ml). Moreover, bee venom and melittin showed significant antifungal activity (MIC values between 30 and 100 µg/ml). Carvacrol displayed bactericidal activity, while BITC exhibited bacteriostatic activity against all MRSA and VRE strains tested (reference strains and clinical isolates), both compounds showed a remarkable fungicidal activity with minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values between 30 and 200 µg/ml. The DNA intercalating alkaloid sanguinarine showed bactericidal activity against MRSA NCTC 10442 (MBC 20 µg/ml), while berberine exhibited bacteriostatic activity against MRSA NCTC 10442 (MIC 40 µg/ml). Checkerboard dilution tests mostly revealed synergism of two-drug combinations against all the tested microorganisms with FIC indexes between 0.24 and 0.50, except for rapidly growing mycobacteria in which combinations exerted an additive effect (FICI = 0.75-1). In time-kill assays all three

Synergism of carbon fiber and polyimide in polytetrafluoroethylene-based composites: Friction and wear behavior under sea water lubrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Beibei; Wang, Jianzhang; Yan, Fengyuan

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► The effect of PI and CF on the microstructure of PTFE was investigated. ► PI and CF had synergism on the improvement of tribological property of PTFE. ► PTFE-4 (with 5% PI and 15% CF) showed promising application in ocean environment. -- Abstract: Polytetrafluoroethylene-based (PTFE-based) composites reinforced simultaneously with carbon fiber (CF) and polyimide (PI) of different volume fractions were prepared. The microstructure and phase composition of as-prepared PTFE-based composites were analyzed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Besides, their friction and wear behavior under sea water lubrication was evaluated in relation to the synergistic effect between CF and PI using a ring-on-block test rig, and their worn surfaces were also analyzed using SEM. Results showed that the incorporation of PI induced loosening of the microstructure of PTFE but increased the wear resistance. Contrary to the above, the incorporation of CF led to increased compactness of PTFE, and the compactness as well as wear resistance of the PTFE-based composites increased with the increase of CF content. More importantly, the simultaneous incorporation of PI and CF at a proper volume fraction led to drastically reduced wear rate of PTFE under sea water lubrication. This implies that there exists synergistic friction-reducing and wear-resistant effect between PI and CF. As a result, the PTFE-based composite containing 5% PI (volume fraction) and 15% CF had the best wear resistance, showing promising application in ocean environment.

Positive mood effects on delay discounting.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsh, Jacob B; Guindon, Alex; Morisano, Dominique; Peterson, Jordan B

2010-10-01

Delay discounting is the process by which the value of an expected reward decreases as the delay to obtaining that reward increases. Individuals with higher discounting rates tend to prefer smaller immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards. Previous research has indicated that personality can influence an individual's discounting rates, with higher levels of Extraversion predicting a preference for immediate gratification. The current study examined how this relationship would be influenced by situational mood inductions. While main effects were observed for both Extraversion and cognitive ability in the prediction of discounting rates, a significant interaction was also observed between Extraversion and positive affect. Extraverted individuals were more likely to prefer an immediate reward when first put in a positive mood. Extraverts thus appear particularly sensitive to impulsive, incentive-reward-driven behavior by temperament and by situational factors heightening positive affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Secretory phospholipase A2 in dromedary tears: a host defense against staphylococci and other gram-positive bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Ben Bacha, Abir; Abid, Islem

2013-03-01

The best known physiologic function of secreted phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) group IIA (sPLA2-IIA) is defense against bacterial infection through hydrolytic degradation of bacterial membrane phospholipids. In fact, sPLA2-IIA effectively kills Gram-positive bacteria and to a lesser extent Gram-negative bacteria and is considered a major component of the eye's innate immune defense system. The antibacterial properties of sPLA2 have been demonstrated in rabbit and human tears. In this report, we have analyzed the bactericidal activity of dromedary tears and the subsequently purified sPLA2 on several Gram-positive bacteria. Our results showed that the sPLA2 displays a potent bactericidal activity against all the tested bacteria particularly against the Staphylococcus strains when tested in the ionic environment of tears. There is a synergic action of the sPLA2 with lysozyme when added to the bacteria culture prior to sPLA2. Interestingly, lysozyme purified from dromedary tears showed a significant bactericidal activity against Listeria monocytogene and Staphylococcus epidermidis, whereas the one purified from human tears displayed no activity against these two strains. We have also demonstrated that Ca(2+) is crucial for the activity of dromedary tear sPLA2 and to a less extent Mg(2+) ions. Given the presence of sPLA2 in tears and intestinal secretions, this enzyme may play a substantial role in innate mucosal and systemic bactericidal defenses against Gram-positive bacteria.

The Coo Effect in the International Brand Positioning Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Kobuszewski Volles

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Purpose: This study aims to develop a model in order to understand how Chinese companies strategically position their brands, considering the causes of the country of origin (COO effect, when going through the process of internationalization. Design/methodology/approach: The study approach a qualitative case study that incorporates two different Chinese companies with subsidiaries settled in Brazil. It was conducted depth interviews with different components of the studied firms. Findings: In this way, it was developed a model that try to explain the positive and/or negative effect of general attributes from China (labor market, institution framework and education on the brand positioning divers (value preposition, points of leverage, primary target and image reinforcement, which influences on the cost-benefit strategy approach of the brands when positioning internationally. Research limitations/implications: Considering that this research is a qualitative study of two Chinese companies, further qualitative and quantitative studies would be fruitful to the validity of the presented model. Originality/value: In order to contribute to the academic field, it was found that this research present a unique model considering different causes of the COO effect that might affect the international branding positioning.

Selective control of attention supports the positivity effect in aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasse, Laura K; Gamer, Matthias; Büchel, Christian; Brassen, Stefanie

2014-01-01

There is emerging evidence for a positivity effect in healthy aging, which describes an age-specific increased focus on positive compared to negative information. Life-span researchers have attributed this effect to the selective allocation of cognitive resources in the service of prioritized emotional goals. We explored the basic principles of this assumption by assessing selective attention and memory for visual stimuli, differing in emotional content and self-relevance, in young and old participants. To specifically address the impact of cognitive control, voluntary attentional selection during the presentation of multiple-item displays was analyzed and linked to participants' general ability of cognitive control. Results revealed a positivity effect in older adults' selective attention and memory, which was particularly pronounced for self-relevant stimuli. Focusing on positive and ignoring negative information was most evident in older participants with a generally higher ability to exert top-down control during visual search. Our findings highlight the role of controlled selectivity in the occurrence of a positivity effect in aging. Since the effect has been related to well-being in later life, we suggest that the ability to selectively allocate top-down control might represent a resilience factor for emotional health in aging.

Biological effects under combined action of radiation and chemical factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malenchenko, A.F.

1990-01-01

The paper considers the manifoild factors of environmental pollution effect upon living organisms and their possible response manifested in additivity, synergism and anthogonism. Consideration is also given to the possible practical measures for improving ecological situation and decreasing the risk of anthropogenesis negative after-effects

Are health benefits of physical activity in natural environments used in primary care by general practitioners in The Netherlands?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maas, J.; Verheij, R.A.

2007-01-01

There is a growing body of literature showing that physical activity and nature have a positive effect on people's health and well-being. Additionally literature indicates that there may even be a synergic benefit from being physically active whilst simultaneously being directly exposed to nature.

Chewing and Attention: A Positive Effect on Sustained Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Onozuka, Minoru

2015-01-01

Chewing is crushing food not only to aid swallowing and digestion, but also to help stress relief and regulate cognitive function, especially in attention. It is well known that chewing gum is used for sleepiness prevention during work, learning, and driving, suggesting a link between chewing and sustained attention. We hypothesized that chewing elevates attention and/or alertness, leading to improvements in cognitive performance. We carried out a systematic review of the PubMed database. We inspected the attributes of effects on attention in studies investigating the effects of chewing on attention or alertness conducted with pre-post design in healthy subjects, except elderly. We identified 151 references, 22 of which were included: 14 (64%) showed positive attributes of effects on attention, 1 (5%) showed negative attributes of effects on attention, 5 (23%) showed both positive and negative attributes of effects on attention, and 2 (9%) showed no significant attributes of effects on attention. Thus, positive attributes of effects of chewing on attention, especially on sustained attention, were shown in over half of the reports. These effects also appeared with improvement in mood and stress relief and were influenced by time-on-task effect. Further studies are needed, but chewing could be useful for modifying cognitive function. PMID:26075234

Chewing and Attention: A Positive Effect on Sustained Attention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshiyuki Hirano

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Chewing is crushing food not only to aid swallowing and digestion, but also to help stress relief and regulate cognitive function, especially in attention. It is well known that chewing gum is used for sleepiness prevention during work, learning, and driving, suggesting a link between chewing and sustained attention. We hypothesized that chewing elevates attention and/or alertness, leading to improvements in cognitive performance. We carried out a systematic review of the PubMed database. We inspected the attributes of effects on attention in studies investigating the effects of chewing on attention or alertness conducted with pre-post design in healthy subjects, except elderly. We identified 151 references, 22 of which were included: 14 (64% showed positive attributes of effects on attention, 1 (5% showed negative attributes of effects on attention, 5 (23% showed both positive and negative attributes of effects on attention, and 2 (9% showed no significant attributes of effects on attention. Thus, positive attributes of effects of chewing on attention, especially on sustained attention, were shown in over half of the reports. These effects also appeared with improvement in mood and stress relief and were influenced by time-on-task effect. Further studies are needed, but chewing could be useful for modifying cognitive function.

Chewing and attention: a positive effect on sustained attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirano, Yoshiyuki; Onozuka, Minoru

2015-01-01

Chewing is crushing food not only to aid swallowing and digestion, but also to help stress relief and regulate cognitive function, especially in attention. It is well known that chewing gum is used for sleepiness prevention during work, learning, and driving, suggesting a link between chewing and sustained attention. We hypothesized that chewing elevates attention and/or alertness, leading to improvements in cognitive performance. We carried out a systematic review of the PubMed database. We inspected the attributes of effects on attention in studies investigating the effects of chewing on attention or alertness conducted with pre-post design in healthy subjects, except elderly. We identified 151 references, 22 of which were included: 14 (64%) showed positive attributes of effects on attention, 1 (5%) showed negative attributes of effects on attention, 5 (23%) showed both positive and negative attributes of effects on attention, and 2 (9%) showed no significant attributes of effects on attention. Thus, positive attributes of effects of chewing on attention, especially on sustained attention, were shown in over half of the reports. These effects also appeared with improvement in mood and stress relief and were influenced by time-on-task effect. Further studies are needed, but chewing could be useful for modifying cognitive function.

Serial-position effects on a free-recall task in bilinguals.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Jeewon; Kaushanskaya, Margarita

2016-01-01

In this study, we examined mechanisms that underlie free-recall performance in bilinguals' first language (L1) and second language (L2) through the prism of serial-position effects. On free-recall tasks, a typical pattern of performance follows a U-shaped serial-position curve, where items from the beginning of the list (the primacy effect) and items from the end of the list (the recency effect) are recalled with higher accuracy than items from the middle of the list. The present study contrasted serial-position effects on the free-recall task in Korean-English bilinguals' L1 vs. L2 and examined the relationship between an independent working memory (WM) measure and serial-position effects in bilinguals' two languages. Results revealed stronger pre-recency (primacy and middle) effects in L1 than in L2, but similar recency effects in the two languages. A close association was observed between WM and recall performance in the pre-recency region in the L1 but not in the L2. Together, these findings suggest that linguistic knowledge constrains free-recall performance in bilinguals, but only in the pre-recency region.

Community Work Programme has positive and negative effects on ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-08-03

Aug 3, 2016 ... ... has positive and negative effects on social bonds in South African communities ... to contribute to positive social cohesion and to prevent violence. ... including shared values and identity, feelings of belonging, civic pa.

Selective control of attention supports the positivity effect in aging.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura K Sasse

Full Text Available There is emerging evidence for a positivity effect in healthy aging, which describes an age-specific increased focus on positive compared to negative information. Life-span researchers have attributed this effect to the selective allocation of cognitive resources in the service of prioritized emotional goals. We explored the basic principles of this assumption by assessing selective attention and memory for visual stimuli, differing in emotional content and self-relevance, in young and old participants. To specifically address the impact of cognitive control, voluntary attentional selection during the presentation of multiple-item displays was analyzed and linked to participants' general ability of cognitive control. Results revealed a positivity effect in older adults' selective attention and memory, which was particularly pronounced for self-relevant stimuli. Focusing on positive and ignoring negative information was most evident in older participants with a generally higher ability to exert top-down control during visual search. Our findings highlight the role of controlled selectivity in the occurrence of a positivity effect in aging. Since the effect has been related to well-being in later life, we suggest that the ability to selectively allocate top-down control might represent a resilience factor for emotional health in aging.

Photoelectric effect photon beam position monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1991-01-01

Stability of the electron orbit is of critical importance at the NSLS. Many experimenters utilizing the NSLS photon beams can take full advantage of the small transverse dimensions of the source only if the electron orbit variation is kept below 10 to 20% of the transverse electron bunch size. Clearly the first step in a program to stabilize the orbit is to develop position monitors with the required sensitivity, reliability and dynamic range. Of great importance are monitors detecting the photon beams themselves, and also monitors measuring the position of the electron beam. In this section the authors discuss photon beam position monitors utilizing the photoelectric effects, and in the following section the use of capacitively coupled pick-up electrodes to detect electron beam position will be described. In what follows they shall proceed to consider two generic types of monitor geometries (1) Gap monitors, which are designed with the idea that the fringes of the synchrotron radiation will be measured, and the hot or fundamental beam will pass through the monitor unimpeded. (2) Area monitors, which are comprised of two triangular elements nested together similar to the electrodes of a split ion chamber or the diodes described by Siddons and Kraner or Mitsuhashi et al

Ibrutinib synergizes with poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase inhibitors to induce cell death in AML cells via a BTK-independent mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Rotin, Lianne E; Gronda, Marcela; MacLean, Neil; Hurren, Rose; Wang, XiaoMing; Lin, Feng-Hsu; Wrana, Jeff; Datti, Alessandro; Barber, Dwayne L; Minden, Mark D; Slassi, Malik; Schimmer, Aaron D

2016-01-19

Targeting Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) with the small molecule BTK inhibitor ibrutinib has significantly improved patient outcomes in several B-cell malignancies, with minimal toxicity. Given the reported expression and constitutive activation of BTK in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells, there has been recent interest in investigating the anti-AML activity of ibrutinib. We noted that ibrutinib had limited single-agent toxicity in a panel of AML cell lines and primary AML samples, and therefore sought to identify ibrutinib-sensitizing drugs. Using a high-throughput combination chemical screen, we identified that the poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase (PARG) inhibitor ethacridine lactate synergized with ibrutinib in TEX and OCI-AML2 leukemia cell lines. The combination of ibrutinib and ethacridine induced a synergistic increase in reactive oxygen species that was functionally important to explain the observed cell death. Interestingly, synergistic cytotoxicity of ibrutinib and ethacridine was independent of the inhibitory effect of ibrutinib against BTK, as knockdown of BTK did not sensitize TEX and OCI-AML2 cells to ethacridine treatment. Thus, our findings indicate that ibrutinib may have a BTK-independent role in AML and that PARG inhibitors may have utility as part of a combination therapy for this disease.

Ibrutinib synergizes with MDM-2 inhibitors in promoting cytotoxicity in B chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Voltan, Rebecca; Rimondi, Erika; Melloni, Elisabetta; Rigolin, Gian Matteo; Casciano, Fabio; Arcidiacono, Maria Vittoria; Celeghini, Claudio; Cuneo, Antonio; Zauli, Giorgio; Secchiero, Paola

2016-10-25

The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-leukemic activity of the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor Ibrutinib in combination with the small molecule MDM-2 inhibitor Nutlin-3 in preclinical models. The potential efficacy of the Ibrutinib/Nutlin-3 combination was evaluated in vitro in a panel of B leukemic cell lines (EHEB, JVM-2, JVM-3, MEC-1, MEC-2) and in primary B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patient samples, by assessing cell viability, cell cycle profile, apoptosis and intracellular pathway modulations. Validation of the combination therapy was assessed in a B leukemic xenograft mouse model. Ibrutinib exhibited variable anti-leukemic activity in vitro and the combination with Nutlin-3 synergistically enhanced the induction of apoptosis independently from the p53 status. Indeed, the Ibrutinib/Nutlin-3 combination was effective in promoting cytotoxicity also in primary B-CLL samples carrying 17p13 deletion and/or TP53 mutations, already in therapy with Ibrutinib. Molecular analyses performed on both B-leukemic cell lines as well as on primary B-CLL samples, while confirming the switch-off of the MAPK and PI3K pro-survival pathways by Ibrutinib, indicated that the synergism of action with Nutlin-3 was independent by p53 pathway and was accompanied by the activation of the DNA damage cascade signaling through the phosphorylation of the histone protein H2A.X. This observation was confirmed also in the JVM-2 B leukemic xenograft mouse model. Taken together, our data emphasize that the Ibrutinib/Nutlin-3 combination merits to be further evaluated as a therapeutic option for B-CLL.

The facilitating effect of positive emotions during an emotional Stroop task.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xingyu; Yang, Yisheng; Jiang, Songxiu; Li, Jie

2018-05-08

Prior research has shown that negative emotions, even though task irrelevant, are capable of delaying a participant's response to the color in which a negative emotional word is presented, a phenomenon known as the 'emotional Stroop effect'. However, relatively little is known about whether positive emotions have a similar or an opposite effect. The current study sets out to confirm the facilitating effect of positive emotions on color naming, which is predicted by Barbara Fredrickson's 'broaden and build' theory. Our results indicate that positive emotions did facilitate such processing in both of the study's experiments. We also found a significant difference in early posterior negativity amplitudes between positive and neutral stimuli, which was related to the 'fast effect'. Overall, the study's findings suggest that positive emotions can be detected quickly and automatically, and that this kind of prioritizing facilitates the ongoing cognitive processing.

The Effect of Positive Mood on Flexible Processing of Affective Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Grol, Maud; De Raedt, Rudi

2017-07-17

Recent efforts have been made to understand the cognitive mechanisms underlying psychological resilience. Cognitive flexibility in the context of affective information has been related to individual differences in resilience. However, it is unclear whether flexible affective processing is sensitive to mood fluctuations. Furthermore, it remains to be investigated how effects on flexible affective processing interact with the affective valence of information that is presented. To fill this gap, we tested the effects of positive mood and individual differences in self-reported resilience on affective flexibility, using a task switching paradigm (N = 80). The main findings showed that positive mood was related to lower task switching costs, reflecting increased flexibility, in line with previous findings. In line with this effect of positive mood, we showed that greater resilience levels, specifically levels of acceptance of self and life, also facilitated task set switching in the context of affective information. However, the effects of resilience on affective flexibility seem more complex. Resilience tended to relate to more efficient task switching when negative information was preceded by positive information, possibly because the presentation of positive information, as well as positive mood, can facilitate task set switching. Positive mood also influenced costs associated with switching affective valence of the presented information. This latter effect was indicative of a reduced impact of no longer relevant negative information and more impact of no longer relevant positive information. Future research should confirm these effects of individual differences in resilience on affective flexibility, considering the affective valence of the presented information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Effect of Positive Training on Positive Psychological States (Character Strengths of Female High School Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Farnam

2017-05-01

Full Text Available psychological states of female students in second and third grades of high school. The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test, post-test and follow-up. The sample consisted of forty students selected randomly in two groups (twenty students in each group. To collect data, Positive Psychological State Inventory (Rajaei, Khuy Nzhad and Nesaei was used. The experimental group received ninety minute positive training sessions (for two months and the control group did not receive treatment. The results of analysis  of covariance showed that positive training had positive effects on positive psychological states (trust in God, optimism, self-efficacy, duty, sense of control, targeted, hope, satisfaction with life, meaningful life, pleasant, sociability, self-esteem and self-worth, sense of peace, gratitude, and forgiveness among adolescents  both in the post  and follow-up tests

On synergism in inhibition of liquidphase oxidation of styrene and tetralin by organic phosphites and transition eleement acetylacetonates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pobedimskij, D.G.; Nasobullin, Sh.A.; Kadyrova, V.Kh.; Kirpichnikov, P.A.

1976-01-01

Synergism has been observed during inhibiting initiated oxidation of styrene or tetralin by organic phosphites in the presence of complex compounds of some transition metals. The results are given of non-additive intensification of antioxidative activity of triphenylphosphite (TPP) and tri-(4-methyl-6-tert.-- butyl)-phenyl-phosphite (TMBP) in the process of initiated oxidation of styrene or tetralin with addition of acetylacetonates of cobalt and vanadyl. During styrene oxidation, inhibition of the reaction with chelate complex of vanadyl is weakened considerably when phosphite is added into the reaction system. During tetralin oxidation, postcatalytic (or branched) oxidation is observed only for large concentration of vanadyl complex. Addition of TPP to above complex sharply increases the induction period. When the induction period is completed, oxidation of tetralin follows the mechanism of usual, i.e. initiated, reaction

The effect of positive end-expiratory pressure on pulse pressure ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effect of positive end-expiratory pressure on pulse pressure variation. FJ Smith, M Geyser, I Schreuder, PJ Becker. Abstract. Objectives: To determine the effect of different levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on pulse pressure variation (PPV). Design: An observational study. Setting: Operating theatres of a ...

Reinforced plaster by means of the synergic action between concrete additives (superfluidifiers, fluidiflers and airing-plasticizers and E glass fibres

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

del Río Merino, M.

2000-12-01

Full Text Available Through the analysis of the different compounds (plaster + additives + E glass fibres we pretend to demostrate that a synergic action is present between certain concrete additives (superfluidifiers, fluidiflers, and airingplasticizers and E glass fibre, on the basis of the flection resistance of plaster matrix based compound materials.

Mediante el análisis de diferentes compuestos (escayola + aditivos + fibras de vidrio E se pretende demostrar que existe una acción sinérgica entre ciertos aditivos del hormigón (superfluidificantes, fluidificantes y aireantes-plastificantes y los refuerzos a base de fibras de vidrio E, sobre la resistencia a flexión de los materiales compuestos de matriz principal escayola.

Synergic motives and economic success of mergers of Czech companies

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Jaroslav Sedláček

2013-01-01

Full Text Available One of the motives for mergers and acquisitions is the synergy effect, which can take several forms. This paper tries to find out whether mergers implemented at the Czech market bring positive or negative synergies. The basis of our investigation is the database of the companies that implemented a merger within 2001–2009; out of these, the companies that published their financial statements in a digitalized form were selected. We monitored the development of six indicators characterizing the economic status of a company. The values of these indicators were compared for all participating companies before the merger and for the successor company three years after the merger. The hypotheses were formulated so that they expressed an expectation of a positive synergy brought about by mergers. However, hypothesis testing has not provided a clear result. A positive effect of a merger on the key indicator of net assets, whose growth means an increase in the accounting value of the company after the merger, has been proved for small and medium-sized companies only. The effect of mergers on the increase in indicators has been confirmed for retained earnings from past years and personal costs. Further research will concentrate on the relations between the indicators with the aim to create an integral indicator for the economic success of mergers.

Bactericide, Immunomodulating, and Wound Healing Properties of Transgenic Kalanchoe pinnata Synergize with Antimicrobial Peptide Cecropin P1 In Vivo

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A. A. Lebedeva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Procedure of manufacturing K. pinnata water extracts containing cecropin P1 (CecP1 from the formerly described transgenic plants is established. It included incubation of leaves at +4°C for 7 days, mechanical homogenization of leaves using water as extraction solvent, and heating at +70°C for inactivating plant enzymes. Yield of CecP1 (after heating and sterilizing filtration was 0.3% of total protein in the extract. The water extract of K. pinnata + CecP1 exhibits favorable effect on healing of wounds infected with S. aureus (equal to Cefazolin and with a combination of S. aureus with P. aeruginosa (better than Cefazolin. Wild-type K. pinnata extract exhibited evident microbicide activity against S. aureus with P. aeruginosa but it was substantially strengthened in K. pinnata + CecP1 extract. K. pinnata extracts (both wild-type and transgenic did not exhibit general toxicity and accelerated wound recovery. Due to immunomodulating activity, wild-type K. pinnata extract accelerated granulation of the wound bed and marginal epithelialization even better than K. pinnata + CecP1 extract. Immunomodulating and microbicide activity of K. pinnata synergizes with microbicide activity of CecP1 accelerating elimination of bacteria.

C/EBPβ LIP and c-Jun synergize to regulate expression of the murine progesterone receptor.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weizhong; Do, Han Ngoc; Aupperlee, Mark D; Durairaj, Srinivasan; Flynn, Emily E; Miksicek, Richard J; Haslam, Sandra Z; Schwartz, Richard C

2018-06-02

CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β (C/EBPβ) is required for murine mammary ductal morphogenesis and alveologenesis. Progesterone is critical for proliferation and alveologenesis in adult mammary glands, and there is a similar requirement for progesterone receptor isoform B (PRB) in alveologenesis. We examined C/EBPβ regulation of PR expression. All three C/EBPβ isoforms, including typically inhibitory LIP, transactivated the PR promoter. LIP, particularly, strongly synergized with c-Jun to drive PR transcription. Endogenous C/EBPβ and c-Jun stimulated a PR promoter-reporter and these two factors showed promoter occupancy on the endogenous PR gene. Additionally, LIP overexpression elevated endogenous PR protein expression. In pregnancy, both PRB and the relative abundance of LIP among C/EBPβ isoforms increase. Consistent with a role in PRB expression, in vivo C/EBPβ and PR isoform A expression showed mutually exclusive localization in mammary epithelium, while C/EBPβ and PRB largely co-localized. We suggest a critical role for C/EBPβ, particularly LIP, in PRB expression. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of stacking faults on the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of hcp Co: a first-principles study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aas, C J; Szunyogh, L; Evans, R F L; Chantrell, R W

2013-07-24

In terms of the fully relativistic screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method we investigate the effect of stacking faults on the magnetic properties of hexagonal close-packed (hcp) cobalt. In particular, we consider the formation energy and the effect on the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) of four different stacking faults in hcp cobalt-an intrinsic growth fault, an intrinsic deformation fault, an extrinsic fault and a twin-like fault. We find that the intrinsic growth fault has the lowest formation energy, in good agreement with previous first-principles calculations. With the exception of the intrinsic deformation fault which has a positive impact on the MAE, we find that the presence of a stacking fault generally reduces the MAE of bulk Co. Finally, we consider a pair of intrinsic growth faults and find that their effect on the MAE is not additive, but synergic.

Synergistic effect of pyrazoles derivatives and doxorubicin in claudin-low breast cancer subtype.

Science.gov (United States)

Saueressig, Silvia; Tessmann, Josiane; Mastelari, Rosiane; da Silva, Liziane Pereira; Buss, Julieti; Segatto, Natalia Vieira; Begnini, Karine Rech; Pacheco, Bruna; de Pereira, Cláudio Martin Pereira; Collares, Tiago; Seixas, Fabiana Kömmling

2018-02-01

Breast cancer is a global public health problem. For some subtypes, such as Claudin-low, the prognosis is poorer and the treatment is still a challenge. Pyrazoles are an important class of heterocyclic compounds and are promising anticancer agents based on their chemical properties. The present study was aimed not only at testing pyrazoles previously prepared by our research group in two breast cancer cell lines characterized by intermediated response to conventional chemotherapy but also at analyzing the possible synergistic effect of these pyrazoles associated with doxorubicin. Four 1-thiocarbamoyl-3,5-diaryl-4,5-dihydro-1H pyrazoles were tested for the first time in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 culture cells. The pyrazoles with best results in cytotoxicity were used in combination with doxorubicin and compared with this drug alone as standard. The synergic effect was analyzed using Combination Index method. In addition, cell death and apoptosis assays were carried out. Two pyrazoles with cytotoxic effect in MCF-7 and especially in MDA-MB-231 were identified. This activity was markedly higher in pyrazoles containing bromine and chlorine substituents. The combination of these pyrazoles with doxorubicin had a significant synergic effect in both cells tested and mainly in MDA-MB-231. These data were confirmed with apoptosis and cell death analysis. The synergic effect observed with combination of these pyrazoles and doxorubicin deserves special attention in Claudin-low breast cancer subtype. This should be explored in order to improve treatment results and minimize side effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Intracellular co-delivery of Sr ion and phenamil drug through mesoporous bioglass nanocarriers synergizes BMP signaling and tissue mineralization.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jung-Hwan; Mandakhbayar, Nandin; El-Fiqi, Ahmed; Kim, Hae-Won

2017-09-15

Inducing differentiation and maturation of resident multipotent stem cells (MSCs) is an important strategy to regenerate hard tissues in mal-calcification conditions. Here we explore a co-delivery approach of therapeutic molecules comprised of ion and drug through a mesoporous bioglass nanoparticle (MBN) for this purpose. Recently, MBN has offered unique potential as a nanocarrier for hard tissues, in terms of high mesoporosity, bone bioactivity (and possibly degradability), tunable delivery of biomolecules, and ionic modification. Herein Sr ion is structurally doped to MBN while drug Phenamil is externally loaded as a small molecule activator of BMP signaling, for the stimulation of osteo/odontogenesis and mineralization of human MSCs derived from dental pulp. The Sr-doped MBN (85Si:10Ca:5Sr) sol-gel processed presents a high mesoporosity with a pore size of ∼6nm. In particular, Sr ion is released slowly at a daily rate of ∼3ppm per mg nanoparticles for up to 7days, a level therapeutically effective for cellular stimulation. The Sr-MBN is internalized to most MSCs via an ATP dependent macropinocytosis within hours, increasing the intracellular levels of Sr, Ca and Si ions. Phenamil is loaded maximally ∼30% into Sr-MBN and then released slowly for up to 7days. The co-delivered molecules (Sr ion and Phenamil drug) have profound effects on the differentiation and maturation of cells, i.e., significantly enhancing expression of osteo/odontogenic genes, alkaline phosphatase activity, and mineralization of cells. Of note, the stimulation is a result of a synergism of Sr and Phenamil, through a Trb3-dependent BMP signaling pathway. This biological synergism is further evidenced in vivo in a mal-calcification condition involving an extracted tooth implantation in dorsal subcutaneous tissues of rats. Six weeks post operation evidences the osseous-dentinal hard tissue formation, which is significantly stimulated by the Sr/Phenamil delivery, based on histomorphometric

Pressure-dependent electron attachment and breakdown strengths of unitary gases, and synergism of binary gas mixtures: a relationship

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunter, S.R.; Christophorou, L.G.

1984-04-01

The relationship between the pressure-dependent electron attachment rate constants (k/sub a/) which have been observed in 1-C 3 F 6 and in several perfluoroalkanes, and the uniform field breakdown strengths (E/N)/sub lim/ in these gases is discussed. Measurements of the pressure dependence of k/sub a/ of OCS in a buffer gas of Ar are presented and the possible pressure dependence of (E/N)/sub lim/ in OCS is discussed. Uniform field breakdown measurements have been performed in C 3 F 8 , n-C 4 F 10 , and SO 2 over a range of gas pressures (3 less than or equal to P/sub T/ less than or equal to 290 kPa) and are reported. All three molecules have been found to possess pressure-dependent (E/N)/sub lim/ values. The various types of synergistic behavior which have been observed in binary gas dielectric mixtures are summarized and discussed. A new mechanism is outlined which can explain the synergism observed in several gas mixtures where the (E/N)/sub lim/ values of the mixutres are greater than those of the individual gas constituents. Model calculations are presented which support this mechanism, and can be used to explain the pressure-dependent synergistic effects which have been reported in 1-C 3 F 6 /SF 6 gas mixture

Malingering, coaching, and the serial position effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Suhr, Julie A

2002-01-01

The normal pattern of performance on list-learning tasks is to recall more words from the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of the list. This pattern is also seen in patients with closed head injury, but malingerers tend to recall less words from the beginning of word lists, leading to a suppressed primacy effect. The present study examined this pattern on both learning trials and delayed recall of the Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) in 34 persons performing with normal effort, 38 naive malingerers, 33 warned malingerers, and 29 head-injured patients. Both malingering groups had lower scores on the primacy portion of the list during learning trials, while normals and head-injured patients had normal serial position curves. During delayed recall, normals and head-injured patients did better than the two malingering groups on middle and recency portions of the list. Findings suggest that the serial position effect during learning trials may be a useful pattern of performance to watch for when suspicious of malingering.

A study of the effect of certain formulation variables on the mucoadhesive properties of per oral sucralfate suspensions

Science.gov (United States)

Dobrozsi, Douglas Joseph

1999-10-01

The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of formulation variables on the ability of a suspension of the material sucralfate to be triggered to gel by components of the gastrointestinal fluid and in so doing, act as an in situ gelling mucoadhesive liquid. The particle size and type of sucralfate raw material, suspension pH, ionic strength, and presence of the humectant suspension aid glycerin were studied. Sucralfate materials were prepared in sizes ranging from under 50 nanometers up to 60 microns. Included were conventional powders, and a gel form prepared by controlled precipitation from acid solution. Sucralfate zero point of charge was determined by titration to be pH 4.8--4.9 for powder, and 5--5.3 for gel. The gel was found to exist as aggregates of a relatively uniform, spherical, nanoparticulate colloidal sol with particle size in the range of 50 to 400 nanometers. The aggregates could be disrupted by high pressure homogenization so that individual colloidal particles could be detected in water dispersion. Rheologic and mucoadhesion evaluations of suspensions were conducted. Models were established for in vitro mucoadhesion by rheologic synergism with mucin, and for mucosal coating and retention on rat esophagus ex vivo. Experiments with marketed sucralfate suspensions indicated that rheologic synergism with gastric mucin correlated with ex vivo mucoretention and agreed directionally with published human mucoretention. Aqueous suspension viscosity was found to be increased by KCl, by increasing sucralfate concentration, and for the gel by adjusting pH near the zero point of charge. Viscosity also increased with decreasing sucralfate particle size but rheologic synergism did not correlate with particle size. Glycerin increased rheologic synergism with mucin. Suspension viscosity and rheologic synergism were much greater under all conditions for sucralfate gel suspensions than for sucralfate powder suspensions. Disruption of gel

Positional Accuracy Assessment for Effective Shoreline Change ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Michael

2016-06-01

Jun 1, 2016 ... as backdrop in GIS environment. Positional error of ... integrated dataset obviously bore the cumulative effect of the input datasets. ... change. The shoreline, which is the interface between land ... modelling, which enables future shoreline change trend to ..... as gaps due to cloud cover and limitation of the.

Synergism between dexketoprofen and meloxicam in an orofacial formalin test was not modified by opioid antagonists.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Claudia; Zegpi, Carlos; Noriega, Viviana; Prieto, Juan C; Miranda, Hugo F

2011-01-01

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most widely used drugs for the management of acute and chronic pain. The role of the opioid system in the synergism between NSAIDs is not well characterized. Mice were injected with a 5% formalin solution (20 μl) into the upper right lip to perform an orofacial formalin test. The isobolographic method was used to determine the interaction between dexketoprofen, which is the (S)-(+) enantiomer of ketoprofen, and meloxicam co-administration. Additionally, the non-selective, opioid antagonist naltrexone, the selective δ opioid receptor (DOP) antagonist naltrindole and the selective κ opioid receptor (KOP) antagonist norbinaltorphimine were used to assess the opioid effects on this interaction. Intraperitoneal administration of dexketoprofen or meloxicam induced dose-dependent antinociception with different phase I and phase II potencies in the orofacial formalin test. Meloxicam displayed similar potencies (ED(50)) in phase I (7.20 mg/kg) and phase II (8.60 mg/kg). Dexketoprofen was more potent in phase I (19.96 mg/kg) than in phase II (50.90 mg/kg). The interactions between dexketoprofen and meloxicam were synergistic in both phases. This was determined based on the fixed ratios (1:1) of their ED(50) values, which were determined by isobolographic analysis. Furthermore, this antinociceptive activity does not seem to be modulated by opioid receptor blockers because they did not induce changes in the nature of this interaction. This finding may be relevant with regards to NSAID multi-modal analgesia where an opioid antagonist must be used.

Ethanol induction of laccase depends on nitrogen conditions of Pycnoporus sanguineus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian A. Hernández

2015-07-01

Conclusions: We suggest that laccase in P. sanguineus is regulated by a catabolic nitrogen repression mechanism; laccase activity is strongly inhibited by urea used as nitrogen source and it decreases when the amount of urea increases; contrarily, a synergic positive effect was observed between yeast extract and ethanol on laccase production.

Differential protection of Cry1Fa toxin against Spodoptera frugiperda larval gut proteases by cadherin orthologs correlates with increased synergism.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Khalidur; Abdullah, Mohd Amir F; Ambati, Suresh; Taylor, Milton D; Adang, Michael J

2012-01-01

The Cry proteins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are the most widely used biopesticides effective against a range of crop pests and disease vectors. Like chemical pesticides, development of resistance is the primary threat to the long-term efficacy of Bt toxins. Recently discovered cadherin-based Bt Cry synergists showed the potential to augment resistance management by improving efficacy of Cry toxins. However, the mode of action of Bt Cry synergists is thus far unclear. Here we elucidate the mechanism of cadherin-based Cry toxin synergism utilizing two cadherin peptides, Spodoptera frugiperda Cad (SfCad) and Manduca sexta Cad (MsCad), which differentially enhance Cry1Fa toxicity to Spodoptera frugiperda neonates. We show that differential SfCad- and MsCad-mediated protection of Cry1Fa toxin in the Spodoptera frugiperda midgut correlates with differential Cry1Fa toxicity enhancement. Both peptides exhibited high affinity for Cry1Fa toxin and an increased rate of Cry1Fa-induced pore formation in S. frugiperda. However, only SfCad bound the S. frugiperda brush border membrane vesicle and more effectively prolonged the stability of Cry1Fa toxin in the gut, explaining higher Cry1Fa enhancement by this peptide. This study shows that cadherin fragments may enhance B. thuringiensis toxicity by at least two different mechanisms or a combination thereof: (i) protection of Cry toxin from protease degradation in the insect midgut and (ii) enhancement of pore-forming ability of Cry toxin.

The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Xianglong; Chiu, Cleo P K; Wang, Rong; Oei, Tian P S; Leung, Freedom Y K

2015-01-01

While it has been suggested that loving-kindness meditation (LKM) is an effective practice for promoting positive emotions, the empirical evidence in the literature remains unclear. Here, we provide a systematic review of 24 empirical studies (N = 1759) on LKM with self-reported positive emotions. The effect of LKM on positive emotions was estimated with meta-analysis, and the influence of variations across LKM interventions was further explored with subgroup analysis and meta-regression. The meta-analysis showed that (1) medium effect sizes for LKM interventions on daily positive emotions in both wait-list controlled RCTs and non-RCT studies; and (2) small to large effect sizes for the on-going practice of LKM on immediate positive emotions across different comparisons. Further analysis showed that (1) interventions focused on loving-kindness had medium effect size, but interventions focused on compassion showed small effect sizes; (2) the length of interventions and the time spent on meditation did not influence the effect sizes, but the studies without didactic components in interventions had small effect sizes. A few individual studies reported that the nature of positive emotions and individual differences also influenced the results. In sum, LKM practice and interventions are effective in enhancing positive emotions, but more studies are needed to identify the active components of the interventions, to compare different psychological operations, and to explore the applicability in clinical populations.

A Newly Isolated Penicillium oxalicum 16 Cellulase with High Efficient Synergism and High Tolerance of Monosaccharide.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xi-Hua; Wang, Wei; Tong, Bin; Zhang, Su-Ping; Wei, Dong-Zhi

2016-01-01

Compared to Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 cellulase (Trcel), Penicillium oxalicum 16 cellulase (P16cel) from the fermentation supernatant produced a 2-fold higher glucose yield when degrading microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), possessed a 10-fold higher β-glucosidase (BGL) activity, but obtained somewhat lower other cellulase component activities. The optimal temperature and pH of β-1,4-endoglucanase, cellobiohydrolase, and filter paperase from P16cel were 50-60 °C and 4-5, respectively, but those of BGL reached 70 °C and 5. The cellulase cocktail of P16cel and Trcel had a high synergism when solubilizing MCC and generated 1.7-fold and 6.2-fold higher glucose yields than P16cel and Trcel at the same filter paperase loading, respectively. Additional low concentration of fructose enhanced the glucose yield during enzymatic hydrolysis of MCC; however, additional high concentration of monosaccharide (especially glucose) reduced cellulase activities and gave a stronger monosaccharide inhibition on Trcel. These results indicate that P16cel is a more excellent cellulase than Trcel.

Dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor BEZ235 exerts extensive antitumor activity in HER2-positive gastric cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhu, Yan; Tian, Tiantian; Zou, Jianling; Wang, Qiwei; Li, Zhongwu; Li, Yanyan; Liu, Xijuan; Dong, Bin; Li, Na; Gao, Jing; Shen, Lin

2015-01-01

To investigate the in vitro and in vivo antitumor activity of dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor BEZ235 (NVP-BEZ235) in HER2-positive gastric cancer. HER2-positive breast cancer cell line (BT474), HER2-positive (NCI-N87 and SNU216), and HER2-negative (MKN45) gastric cancer cell lines were used in this study. Cell viability, cell cycle, and HER2 downstream signaling pathways were analyzed using the MTS assay, flow cytometry, and western blotting, respectively. For the in vivo experiments, HER2-positive gastric cancer patient-derived xenografts were treated with BEZ235 to assess its antitumor activity. The sensitivity of trastuzumab in BT474 cells was higher than that for NCI-N87 and SNU216 cells, which may be partially attributed to continuously active HER2 downstream signaling pathway. BEZ235 inhibited the proliferation of NCI-N87 and SNU216 cells in vitro in a dose-dependent manner by inducing the cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. BEZ235 demonstrated greater inhibitory effects than trastuzumab, a unique targeted drug, in both the in vitro and in vivo set of experiments. Additionally, our results indicate that BEZ235 displayed some synergism with trastuzumab. BEZ235 exhibited its antitumor activity in gastric cancer by inhibiting important HER2 downstream signaling pathways, as indicated by the inhibition of phosphorylated AKT and S6. The present study has demonstrated, for the first time, the antitumor activity of BEZ235 against HER2-positive gastric cancer in patient-derived xenografts, as well its synergistic interaction with trastuzumab. These important findings can be utilized to facilitate the design of future clinical trials. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1900-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Synergism studies on some radionuclides of nuclear and environmental importance using phosphonate compounds mixed with oxygen and phosphorous containing neutral compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

EL-Zahhar, A.Abd El Wahed M.

1998-01-01

As solvent extraction is a technique which has been highly developed within various national energy programs because of its suitability as selective separation process for fission products, actinides and other radioactive substances. It is very important to look for to be used as extractants and to study the optimum condition under which these compounds can be used as such. This work aims at studying the use of the carbamoyl phosphonate as an extractant in the extraction of certain elements. Also studying the effect of mixed extraction (possibility of enhancing extraction or synergism) as will as temperature effect on the extraction process and calculating the thermodynamic parameters of the proposed extraction reactions. To compare the extraction behavior of the phosphonate compound with other chelating agents as HTTA and HDEHP , studying the extraction of the same elements with these cheating agents under the same conditions is also one of the objectives of this work. This work also aims at studying the extraction of certain elements in comparable oxidation states. The selected elements; uranium which represents the main pert in the nuclear fuel, cobalt which is produced in the nuclear fission products, europium which is also produced as a fission product and is analog of the trivalent actinides series and chromium which is a corrosion product in the nuclear fuel cycle and is an analogue of transition elements. The work also aims at studying the extraction of the selected elements from different aqueous media of low acidic nature to classify the effect of the aqueous phase on the extraction systems handled

The effect of loving-kindness meditation on positive emotions: a meta-analytic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianglong eZENG

2015-11-01

Full Text Available While it has been suggested that loving-kindness meditation (LKM is an effective practice for promoting positive emotions, the empirical evidence in the literature remains unclear. Here, we provide a systematic review of 24 empirical studies (N = 1759 on LKM with self-reported positive emotions. The effect of LKM on positive emotions was estimated with meta-analysis, and the influence of variations across LKM interventions was further explored with subgroup analysis and meta-regression. The meta-analysis showed that (1 medium effect sizes for LKM interventions on daily positive emotions in both wait-list controlled RCTs and non-RCT studies; and (2 small to large effect sizes for the on-going practice of LKM on immediate positive emotions across different comparisons. Further analysis showed that (1 interventions focused on loving-kindness had medium effect size, but interventions focused on compassion showed small effect sizes; (2 the length of interventions and the time spent on meditation did not influence the effect sizes, but the studies without didactic components in interventions had small effect sizes. A few individual studies reported that the nature of positive emotions and individual differences also influenced the results. In sum, LKM practice and interventions are effective in enhancing positive emotions, but more studies are needed to identify the active components of the interventions, to compare different psychological operations, and to explore the applicability in clinical populations.

Going positive: The effects of negative and positive advertising on candidate success and voter turnout

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liam C Malloy

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Given the depth of research on negative advertising in campaigns, scholars have wondered why candidates continue to attack their opponents. We build on this research by considering real-world campaign contexts in which candidates are working in competition with each other and have to react to the decisions of the opposing campaign. Our results suggest that it is never efficacious for candidates to run attack ads, but running positive ads can increase a candidate’s margin of victory. These results are conditioned by two factors: candidates must both stay positive and out-advertise their opponent. Second, the effects of positive advertising are strongest in areas where the candidate is losing or winning by a large margin—areas where they might be tempted to not advertise at all.

Positivity Effect Specific to Older Adults with Subclinical Memory Impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Leal, Stephanie L.; Noche, Jessica A.; Murray, Elizabeth A.; Yassa, Michael A.

2016-01-01

Numerous studies have suggested that older adults preferentially remember positive information ("positivity effect"), however others have reported mixed results. One potential source of conflict is that aging is not a unitary phenomenon and individual differences exist. We modified a standard neuropsychological test to vary emotional…

Staurosporine, but not Ro 31-8220, induces interleukin 2 production and synergizes with interleukin 1alpha in EL4 thymoma cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahon, T M; Matthews, J S; O'Neill, L A

1997-07-01

Protein kinase C (PKC) has been implicated in interleukin 1 (IL1) signal transduction in a number of cellular systems, either as a key event in IL1 action or as a negative regulator. Here we have examined the effects of two PKC inhibitors, staurosporine and the more selective agent Ro 31-8220, on IL1 responses in the murine thymoma line EL4.NOB-1. A 1 h pulse of staurosporine was found to strongly potentiate the induction of IL2 by IL1alpha in these cells. In contrast, neither a pulse nor prolonged incubation with Ro 31-8220 affected the response to IL1alpha. Both agents blocked the response to PMA, however. A 1 h pulse of staurosporine was also found to induce IL2 production on its own, activate the transcription factor nuclear factor kappaB (NFkappaB) and increase the expression of a NFkappaB-linked reporter gene. It synergized with IL1alpha in all of these responses. Ro 31-8220 was again without effect, although both staurosporine and Ro 31-8220 blocked the activation of NFkappaB by PMA. Finally, staurosporine caused the translocation of PKC-alpha and -epsilon, and to a lesser extent PKC-beta, but not PKC-θ or -zeta, from the cytosol to the membrane, although a similar effect was observed with Ro 31-8220. The results suggest that PKC is not involved in IL1alpha signalling in EL4 cells. Furthermore, the potentiating effect of staurosporine on IL1alpha action does not involve PKC inhibition, and is likely to be at the level of NFkappaB activation.

Synergic effect of gamma radiation with thermal treatment for conserving natural apple juice from Gala variety; Efeito sinergistico da radiacao gama com tratamento termico na conservacao de suco natural de maca da variedade Gala

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blumer, L.; Domarco, R.E.; Spoto, M.H.F.; Walder, J.M.M.; Matraia, C. [Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA), Piracicaba, SP (Brazil)

1995-12-31

This paper aims at the feasibility of a new method for conserving natural apple juice using no chemicals. The apple juice was extract from Gala apple variety and was bottled in sterile 100 ml amber vials. The samples were treated by: heat at 60{sup 0} C for 20 minutes; heat at 80{sup 0} C for 20 minutes; radiation; radiation plus heat (60{sup 0}); radiation plus heat 80{sup 0} C. The radiation doses were 0,2,4 and 6 kGy at the dose rate of 1.6 kGy/h. The juice quality control was carried out by chemical analysis (total soluble solids, pH, acidity, ascorbic acid) following the AOAC methodology. The samples were stored under refrigeration conditions 5{+-}3{sup 0} C up to 180 days. It was observed an alteration of the total soluble solids and the pH during the storage period for all treatments. The pH was also affected by the combined treatments (radiation plus heat). The acidity was affected by the interaction of storage period and heat temperature. The ascorbic acid was affected by the synergic effect of heat and radiation and by the interaction radiation and storage period. (author). 8 refs, 6 figs.

Promoting healthy lifestyles and decreasing childhood obesity: increasing physician effectiveness through advocacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Saxe, Jessica Schorr

2011-01-01

Childhood obesity is a well-documented public health crisis. Even many children who are not overweight have inadequate physical activity, poor nutrition, excessive television and other screen time, or some combination thereof. The solution lies in the community. Environmental interventions are among the most effective for improving public health. In addition to addressing lifestyle issues in the office, physicians should advocate for environmental approaches. We can advocate at institutional, local, state, and federal levels through speaking, writing, and collaborating with others. In the United States, the timing is right to synergize with efforts such as the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity and the Surgeon General's emphasis on changing the national conversation "from a negative one about obesity and illness" to a positive one about health and fitness.

Schedule-dependent cytotoxic synergism of pemetrexed and erlotinib in BXPC-3 and PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lin; Zhu, Zhi-Xia; Zhang, Wen-Ying; Zhang, Wei-Min

2011-09-01

, but not by concomitant or sequential incubation with erlotinib followed by pemetrexed. In summary, our results demonstrated that the combined use of erlotinib and pemetrexed exhibited a strong synergism in BXPC-3 and PANC-1 cells. The inhibitory effects were strongest after sequential administration of pemetrexed followed by erlotinib. The synergistic effects may be related to activation of the EGFR/HER3/AKT pathway induced by pemetrexed.

Position displacement effect on the doses in the peripheral head regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kortesniemi, M.; Seppaelae, T.; Bjugg, H.; Seren, T.; Kotiluoto, P.; Auterinen, I.; Parkkinen, R.; Savolainen, S.

2000-01-01

Patient positioning is a challenging task in BNCT-treatments due to the use of multiple fields and a static horizontal beam construction. Positioning accuracy of 5 mm is required for acceptable dose delivery within appropriate limits of dose uncertainty (up to 10% of point dose in target volume). The aim of this study was to determine if a patient head position creating a clear gap between the beam port and the head would have a significant effect on the doses to the peripheral regions of the head, e.g. to the eyes. The gamma dose rates were measured in a water filled ellipsoidal phantom with an ionisation chamber (IC). Mn activation wires were used to determine the Mn-55(n, γ) reaction rates. Twelve measurement points were chosen in the phantom and two phantom positions were applied. According to this study the 35 mm position change and the resulting gap has an obvious effect on the peripheral doses in BNCT. The Mn activation reaction rates were on the average 80% higher in the deviation position than in the reference position. Increasing depth from the surface inside the phantom diminished the gamma dose difference between the two positions. Scattering environment changes with position displacement and resulting gap causes differences in neutron fluences and gamma doses. (author)

A Positive Generation Effect on Memory for Auditory Context.

Science.gov (United States)

Overman, Amy A; Richard, Alison G; Stephens, Joseph D W

2017-06-01

Self-generation of information during memory encoding has large positive effects on subsequent memory for items, but mixed effects on memory for contextual information associated with items. A processing account of generation effects on context memory (Mulligan in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30(4), 838-855, 2004; Mulligan, Lozito, & Rosner in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 32(4), 836-846, 2006) proposes that these effects depend on whether the generation task causes any shift in processing of the type of context features for which memory is being tested. Mulligan and colleagues have used this account to predict various negative effects of generation on context memory, but the account also predicts positive generation effects under certain circumstances. The present experiment provided a critical test of the processing account by examining how generation affected memory for auditory rather than visual context. Based on the processing account, we predicted that generation of rhyme words should enhance processing of auditory information associated with the words (i.e., voice gender), whereas generation of antonym words should have no effect. These predictions were confirmed, providing support to the processing account.

Positive emotional context eliminates the framing effect in decision-making.

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Cassotti, Mathieu; Habib, Marianne; Poirel, Nicolas; Aïte, Ania; Houdé, Olivier; Moutier, Sylvain

2012-10-01

Dual-process theories have suggested that emotion plays a key role in the framing effect in decision-making. However, little is known about the potential impact of a specific positive or negative emotional context on this bias. We investigated this question with adult participants using an emotional priming paradigm. First, participants were presented with positive or negative affective pictures (i.e., pleasant vs. unpleasant photographs). Afterward, participants had to perform a financial decision-making task that was unrelated to the pictures previously presented. The results revealed that the presentation framed in terms of gain or loss no longer affected subjects' decision-making following specific exposure to emotionally pleasant pictures. Interestingly, a positive emotional context did not globally influence risk-taking behavior but specifically decreased the risk propensity in the loss frame. This finding confirmed that a positive emotional context can reduce loss aversion, and it strongly reinforced the dual-process view that the framing effect stems from an affective heuristic belonging to intuitive System 1.

Differential Effects of Positive versus Negative Self-Involving Counselor Responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Remer, Pam; And Others

1983-01-01

Investigated the effects of positive and negative counselor disclosure using typescripts of hypothetical counseling interviews. Results indicated impact of condition was mixed, with each having some desirable effects. (PAS)

The novel Akt inhibitor API-1 induces c-FLIP degradation and synergizes with TRAIL to augment apoptosis independent of Akt inhibition.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bo; Ren, Hui; Yue, Ping; Chen, Mingwei; Khuri, Fadlo R; Sun, Shi-Yong

2012-04-01

API-1 (pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines) is a novel small-molecule inhibitor of Akt, which acts by binding to Akt and preventing its membrane translocation and has promising preclinical antitumor activity. In this study, we reveal a novel function of API-1 in regulation of cellular FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP) levels and TRAIL-induced apoptosis, independent of Akt inhibition. API-1 effectively induced apoptosis in tested cancer cell lines including activation of caspase-8 and caspase-9. It reduced the levels of c-FLIP without increasing the expression of death receptor 4 (DR4) or DR5. Accordingly, it synergized with TRAIL to induce apoptosis. Enforced expression of ectopic c-FLIP did not attenuate API-1-induced apoptosis but inhibited its ability to enhance TRAIL-induced apoptosis. These data indicate that downregulation of c-FLIP mediates enhancement of TRAIL-induced apoptosis by API-1 but is not sufficient for API-1-induced apoptosis. API-1-induced reduction of c-FLIP could be blocked by the proteasome inhibitor MG132. Moreover, API-1 increased c-FLIP ubiquitination and decreased c-FLIP stability. These data together suggest that API-1 downregulates c-FLIP by facilitating its ubiquitination and proteasome-mediated degradation. Because other Akt inhibitors including API-2 and MK2206 had minimal effects on reducing c-FLIP and enhancement of TRAIL-induced apoptosis, it is likely that API-1 reduces c-FLIP and enhances TRAIL-induced apoptosis independent of its Akt-inhibitory activity. 2012 AACR

Mediating Effects of Positive Thinking and Social Support on Suicide Resilience.

Science.gov (United States)

Matel-Anderson, Denise M; Bekhet, Abir K; Garnier-Villarreal, Mauricio

2018-02-01

Suicide has been the second leading cause of death for 18- to 24-year-olds in the United States since 2011. The stress experienced by undergraduate college students has the potential to increase one's risk for suicide. Resilience theory was used as a theoretical framework to examine the interplay between risk and protective factors. A cross-sectional and correlational design was used to assess the mediating effects of positive thinking and/or social support on suicide resilience in 131 college students 18 to 24 years old who completed an online survey. The study found an indirect effect of self-esteem on suicide resilience through positive thinking and social support indicating that as self-esteem increases, positive thinking and social support also increase, which leads to an increase in resilience. The study also found a direct effect of self-esteem, positive thinking, and social support on suicide resilience. The findings inform the development of tailored interventions to build suicide resilience in college students.

Antinociceptive and anti-exudative synergism between dexketoprofen and tramadol in a model of inflammatory pain in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Hugo F; Romero, Maria Asunción; Puig, Margarita M

2012-06-01

Preclinical studies have demonstrated antinociceptive synergism between dexketoprofen (DEX) and tramadol (TRM) in acute animal models of nociception. The aim of the present study was to investigate the type of interaction between DEX and TRM in a chronic musculoskeletal pain model in mice, which fairly replicates the characteristics of chronic osteoarticular pain in humans. Inflammation was induced by a subplantar injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in male CF1 mice. Nociceptive thresholds were evaluated using the hot plate, the nocifensive spontaneous behavior and the acetone tests, while plasma extravasation (PE) was assessed with Evan's blue. We used the following experimental groups: control (no inflammation), acute (1 day after CFA injection), and chronic inflammation (7 days after CFA). Dose-response curves for DEX and TRM, individually and combined in a 1 : 1 proportion based on their potency were obtained, and the doses that produced a 50% inhibition calculated. The isobolographic analysis revealed that in all groups of study (no inflammation, acute, and chronic inflammation), the combination of DEX : TRM was synergistic, for both the inhibition of nociception and the PE. The results suggest that the DEX : TRM (1 : 1) combination could be useful in the management of acute and chronic inflammatory musculoskeletal pains in humans; in addition, the synergistic interaction between the drugs observed both during acute and chronic inflammation suggests that less doses would be required of each drug to obtain effective analgesia. © 2011 The Authors Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology © 2011 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids synergize with lipid droplet binding thalidomide analogs to induce oxidative stress in cancer cells

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Madácsi Ramóna

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cytoplasmic lipid-droplets are common inclusions of eukaryotic cells. Lipid-droplet binding thalidomide analogs (2,6-dialkylphenyl-4/5-amino-substituted-5,6,7-trifluorophthalimides with potent anticancer activities were synthesized. Results Cytotoxicity was detected in different cell lines including melanoma, leukemia, hepatocellular carcinoma, glioblastoma at micromolar concentrations. The synthesized analogs are non-toxic to adult animals up to 1 g/kg but are teratogenic to zebrafish embryos at micromolar concentrations with defects in the developing muscle. Treatment of tumor cells resulted in calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER, induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS, ER stress and cell death. Antioxidants could partially, while an intracellular calcium chelator almost completely diminish ROS production. Exogenous docosahexaenoic acid or eicosapentaenoic acid induced calcium release and ROS generation, and synergized with the analogs in vitro, while oleic acid had no such an effect. Gene expression analysis confirmed the induction of ER stress-mediated apoptosis pathway components, such as GADD153, ATF3, Luman/CREB3 and the ER-associated degradation-related HERPUD1 genes. Tumor suppressors, P53, LATS2 and ING3 were also up-regulated in various cell lines after drug treatment. Amino-phthalimides down-regulated the expression of CCL2, which is implicated in tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. Conclusions Because of the anticancer, anti-angiogenic action and the wide range of applicability of the immunomodulatory drugs, including thalidomide analogs, lipid droplet-binding members of this family could represent a new class of agents by affecting ER-membrane integrity and perturbations of ER homeostasis.

Attentional control mediates the effect of social anxiety on positive affect☆

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Amanda S.; Heimberg, Richard G.

2015-01-01

The goal of the present studies was to examine whether attentional control, a self-regulatory attentional mechanism, mediates the effect of social anxiety on positive affect. We tested this mediation in two studies using undergraduate students selected to represent a broad range of severity of social anxiety. Self-report assessments of social anxiety, attentional control, and positive affect were collected in a cross-sectional design (Study 1) and in a longitudinal design with three assessment points (Study 2). Results of both studies supported the hypothesized mediational model. Specifically, social anxiety was inversely related to attentional control, which itself positively predicted positive affect. This mediation remained significant even when statistically controlling for the effects of depression. Additionally, the hypothesized model provided superior model fit to theoretically-grounded equivalent models in both studies. Implications of these findings for understanding diminished positive affect in social anxiety are discussed. PMID:23254261

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS ANALYSIS IN ABUSE OF DOMINANCE

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Mihai MĂRGINEAN

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Abuse of a dominant position is a threat to the functioning of the free market. This is the reason why we have proposed to highlight the impact of this particular anti-competitive practice in the European Union area. The aim of this paper is to present, from a theoretical and practical approach, the implications and the effects of this type of behavior and also to highlight the main actors in this process. In order to achieve these goals, we will use the content analysis to compress the effects of the abuse of dominant position in two categories: positive and negative effects. The historical method to emphasize the historical origins of the concepts and institutions involved. The comparative method will be used to nominate specific features, concepts or institutions that we will analyze and also it will help us to analyze the evolution that have occurred over time in terms of their development and to highlight certain advantages or disadvantages in terms of choice of competition policy on the abuse of a dominant position. In this paper we will notice that both the companies and the market itself are facing with companies that use anti-competitive since 1900. These kind of practices are harmful both for competition and for consumers, so that should not be allowed to expand. In this context, the European Commission imposed a set of rules that all operators must comply in order to protect, maintain and stimulate competition in the Single Market and to promote fair competition.

Differential effects of arousal in positive and negative autobiographical memories.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Jaclyn Hennessey; Addis, Donna Rose; Giovanello, Kelly S

2012-01-01

Autobiographical memories are characterised by a range of emotions and emotional reactions. Recent research has demonstrated that differences in emotional valence (positive vs. negative emotion) and arousal (the degree of emotional intensity) differentially influence the retrieved memory narrative. Although the mnemonic effects of valence and arousal have both been heavily studied, it is currently unclear whether the effects of emotional arousal are equivalent for positive and negative autobiographical events. In the current study, multilevel models were used to examine differential effects of emotional valence and arousal on the richness of autobiographical memory retrieval both between and within subjects. Thirty-four young adults were asked to retrieve personal autobiographical memories associated with popular musical cues and to rate the valence, arousal and richness of these events. The multilevel analyses identified independent influences of valence and intensity upon retrieval characteristics at the within- and between-subject levels. In addition, the within-subject interactions between valence and arousal highlighted differential effects of arousal for positive and negative memories. These findings have important implications for future studies of emotion and memory, highlighting the importance of considering both valence and arousal when examining the role emotion plays in the richness of memory representation.

The Institution Image and Trust and Their Effect on the Positive Word of Mouth

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Soni Harsono

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In marketing, it is important to see how competitive a university is. Among public universities (PTN and private universities (PTS, it shows a very competitive situation recently. To overcome this problem, it requires shaping up the institution image and trust for increasing the positive word of mouth among students. This study aims to determine the effect of the institution image, trust both partially and simultaneously on the positive word of mouth by the students of private universities in Surabaya with their accreditation levels of A, B and C. The sample consists of students from six colleges with accreditation ratings A, B, and C totaling 125 students. Accidental sampling technique was done using a sampling technique of multiple regression analysis with SPSS version 17. It shows, for the college with accreditation category C, the image of the institution both partially and simulta-neously has significant positive effect on the positive word of mouth. For the college accreditation category B, the image of the institution and trust simultaneously has significant positive effect on the positive word of mouth and, finally, trust in accreditation category A has significant positive effect on the positive word of mouth and the institution image and trust simultaneously have significant positive effect on the positive word of mouth.

Effects of Target Positioning Error on Motion Compensation for Airborne Interferometric SAR

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Li Yin-wei

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The measurement inaccuracies of Inertial Measurement Unit/Global Positioning System (IMU/GPS as well as the positioning error of the target may contribute to the residual uncompensated motion errors in the MOtion COmpensation (MOCO approach based on the measurement of IMU/GPS. Aiming at the effects of target positioning error on MOCO for airborne interferometric SAR, the paper firstly deduces a mathematical model of residual motion error bring out by target positioning error under the condition of squint. And the paper analyzes the effects on the residual motion error caused by system sampling delay error, the Doppler center frequency error and reference DEM error which result in target positioning error based on the model. Then, the paper discusses the effects of the reference DEM error on the interferometric SAR image quality, the interferometric phase and the coherent coefficient. The research provides theoretical bases for the MOCO precision in signal processing of airborne high precision SAR and airborne repeat-pass interferometric SAR.

Effectiveness of the Positioning Statement: Experimental Test on Brand Awareness in Competitive Contexts

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Rafael Barreiros Porto

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Good positioning statements have an effect on consumer brand awareness. However, the competitive context formed by the novelty of the category and the brand market structure may hinder the assimilation of positioning and its association with the pre-existing image. This study assesses the effectiveness of positioning statements in the generation of brand awareness, considering its competitive context. Using an experimental design, with a group of control, the exposure of brands and their competitive contexts were manipulated and the positioning statement remained constant for a sample of consumers. The results show the positioning statement had an effect on both assimilation of the message and valence of image association, which adds awareness for the brand, but only for the traditional category. The effectiveness on the message assimilation occurred within the weak brand and within the less known median brand. For the image valence, it occurred only between the weak brand and the strong one from the traditional category. These findings are distinct among consumer segments. The research brings up a classic theme, but presents a new methodological approach to measure the effectiveness of brand positioning.

The effects of positive emotion priming on self-reported reckless driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Taubman-Ben-Ari, Orit

2012-03-01

Five studies examined the effects of positive emotion priming on the willingness to drive recklessly. In all five, young drivers were exposed to one of the following primes of positive affect: a positive mood story; happy memories; an exciting film; a relaxing film; or thoughts on the meaning in life. Following the prime, the participants were asked to report on their willingness to drive recklessly. The responses were compared to those of groups exposed either to neutral affect, another kind of positive affect, or negative affect priming. In two of the studies, participants were also asked to report on their driving styles (risky, anxious, angry, or careful) as a second dependent variable. Positive affect, especially in the form of arousal, was found to be related to higher willingness to drive recklessly. Although men tended to report higher intentions to drive recklessly, men and women did not react differently to the emotional induction. Most interestingly, positive emotions of a relaxing nature, as well as thinking about the meaning in life, lowered the willingness to engage in risky driving. The discussion emphasizes the importance of looking for new ways to use positive emotions effectively in road safety interventions, and considers the practical implications of the studies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Earth tide effects on kinematic/static GPS positioning in Denmark and Greenland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, G.C.; Knudsen, Per

2000-01-01

A detailed Study of the Earth tide effects on the GPS kinematic/static positioning is presented in this paper by using theoretical Earth tide computation and practical GPS data processing. Tidal effects could reach up to 30 cm in Denmark and Greenland depending on the measuring time...... and the position of reference station. With a baseline less than 80 km, the difference of the Earth tide effects could reach more than 5 mm. So, in precise applications of GPS positioning, the Earth tide effect has to be taken into account even for a relative small local GPS network. Several examples are given...... for demonstrating that the Earth tide effects can be viewed by GPS surveying. They are given through static GPS data static processing, static GPS data kinematic processing, and airborne kinematic GPS data processing. In these cases, the Earth tide effects can be subtracted from the GPS results. The determination...

Does Subjective Left-Right Position Have a Causal Effect on Support for Redistribution?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jæger, Mads Meier

characteristics as instruments for left-right position, can be used to estimate the causal effect of left-right position on support for redistribution. I analyze data on Sweden, Germany, and Norway from the two first waves of the European Social Survey and find first that left-right position is endogenous...... to support for redistribution, and second consistent with theory, that a causal effect of left-right position on support for redistribution exists which is stronger than previously shown....

EFFECT OF BODY POSITIONS ON INTRA OCULAR PRESSURE

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Rajendra

2015-09-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Intra Ocular Pressure (IOP can be altered by changing body position. Very few studies are available in the Indian subjects. AIM: To study the effect of changes in the body position from upright posture to supine to head down tilt of - 60 0 . MATERIALS AND M ETHODS: The study group consisted of 60 subjects, 35 boys and 25 girls in the age group of 18 to 24 years, with no ocular pathology were chosen. Independent measurements of the IOP of each eye were obtained. Keelar Pulsair air impulse tonometer was used in all the subjects for IOP measurement. IOP was measured in the department of Ophthalmology, Teaching Hospital between 10AM to 12 Noon. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS : were done using Student’s paired ‘t’ test. RESULTS: The change of IOP (Increased induced by the change of position between the means of IOP’s for the sitting and supine positions was 2.789±1.03 mm Hg of all subjects, 2.825±0.226 mm Hg in males and 2.739±0.089 mm Hg in females and between the supine and in clined - 60 ⁰ position was 4.971±0.914 mm Hg of all subjects, 4.703±0.816mm Hg in males and 5.346±1.098 mm Hg in females. CONCLUSION: It is apparent that, the IOP is significantly higher in the supine than in the sitting and in the inclined than in the supin e positions. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.001.

Strong synergism between small molecule inhibitors of HER2, PI3K, mTOR and Bcl-2 in human breast cancer cells.

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Hamunyela, Roswita H; Serafin, Antonio M; Akudugu, John M

2017-02-01

Targeting pro-survival cell signaling components has been promising in cancer therapy, but the benefit of targeting with single agents is limited. For malignancies such as triple-negative breast cancer, there is a paucity of targets that are amenable to existing interventions as they are devoid of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), progesterone receptor (PR), and estrogen receptor (ER). Concurrent targeting of cell signaling entities other than HER2, PR and ER with multiple agents may be more effective. Evaluating modes of interaction between agents can inform efficient selection of agents when used in cocktails. Using clonogenic cell survival, interaction between inhibitors of HER2 (TAK-165), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) (NVP-BEZ235), and the pro-survival gene (Bcl-2) (ABT-263) in three human breast cell lines (MDA-MB-231, MCF-7 and MCF-12A) ranged from strong to very strong synergism. The strongest synergy was demonstrated in PR and ER negative cells. Inhibition of PI3K, mTOR and Bcl-2 could potentially be effective in the treatment of triple-negative cancers. The very strong synergy observed even at lowest concentrations of inhibitors indicates that these cocktails might be able to be used at a minimised risk of systemic toxicity. Concurrent use of multiple inhibitors can potentiate conventional interventions like radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Toxic effects of pesticide mixtures at a molecular level: Their relevance to human health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernández, Antonio F.; Parrón, Tesifón; Tsatsakis, Aristidis M.; Requena, Mar; Alarcón, Raquel; López-Guarnido, Olga

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Toxic effects of pesticide mixtures can be independent, dose addition or interaction. ► Metabolic interactions involve inhibition or induction of detoxifying enzymes. ► Organophosphates can potentiate pyrethroid, carbaryl and triazine toxicity. ► Synergism occurs when two active pesticides elicit greater than additive toxicity. ► Endocrine disruptors have the potential for additivity rather than synergism. - Abstract: Pesticides almost always occur in mixtures with other ones. The toxicological effects of low-dose pesticide mixtures on the human health are largely unknown, although there are growing concerns about their safety. The combined toxicological effects of two or more components of a pesticide mixture can take one of three forms: independent, dose addition or interaction. Not all mixtures of pesticides with similar chemical structures produce additive effects; thus, if they act on multiple sites their mixtures may produce different toxic effects. The additive approach also fails when evaluating mixtures that involve a secondary chemical that changes the toxicokinetics of the pesticide as a result of its increased activation or decreased detoxification, which is followed by an enhanced or reduced toxicity, respectively. This review addresses a number of toxicological interactions of pesticide mixtures at a molecular level. Examples of such interactions include the postulated mechanisms for the potentiation of pyrethroid, carbaryl and triazine herbicides toxicity by organophosphates; how the toxicity of some organophosphates can be potentiated by other organophosphates or by previous exposure to organochlorines; the synergism between pyrethroid and carbamate compounds and the antagonism between triazine herbicides and prochloraz. Particular interactions are also addressed, such as those of pesticides acting as endocrine disruptors, the cumulative toxicity of organophosphates and organochlorines resulting in estrogenic effects and the

The 3-year disease management effect: understanding the positive return on investment.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyman, John A; Jeffery, Molly Moore; Abraham, Jean M; Jutkowitz, Eric; Dowd, Bryan E

2013-11-01

Conventional wisdom suggests that health promotion programs yield a positive return on investment (ROI) in year 3. In the case of the University of Minnesota's program, a positive ROI was achieved in the third year, but it was due entirely to the effectiveness of the disease management (DM) program. The objective of this study is to investigate why. Differences-in-differences regression equations were estimated to determine the effect of DM participation on spending (overall and service specific), hospitalizations, and avoidable hospitalizations. Disease management participation reduced expenditures overall, and especially in the third year for employees, and reduced hospitalizations and avoidable hospitalizations. The positive ROI at Minnesota was due to increased effectiveness of DM in the third year (mostly due to fewer hospitalizations) but also to the simple durability of the average DM effect.

Effects of the positioning force of electrostatic levitators on viscosity measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, Takehiko; Paradis, Paul-Francois; Koike, Noriyuki; Watanabe, Yuki

2009-01-01

Electrostatic levitators use strong electric fields to levitate and accurately position a sample against gravity. In this study, the effects of the electric field are investigated with regard to viscosity measurements conducted with the oscillating drop method. The effects of the external field on viscosity measurements are experimentally confirmed by changing the sample size. Moreover, a numerical simulation based on a simple mass-spring-damper system can reproduce the experimental observations. Based on the above results, measurement procedures are improved. These help to minimize the effect of the positioning force and to increase the accuracy of the viscosity measurements.

Development of Novel Models for Describing Multiple Toxicity Effects

Science.gov (United States)

1994-10-12

Cimetidine and Thiopropazate Hydrochloride in the Prevention of Stress Ulcer Formation in Rats The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics , 210...Synergism and Antagonism of GA and Growth Inhibitors on Growth and Sex Expression in Cucumber Journal of the American Society of Horticultural Science...for Synergism and Antagonism The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics , 259, 1 286-294 (1991). compounds studied: APEC, CHA, NECA

Hif-1α and Hif-2α synergize to suppress AML development but are dispensable for disease maintenance.

Science.gov (United States)

Vukovic, Milica; Guitart, Amelie V; Sepulveda, Catarina; Villacreces, Arnaud; O'Duibhir, Eoghan; Panagopoulou, Theano I; Ivens, Alasdair; Menendez-Gonzalez, Juan; Iglesias, Juan Manuel; Allen, Lewis; Glykofrydis, Fokion; Subramani, Chithra; Armesilla-Diaz, Alejandro; Post, Annemarie E M; Schaak, Katrin; Gezer, Deniz; So, Chi Wai Eric; Holyoake, Tessa L; Wood, Andrew; O'Carroll, Dónal; Ratcliffe, Peter J; Kranc, Kamil R

2015-12-14

Leukemogenesis occurs under hypoxic conditions within the bone marrow (BM). Knockdown of key mediators of cellular responses to hypoxia with shRNA, namely hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) or HIF-2α, in human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) samples results in their apoptosis and inability to engraft, implicating HIF-1α or HIF-2α as therapeutic targets. However, genetic deletion of Hif-1α has no effect on mouse AML maintenance and may accelerate disease development. Here, we report the impact of conditional genetic deletion of Hif-2α or both Hif-1α and Hif-2α at different stages of leukemogenesis in mice. Deletion of Hif-2α accelerates development of leukemic stem cells (LSCs) and shortens AML latency initiated by Mll-AF9 and its downstream effectors Meis1 and Hoxa9. Notably, the accelerated initiation of AML caused by Hif-2α deletion is further potentiated by Hif-1α codeletion. However, established LSCs lacking Hif-2α or both Hif-1α and Hif-2α propagate AML with the same latency as wild-type LSCs. Furthermore, pharmacological inhibition of the HIF pathway or HIF-2α knockout using the lentiviral CRISPR-Cas9 system in human established leukemic cells with MLL-AF9 translocation have no impact on their functions. We therefore conclude that although Hif-1α and Hif-2α synergize to suppress the development of AML, they are not required for LSC maintenance. © 2015 Vukovic et al.

Effect of intrauterine position on the radiosensitivity of rat embryos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, W.F.; Aceto, H. Jr.; Karp, C.H.

1977-01-01

Rats were exposed to gamma rays or helium ions on one of days 4 to 9 of gestation. Embryonic survival was recorded as a function of intrauterine position at autopsy on day 20 of gestation. Embryos located at the ovarian and cervical ends of the uterus experienced higher rates of mortality than did their littermates located at the middle of the uterine horn. This effect was observed in litters exposed to both radiation modalities on all days studied. The influence of intrauterine position on embryonic survival was directly proportional to radiation dose and to the number of fetuses occupying the uterus horn. Under the least advantageous conditions (i.e., a crowded uterine horn exposed to a moderately high radiation dose), the cervical embryo's probability of survival was less than half that of the litter as a whole. A disproportionately high rate of embryonic mortality at the cervical position was also observed in litters irradiated under hypoxic conditions, suggesting that the non-random distribution of radiation effect was not the result of variations in oxygen concentration within the uterus. In contrast, there was no indication that intrauterine position influenced the distribution of gross morphologic abnormalities in irradiated litters

Synergism between exposure to mercury and use of iodine supplements on thyroid hormones in pregnant women

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Llop, Sabrina; Lopez-Espinosa, Maria-Jose; Murcia, Mario; Alvarez-Pedrerol, Mar; Vioque, Jesús; Aguinagalde, Xabier; Julvez, Jordi

2015-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the association between mercury exposure and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), total triiodothyronine (TT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels during pregnancy as well as to explore if there is any synergic action between mercury and intake of iodine from different sources. Methods: The study population was 1407 pregnant women participating in the Spanish INMA birth cohort study. Total mercury concentrations were analyzed in cord blood. Thyroid hormones (THs) were measured in serum samples collected at 13.2±1.5 weeks of gestation. The association between mercury and TH levels was evaluated with multivariate linear regression models. Effect modification caused by iodine intake from supplements and diet was also evaluated. Results: The geometric means of TSH, TT3, FT4 and mercury were 1.1 μU/L, 2.4 nmol/L, 10.5 pmol/L and 7.7 μg/L, respectively. Mercury levels were marginally significantly associated with TT3 (β: −0.05; 95%CI: −0.10, 0.01), but were neither associated with TSH nor FT4. The inverse association between mercury and TT3 levels was stronger among the iodine supplement consumers (−0.08; 95%CI: −0.15, −0.02, interaction p-value=0.07). The association with FT4 followed the same pattern, albeit not significant. Conclusion: Prenatal mercury exposure was inversely associated with TT3 levels among women who took iodine supplements during pregnancy. These results could be of public health concern, although further research is needed. - Highlights: • We studied the relationship between mercury and thyroid hormones among pregnant. • Mercury was marginally significantly associated with TT3, but not with TSH or FT4. • This association was stronger among the iodine supplement. • These results could be of public health concern, but further research is needed

Synergism between exposure to mercury and use of iodine supplements on thyroid hormones in pregnant women

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Llop, Sabrina, E-mail: llop_sab@gva.es [FISABIO–Universitat de València–Universitat Jaume I Joint Research Unit of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, Av. Catalunya 21, 46020 Valencia (Spain); Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid (Spain); Lopez-Espinosa, Maria-Jose; Murcia, Mario [FISABIO–Universitat de València–Universitat Jaume I Joint Research Unit of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, Av. Catalunya 21, 46020 Valencia (Spain); Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid (Spain); Alvarez-Pedrerol, Mar [Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid (Spain); Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona (Spain); Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona (Spain); Vioque, Jesús [Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid (Spain); Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Avenida de Alicante KM 87, 03550 Sant Joan d´Alacant (Spain); Aguinagalde, Xabier [Laboratorio de Salud Pública de Alava, Santiago 11, 01002 Vitoria Gasteiz (Spain); Julvez, Jordi [Spanish Consortium for Research on Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid (Spain); Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona (Spain); Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona (Spain); and others

2015-04-15

Objective: To evaluate the association between mercury exposure and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), total triiodothyronine (TT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels during pregnancy as well as to explore if there is any synergic action between mercury and intake of iodine from different sources. Methods: The study population was 1407 pregnant women participating in the Spanish INMA birth cohort study. Total mercury concentrations were analyzed in cord blood. Thyroid hormones (THs) were measured in serum samples collected at 13.2±1.5 weeks of gestation. The association between mercury and TH levels was evaluated with multivariate linear regression models. Effect modification caused by iodine intake from supplements and diet was also evaluated. Results: The geometric means of TSH, TT3, FT4 and mercury were 1.1 μU/L, 2.4 nmol/L, 10.5 pmol/L and 7.7 μg/L, respectively. Mercury levels were marginally significantly associated with TT3 (β: −0.05; 95%CI: −0.10, 0.01), but were neither associated with TSH nor FT4. The inverse association between mercury and TT3 levels was stronger among the iodine supplement consumers (−0.08; 95%CI: −0.15, −0.02, interaction p-value=0.07). The association with FT4 followed the same pattern, albeit not significant. Conclusion: Prenatal mercury exposure was inversely associated with TT3 levels among women who took iodine supplements during pregnancy. These results could be of public health concern, although further research is needed. - Highlights: • We studied the relationship between mercury and thyroid hormones among pregnant. • Mercury was marginally significantly associated with TT3, but not with TSH or FT4. • This association was stronger among the iodine supplement. • These results could be of public health concern, but further research is needed.

The Effects of Biochar and Its Combination with Compost on Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. Growth, Soil Properties, and Soil Microbial Activity and Abundance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dalila Trupiano

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Impacts of biochar application in combination with organic fertilizer, such as compost, are not fully understood. In this study, we tested the effects of biochar amendment, compost addition, and their combination on lettuce plants grown in a soil poor in nutrients; soil microbiological, chemical, and physical characteristics were analyzed, together with plant growth and physiology. An initial screening was also done to evaluate the effect of biochar and compost toxicity, using cress plants and earthworms. Results showed that compost amendment had clear and positive effects on plant growth and yield and on soil chemical characteristics. However, we demonstrated that also the biochar alone stimulated lettuce leaves number and total biomass, improving soil total nitrogen and phosphorus contents, as well as total carbon, and enhancing related microbial communities. Nevertheless, combining biochar and compost, no positive synergic and summative effects were observed. Our results thus demonstrate that in a soil poor in nutrients the biochar alone could be effectively used to enhance soil fertility and plant growth and biomass yield. However, we can speculate that the combination of compost and biochar may enhance and sustain soil biophysical and chemical characteristics and improve crop productivity over time.

Positive Education for Young Children: Effects of a Positive Psychology Intervention for Preschool Children on Subjective Well Being and Learning Behaviors

OpenAIRE

Anat Shoshani; Michelle Slone

2017-01-01

Despite the flourishing in recent years in applications of positive psychology in the field of education, there is a paucity of research investigating positive psychology interventions for preschool children. The present study examined the effects of a positive psychology-based intervention conducted in Israel on children’s subjective well-being, mental health and learning behaviors. Twelve preschool classrooms of 3–6.5 year-olds were randomly assigned to a positive psychology intervention co...

Algebraic solutions of shape-invariant position-dependent effective mass systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amir, Naila, E-mail: naila.amir@live.com, E-mail: naila.amir@seecs.edu.pk [School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (Pakistan); Iqbal, Shahid, E-mail: sic80@hotmail.com, E-mail: siqbal@sns.nust.edu.pk [School of Natural Sciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad (Pakistan)

2016-06-15

Keeping in view the ordering ambiguity that arises due to the presence of position-dependent effective mass in the kinetic energy term of the Hamiltonian, a general scheme for obtaining algebraic solutions of quantum mechanical systems with position-dependent effective mass is discussed. We quantize the Hamiltonian of the pertaining system by using symmetric ordering of the operators concerning momentum and the spatially varying mass, initially proposed by von Roos and Lévy-Leblond. The algebraic method, used to obtain the solutions, is based on the concepts of supersymmetric quantum mechanics and shape invariance. In order to exemplify the general formalism a class of non-linear oscillators has been considered. This class includes the particular example of a one-dimensional oscillator with different position-dependent effective mass profiles. Explicit expressions for the eigenenergies and eigenfunctions in terms of generalized Hermite polynomials are presented. Moreover, properties of these modified Hermite polynomials, like existence of generating function and recurrence relations among the polynomials have also been studied. Furthermore, it has been shown that in the harmonic limit, all the results for the linear harmonic oscillator are recovered.

Design, building and test of one prototype and four final position sensor assemblies: Hall effect position sensors

Science.gov (United States)

1976-01-01

This report covers the development of a three channel Hall effect position sensing system for the commutation of a three phase dc torquer motor. The effort consisted of the evaluation, modification and re-packaging of a commercial position sensor and the design of a target configuration unique to this application. The resulting design meets the contract requirements and, furthermore, the test results indicate not only the practicality and versatility of the design, but also that there may be higher limits of resolution and accuracy achievable.

Effect of Policy Analysis on Indonesia’s Maritime Cluster Development Using System Dynamics Modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Nursyamsi, A.; Moeis, A. O.; Komarudin

2018-03-01

As an archipelago with two third of its territory consist of water, Indonesia should address more attention to its maritime industry development. One of the catalyst to fasten the maritime industry growth is by developing a maritime cluster. The purpose of this research is to gain understanding of the effect if Indonesia implement maritime cluster policy to the growth of maritime economic and its role to enhance the maritime cluster performance, hence enhancing Indonesia’s maritime industry as well. The result of the constructed system dynamic model simulation shows that with the effect of maritime cluster, the growth of employment rate and maritime economic is much bigger that the business as usual case exponentially. The result implies that the government should act fast to form a legitimate cluster maritime organizer institution so that there will be a synergize, sustainable, and positive maritime cluster environment that will benefit the performance of Indonesia’s maritime industry.

Serial Position Effects in the Identification of Letters, Digits, and Symbols

Science.gov (United States)

Tydgat, Ilse; Grainger, Jonathan

2009-01-01

In 6 experiments, the authors investigated the form of serial position functions for identification of letters, digits, and symbols presented in strings. The results replicated findings obtained with the target search paradigm, showing an interaction between the effects of serial position and type of stimulus, with symbols generating a distinct…

Gender moderates valence effects on the late positive potential to emotional distracters

OpenAIRE

Syrjänen, Elmeri

2013-01-01

Attention is captured more strongly by emotional pictures than by neutral pictures. This allocation of attention to emotional pictures is commonly indexed by the late positive potential (LPP), an event-related potential (ERP) that is larger for negative and positive pictures than for neutral pictures. However, findings are mixed in regards to valence effects, that is, whether the LPP is larger for negative pictures than for positive pictures (negativity bias) or vice versa (positivity bias). ...

Positive effects of vegetation: Urban heat island and green roofs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Susca, T.; Gaffin, S.R.; Dell'Osso, G.R.

2011-01-01

This paper attempts to evaluate the positive effects of vegetation with a multi-scale approach: an urban and a building scale. Monitoring the urban heat island in four areas of New York City, we have found an average of 2 deg. C difference of temperatures between the most and the least vegetated areas, ascribable to the substitution of vegetation with man-made building materials. At micro-scale, we have assessed the effect of surface albedo on climate through the use of a climatological model. Then, using the CO 2 equivalents as indicators of the impact on climate, we have compared the surface albedo, and the construction, replacement and use phase of a black, a white and a green roof. By our analyses, we found that both the white and the green roofs are less impactive than the black one; with the thermal resistance, the biological activity of plants and the surface albedo playing a crucial role. - Highlights: → The local morphology and the scarcity of vegetation in NYC core determines its UHI. → We introduce the evaluation of the effects of the surface albedo on climate change. → We use it to compare a black roof with a white and a green one. → Surface albedo has a crucial role in the evaluation of the environmental loads of the roofs. → Vegetation has positive effects on both the urban and the building scale. - Vegetation has positive effects both on an urban scale, mitigating the urban heat island effect; and on a building scale, where albedo, thermal insulation and biological activity of plants play a crucial role.

Single-position Hall effect measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2014-01-01

A method for determining a distance (Y) between a first position on and an electrical boundary (34) of a test sample by a multi-point probe comprising four contact elements, comprising: contacting the test sample with the four contact elements (20,22,24,26) at the first position, applying a magne...

Effect of dissolved ozone or ferric ions on photodegradation of thiacloprid in presence of different TiO2 catalysts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cernigoj, Urh; Stangar, Urska Lavrencic; Jirkovsky, Jaromir

2010-01-01

Combining TiO 2 photocatalysis with inorganic oxidants (such as O 3 and H 2 O 2 ) or transition metal ions (Fe 3+ , Cu 2+ and Ag + ) often leads to a synergic effect. Electron transfer between TiO 2 and the oxidant is usually involved. Accordingly, the degree of synergy could be influenced by TiO 2 surface area. With this in mind, the disappearance of thiacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, was studied applying various photochemical AOPs and different TiO 2 photocatalysts. In photocatalytic ozonation experiments, synergic effect of three different TiO 2 photocatalysts was quantified. Higher surface area resulted in a more pronounced synergic effect but an increasing amount of TiO 2 did not influence the degree of the synergy. This supports the theory that the synergy is a consequence of adsorption of ozone on the TiO 2 surface. No synergy was observed in photocatalytic degradation of thiacloprid in the presence of dissolved iron(III) species performed under varied experimental conditions (concentration, age of iron(III) solution, different TiO 2 films, usage of TiO 2 slurries). This goes against the literature for different organic compounds (i.e., monuron). It indicates different roles of iron(III) in the photodegradation of different organic molecules. Moreover, TiO 2 surface area did not affect photodegradation efficiency in iron(III)-based experiments which could confirm absence of electron transfer between TiO 2 photocatalyst and iron(III).

Investigating the effects of strategic positioning for development of modern banking services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vahid Anvar Keivi

2014-05-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been tremendous changes on banking services and many bank customers are able to do their daily banking activities using recent advances of technology such as internet banking, telephone banking, etc. In this paper, we present an empirical investigation on the effects of strategic positioning for development of modern banking services. The proposed study designs a questionnaire in Likert scale and distributes it among some 385 randomly selected people who live in Tehran in 2013. The questionnaire consists of seven factors including property positioning, advantage positioning, consumer positioning, user positioning, competitive advantage positioning, quality positioning and merchandise category positioning. Using Spearman correlation as well as stepwise regression technique, the study has determined positive and meaningful relationships between different components of strategy positioning development of modern banking services.

The Older Adult Positivity Effect in Evaluations of Trustworthiness: Emotion Regulation or Cognitive Capacity?

Science.gov (United States)

Zebrowitz, Leslie A; Boshyan, Jasmine; Ward, Noreen; Gutchess, Angela; Hadjikhani, Nouchine

2017-01-01

An older adult positivity effect, i.e., the tendency for older adults to favor positive over negative stimulus information more than do younger adults, has been previously shown in attention, memory, and evaluations. This effect has been attributed to greater emotion regulation in older adults. In the case of attention and memory, this explanation has been supported by some evidence that the older adult positivity effect is most pronounced for negative stimuli, which would motivate emotion regulation, and that it is reduced by cognitive load, which would impede emotion regulation. We investigated whether greater older adult positivity in the case of evaluative responses to faces is also enhanced for negative stimuli and attenuated by cognitive load, as an emotion regulation explanation would predict. In two studies, younger and older adults rated trustworthiness of faces that varied in valence both under low and high cognitive load, with the latter manipulated by a distracting backwards counting task. In Study 1, face valence was manipulated by attractiveness (low /disfigured faces, medium, high/fashion models' faces). In Study 2, face valence was manipulated by trustworthiness (low, medium, high). Both studies revealed a significant older adult positivity effect. However, contrary to an emotion regulation account, this effect was not stronger for more negative faces, and cognitive load increased rather than decreased the rated trustworthiness of negatively valenced faces. Although inconsistent with emotion regulation, the latter effect is consistent with theory and research arguing that more cognitive resources are required to process negative stimuli, because they are more cognitively elaborated than positive ones. The finding that increased age and increased cognitive load both enhanced the positivity of trustworthy ratings suggests that the older adult positivity effect in evaluative ratings of faces may reflect age-related declines in cognitive capacity rather

Nanomolar oxytocin synergizes with weak electrical afferent stimulation to activate the locomotor CpG of the rat spinal cord in vitro.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Dose

Full Text Available Synergizing the effect of afferent fibre stimulation with pharmacological interventions is a desirable goal to trigger spinal locomotor activity, especially after injury. Thus, to better understand the mechanisms to optimize this process, we studied the role of the neuropeptide oxytocin (previously shown to stimulate locomotor networks on network and motoneuron properties using the isolated neonatal rat spinal cord. On motoneurons oxytocin (1 nM-1 μM generated sporadic bursts with superimposed firing and dose-dependent depolarization. No desensitization was observed despite repeated applications. Tetrodotoxin completely blocked the effects of oxytocin, demonstrating the network origin of the responses. Recording motoneuron pool activity from lumbar ventral roots showed oxytocin mediated depolarization with synchronous bursts, and depression of reflex responses in a stimulus and peptide-concentration dependent fashion. Disinhibited bursting caused by strychnine and bicuculline was accelerated by oxytocin whose action was blocked by the oxytocin antagonist atosiban. Fictive locomotion appeared when subthreshold concentrations of NMDA plus 5HT were coapplied with oxytocin, an effect prevented after 24 h incubation with the inhibitor of 5HT synthesis, PCPA. When fictive locomotion was fully manifested, oxytocin did not change periodicity, although cycle amplitude became smaller. A novel protocol of electrical stimulation based on noisy waveforms and applied to one dorsal root evoked stereotypic fictive locomotion. Whenever the stimulus intensity was subthreshold, low doses of oxytocin triggered fictive locomotion although oxytocin per se did not affect primary afferent depolarization evoked by dorsal root pulses. Among the several functional targets for the action of oxytocin at lumbar spinal cord level, the present results highlight how small concentrations of this peptide could bring spinal networks to threshold for fictive locomotion in

On the “possible” synergism of the different phases of TiO 2 in photo-catalysis for hydrogen production

KAUST Repository

Wahab, A.K.

2017-05-19

The effect of TiO2 phase composition on the photocatalytic hydrogen production of water/ethanol (95/5 volume ratio) has been studied in order to understand the structural effect (and associated electronic properties) on the reaction within the so called “synergistic effect” concept. Within the investigated series of 1wt.% Pt/TiO2 with initial particle dimension of ca. 15nm the highest hydrogen production rate per unit area was observed for catalysts composed of 80% anatase, 18% rutile and 2% brookite. The associated particle sizes for this catalyst were 44, 82 and 33nm for the three phases, respectively. XRD patterns analyzed by the Rietveld method as well as X-ray absorption near-edge spectra (XANES) of the Ti K-edge mapped the phase transformation from anatase/brookite to rutile where it appears that the brookite phase is initially transformed to anatase phase. XRD patterns and Raman shift were found to be more sensitive to subtle changes in phase composition when compared to UV-vis absorbance or XANES of the Ti K-edge. The photocatalytic reaction for the complete series was conducted in identical condition and with excess photon flux in order to extract accurate reaction rates. In addition to the observed multi-phase effects on the reaction rate, other parameters extracted from the Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction patterns were found to be useful. In particular, at the narrow window where the reaction rate was found to be maximum, the c-dimension of the anatase phase had values in the range 9.510–9.515Å. These c-dimension values are between those observed for nanoparticles with less than 20nm in size and those for larger particles with a size above 50nm. Results from this work indicate that the synergism between anatase and rutile on the photocatalytic reaction for hydrogen production, often attributed to increase the charge carrier life time, may be linked to the lattice expansion of the anatase phase which in turn would affect its electronic

Synergism of Dewetting and Self-Wrinkling To Create Two-Dimensional Ordered Arrays of Functional Microspheres.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Xue; Hou, Jing; Xie, Jixun; Yin, Jian; Tong, Yi; Lu, Conghua; Möhwald, Helmuth

2016-06-29

Here we report a simple, novel, yet robust nonlithographic method for the controlled fabrication of two-dimensional (2-D) ordered arrays of polyethylene glycol (PEG) microspheres. It is based on the synergistic combination of two bottom-up processes enabling periodic structure formation for the first time: dewetting and the mechanical wrinkle formation. The deterministic dewetting results from the hydrophilic polymer PEG on an incompatible polystyrene (PS) film bound to a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate, which is directed both by a wrinkled template and by the template-directed in-situ self-wrinkling PS/PDMS substrate. Two strategies have been introduced to achieve synergism to enhance the 2-D ordering, i.e., employing 2-D in-situ self-wrinkling substrates and boundary conditions. As a result, we achieve highly ordered 2-D arrays of PEG microspheres with desired self-organized microstructures, such as the array location (e.g., selectively on the crest/in the valley of the wrinkles), diameter, spacing of the microspheres, and array direction. Additionally, the coordination of PEG with HAuCl4 is utilized to fabricate 2-D ordered arrays of functional PEG-HAuCl4 composite microspheres, which are further converted into different Au nanoparticle arrays. This simple versatile combined strategy could be extended to fabricate highly ordered 2-D arrays of other functional materials and achieve desirable properties and functionalities.

Synergism between endotoxin priming and exotoxin challenge in provoking severe vascular leakage in rabbit lungs.

Science.gov (United States)

Schütte, H; Rosseau, S; Czymek, R; Ermert, L; Walmrath, D; Krämer, H J; Seeger, W; Grimminger, F

1997-09-01

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of gram-negative bacteria prime rabbit lungs for enhanced thromboxane-mediated vasoconstriction upon subsequent challenge with the exotoxin Escherichia coli hemolysin (HlyA) (Walmrath et al. J. Exp. Med. 1994;180:1437-1443). We investigated the impact of endotoxin priming and subsequent HlyA challenge on lung vascular permeability while maintaining constancy of capillary pressure. Rabbit lungs were perfused in a pressure-controlled mode in the presence of the thromboxane receptor antagonist BM 13.505, with continuous monitoring of flow. Perfusion for 180 min with 10 ng/ml LPS did not provoke vasoconstriction or alteration of capillary filtration coefficient (Kfc) values. HlyA (0.021 hemolytic units/ml) induced thromboxane release and a transient decrease in perfusion flow in the absence of significant changes in Kfc. Similar results were obtained when LPS and HlyA were coapplied simultaneously. However, when the HlyA challenge was undertaken after 180 min of LPS priming, a manifold increase in Kfc values was noted, with concomitant severe lung edema formation, although capillary pressure remained unchanged. Thus, endotoxin primes the lung vasculature to respond with a severe increase in vascular permeability to a subsequent low-dose application of HlyA. Such synergism between endotoxin priming and exotoxin challenge in provoking lung vascular leakage may contribute to the pathogenesis of respiratory failure in sepsis and severe lung infection.

Astemizole synergizes calcitriol antiproliferative activity by inhibiting CYP24A1 and upregulating VDR: a novel approach for breast cancer therapy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janice García-Quiroz

Full Text Available Calcitriol antiproliferative effects include inhibition of the oncogenic ether-à-go-go-1 potassium channel (Eag1 expression, which is necessary for cell cycle progression and tumorigenesis. Astemizole, a new promising antineoplastic drug, targets Eag1 by blocking ion currents. Herein, we characterized the interaction between calcitriol and astemizole as well as their conjoint antiproliferative action in SUM-229PE, T-47D and primary tumor-derived breast cancer cells.Molecular markers were studied by immunocytochemistry, Western blot and real time PCR. Inhibitory concentrations were determined by dose-response curves and metabolic activity assays. At clinically achievable drug concentrations, synergistic antiproliferative interaction was observed between calcitriol and astemizole, as calculated by combination index analysis (CI <1. Astemizole significantly enhanced calcitriol's growth-inhibitory effects (3-11 folds, P<0.01. Mean IC(20 values were 1.82 ± 2.41 nM and 1.62 ± 0.75 µM; for calcitriol (in estrogen receptor negative cells and astemizole, respectively. Real time PCR showed that both drugs alone downregulated, while simultaneous treatment further reduced Ki-67 and Eag1 gene expression (P<0.05. Astemizole inhibited basal and calcitriol-induced CYP24A1 and CYP3A4 mRNA expression (cytochromes involved in calcitriol and astemizole degradation in breast and hepatoma cancer cells, respectively, while upregulated vitamin D receptor (VDR expression.Astemizole synergized calcitriol antiproliferative effects by downregulating CYP24A1, upregulating VDR and targeting Eag1. This study provides insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in astemizole-calcitriol combined antineoplastic effect, offering scientific support to test both compounds in combination in further preclinical and clinical studies of neoplasms expressing VDR and Eag1. VDR-negative tumors might also be sensitized to calcitriol antineoplastic effects by the use of astemizole

The effect of mechanical stress on lateral-effect position-sensitive detector characteristics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andersson, H.A. [Department of Information Technology and Media, Mid-Sweden University, SE-85170 Sundsvall (Sweden)]. E-mail: Henrik.Andersson@miun.se; Mattsson, C.G. [Department of Information Technology and Media, Mid-Sweden University, SE-85170 Sundsvall (Sweden); Thungstroem, G. [Department of Information Technology and Media, Mid-Sweden University, SE-85170 Sundsvall (Sweden); Lundgren, A. [SiTek Electro Optics, Ogaerdesvaegen 13A 433 30 Partille (Sweden); Nilsson, H.-E. [Department of Information Technology and Media, Mid-Sweden University, SE-85170 Sundsvall (Sweden)

2006-07-01

Position-sensitive detectors (PSDs) are widely used in noncontact measurement systems. In order to minimize the size of such systems, interest has increased in mounting the PSD chip directly onto printed circuit boards (PCBs). Stress may be induced in the PSD because of the large differences in thermal expansion coefficients, as well as the long-term geometrical stability of the chip packaging. Mechanical stress has previously been shown to have an effect on the performance of semiconductors. The accuracy, or linearity, of a lateral effect PSD is largely dependent on the homogeneity of the resistive layer. Variations of the resistivity over the active area of the PSD will result in an uneven distribution of photo-generated current, and hence an error in the readout position. In this work experiments were performed to investigate the influence of anisotropic mechanical stress in terms of nonlinearity. PSD chips of 60x3 mm active area were subjected, respectively, to different amounts of compressive and tensile stress to determine the influence on the linearity.

The effects of an edgeline on speed and lateral position: a meta-analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Driel, Cornelie J.G.; Davidse, Ragnhild J.; van Maarseveen, Martin F.A.M.

2004-01-01

This paper presents a meta-analysis of studies that have evaluated the effects of an edgeline on speed and lateral position of motorised road users. Together with many other study characteristics, 41 estimates of the effects of an edgeline on speed and 65 on lateral position were extracted from the

Effect of upright position on tonsillar level in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Ryan K.L.; Leung, Joyce H.Y.; Chu, Winnie C.W. [The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, Shatin (China); Griffith, James F. [The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, Shatin (China); The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Shatin, Hong Kong, SAR (China); Lam, T.P.; Ng, Bobby K.W.; Cheng, Jack C.Y. [The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Shatin (China)

2015-08-15

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an upright position on cerebellar tonsillar level in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Twenty-five patients with clinically diagnosed AIS and 18 normal controls were examined in both supine and upright positions using 0.25T MRI. The position of the inferior cerebellar tonsil tip relative to a reference line connecting the basion to the opisthion (BO line) was measured in millimetres. None of the 18 normal control subjects had cerebellar tonsillar descent below the BO line in either supine or the upright position. Forty-eight percent of AIS patients had tonsillar descent in the upright position, compared to 28 % in the supine position. In the upright position, cerebellar tonsillar position was lower in AIS patients than in normal subjects (mean -0.7 ± 1.5 vs. +2.1 ± 1.7, p < 0.00001). AIS patients also had a large degree of tonsillar excursion between upright and supine positions compared to normal subjects (mean -1.9 ± 2.3 vs. -0.1 ± 0.2, p < 0.00001). When considering the theoretical likelihood that a low tonsillar position may affect spinal cord function, one should bear in mind that tonsillar descent in AIS is significantly greater in the upright position. (orig.)

[Effects of a Positive Psychotherapy Program on Positive Affect, Interpersonal Relations, Resilience, and Mental Health Recovery in Community-Dwelling People with Schizophrenia].

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jinhee; Na, Hyunjoo

2017-10-01

Recently, the interest in positive psychotherapy is growing, which can help to encourage positive relationships and develop strengths of people. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of a positive psychotherapy program on positive affect, interpersonal relations, resilience, and mental health recovery in community-dwelling people with schizophrenia. The research was conducted using a randomized control group pretest-posttest design. A total of 57 adults with schizophrenia participated in this study. The study participants in experimental group received a positive psychotherapy program (n=28) and the participants in control group received only the usual treatment in community centers (n=29). The positive psychotherapy program was provided for 5 weeks (of 10 sessions, held twice/week, for 60 minutes). The study outcomes included positive affect, interpersonal relations, resilience, and mental health recovery. The collected data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA for examining study hypothesis. Results showed that interpersonal relations (F=11.83, p=.001) and resilience (F=9.62, p=.003) significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the control group. Although experimental group showed a slight increase in positive affect, it was not significant. The study findings confirm that the positive psychotherapy program is effective for improving interpersonal relations and resilience of community-dwelling people with schizophrenia. Based on the findings, we believe that the positive psychotherapy program would be acceptable and helpful to improve recovery of mental health in schizophrenia. © 2017 Korean Society of Nursing Science

Systematic chemical analysis approach reveals superior antioxidant capacity via the synergistic effect of flavonoid compounds in red vegetative tissues

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Xiaoxiao; Lu, Yanfen; Peng, Zhen; Fan, Shuangxi; Yao, Yuncong

2018-02-01

The flavonoid system comprises an abundance of compounds with multiple functions; however, their potential synergism in antioxidant function remains unclear. We established an approach using ever-red (RL) and ever-green leaves (GL) of crabapple cultivars during their development to determine interrelationships among flavonoid compounds. RL scored significantly better than GL in terms of the type, composition, and diversity of flavonoids than GL. Principal component analysis predicted flavonoids in RL to have positive interaction effects, and the total antioxidant capacity was significantly higher than the sum of antioxidant capacities of the individual compounds. This synergy was verified by the high antioxidant capacity in rat serum after feeding on red leaves. Our findings suggest that the synergistic effect is a result of the high transcription levels regulated by McMYBs in RL. In summary, individual flavonoids cooperate in a flavonoid system, thus producing a synergistic antioxidant effect, and the approach used herein can provide insights into the roles of flavonoids and other compounds in future studies.

Effects of boron on experimental dental caries activity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, F.T.Y.; Lin, H.S.

1974-01-01

Drinking water supplemented with 1, 10, 30, 50, 100 or 283 ppM of boron or 10 or 25 ppM of fluoride individually or in combination was supplied to weanling rats which were fed a cariogenic diet. Results showed that B did not exert a cariostatic effect nor did it synergize the F in reducing dental caries activity. 11 references, 4 figures, 3 tables.

Synergistic Effect of Garcinol and Curcumin on Antiproliferative and Apoptotic Activity in Pancreatic Cancer Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mansi A. Parasramka

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Pancreatic cancer (PaCa is a major health concern due to its aggressiveness and early metastasis. Current treatments for PaCa are limited by development of resistance against therapy. As an alternative strategy, we assessed the combinatorial effect of dietary compounds, garcinol and curcumin, on human PaCa cells (BxPC-3 and Panc-1. A significant (<0.05 dose-dependent reduction in cell viability and increase in apoptosis were observed in both cell lines as compared to untreated controls. A combination index (CI value < 1, for a two-way comparison of curcumin and garcinol, suggests synergism. The potency (Dm of the combination of garcinol and curcumin was 2 to 10 fold that of the individual agents. This indicates that curcumin and garcinol in combination exhibit a high level of synergism, with enhanced bioactivity, thereby reducing the required effective dose required for each individually. This combinatorial strategy may hold promise in future development of therapies against PaCa.

Positivity effect in healthy aging in observational but not active feedback-learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellebaum, Christian; Rustemeier, Martina; Daum, Irene

2012-01-01

The present study investigated the impact of healthy aging on the bias to learn from positive or negative performance feedback in observational and active feedback learning. In active learning, a previous study had already shown a negative learning bias in healthy seniors older than 75 years, while no bias was found for younger seniors. However, healthy aging is accompanied by a 'positivity effect', a tendency to primarily attend to stimuli with positive valence. Based on recent findings of dissociable neural mechanisms in active and observational feedback learning, the positivity effect was hypothesized to influence older participants' observational feedback learning in particular. In two separate experiments, groups of young (mean age 27) and older participants (mean age 60 years) completed an observational or active learning task designed to differentially assess positive and negative learning. Older but not younger observational learners showed a significant bias to learn better from positive than negative feedback. In accordance with previous findings, no bias was found for active learning. This pattern of results is discussed in terms of differences in the neural underpinnings of active and observational learning from performance feedback.

Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma A. Bäck

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The default ideological position is status quo maintaining, and challenging the status quo is associated with increased efforts and risks. Nonetheless, some people choose to challenge the status quo. Therefore, to challenge the status quo should imply a strong belief in one’s position as the correct one, and thus efforts may be undertaken to undermine the position of others. Study 1 (N = 311 showed that challengers undermined, by ascribing more externality and less rationality, the position of defenders to a larger extent than defenders did of challengers’ position. Studies 2 (N = 135 and 3 (N = 109 tested if these effects were driven by the implied minority status of the challenging position. Results revealed no effects of experimentally manipulated numerical status, but challengers were again more biased than defenders. Study 3 also revealed that challengers felt more negatively toward their opponents (possibly due to greater social identification with like-minded others, and these negative emotions in turn predicted biased attributions. Results are important as they add to the understanding of how intergroup conflict may arise, providing explanations for why challengers are less tolerant of others’ point of view.

Effects of a naturally occurring and a synthetic synergist on toxicity of three insecticides and a phytochemical to navel orangeworm (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Guodong; Pollock, Henry S; Lawrance, Allen; Siegel, Joel P; Berenbaum, May R

2012-04-01

The navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), is the most destructive lepidopteran pest of almonds [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A.Webb] and pistachios (Pistacia vera L.) in California and is a serious problem in figs (Ficus carica L.) and walnuts (Juglans spp.). In addition to direct damage, larval feeding leaves nuts vulnerable to infection by Aspergillus spp., fungi that produce toxic aflatoxins. A potentially safe and sustainable approach for managing navel orangeworm in orchards may be to use natural essential oil synergists to interfere with this insect's ability to detoxify insecticides and phytochemicals. We tested the effects of a naturally occurring plant-derived chemical, myristicin, and a synthetic inhibitor of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s), piperonyl butoxide, on the toxicity of three insecticides (alpha-cypermethrin, tau-fluvalinate, and methoxyfenozide [Intrepid]) and a phytochemical (xanthotoxin) to A. transitella. Piperonyl butoxide significantly synergized alpha-cypermethrin and tau-fluvalinate, whereas myristicin synergized only alpha-cypermethrin. Piperonyl butoxide synergized the toxicity of xanthotoxin as early as 72 h after exposure, whereas myristicin synergized xanthotoxin after 120 h. In view of these findings and the limited availability of environmentally safe synthetic insecticides for sustainable management, particularly in organic orchards, myristicin is a potential field treatment in combination with insecticides to reduce both navel orangeworm survival and aflatoxin contamination of nuts. In addition, this study demonstrates that in A. transitella the insect growth regulator methoxyfenozide is not detoxified by P450s.

The Effect of Relaxation and Positive Self-Talk on Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kimiyaee Asadi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background Premenstrual syndrome (PMS is characterized by recurrent, moderate-to-severe affective, physical, and behavioral symptoms that develop during the luteal menstrual cycle and disappear within a few days of menstruation. Objectives This article aims to identify the effects of relaxation, positive self-talk, and a combination of relaxation and positive self-talk on premenstrual syndrome. Methods In this quasi-experimental study, 80 women with PMS disorder were selected using a simple random sampling method, in Hamadan, west of Iran. They were randomly divided into four groups. The first and second groups underwent positive self-talk and relaxation, respectively. The third group experienced positive self-talk and relaxation at the same time. The fourth group did not receive any treatment. The duration of treatment was 8 one-hour sessions. Data were collected using a PMS symptom severity questionnaire. All groups were followed up for six months after the intervention. Finally, data analysis was performed using SPSS version 18 for ANCOVA and Bonferroni tests. Results The results showed that compared to the control group, relaxation (23.2 and positive self-talk (21.25 treatment methods alone can reduce PMS (P < 0.001. On the other hand, a combined (relaxation + positive self-talk treatment method (13.75 was more effective in reducing PMS compared to relaxation or positive self-talk alone. Conclusions It seems that psychological therapy based on relaxation and positive self-talk can be significantly effective in reducing PMS.

Synergism between carvacrol or thymol increases the antimicrobial efficacy of soy sauce with no sensory impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Hyeree; Rhee, Min Suk

2016-01-18

Here, we examined the antimicrobial effects of soy sauce containing essential oils (EOs) against Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Listeria monocytogenes at 22°C and 4°C. To screen a variety of combined effects, soy sauce was mixed with six different EOs (carvacrol, thymol, eugenol, trans-cinnamaldehyde, β-resorcylic acid, and vanillin), each at a concentration of 1mM for 10 min. None of the oils showed bactericidal activity when used alone. Soy sauce combined with carvacrol and thymol induced the greatest antibacterial activity against all tested bacteria; therefore, these oils were further tested at 0.25, 0.5, and 1mM (0.0039%, 0.0078%, and 0.0157%) for 1, 5, and 10 min at 4°C and 22°C. In addition, sensory evaluation of soy sauce containing each EO at 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2mM was performed using the nine point hedonic test. Carvacrol or thymol (1mM) eliminated all the test bacteria (initial population, 7.0-7.5logCFU/ml) in 1-5 min at 22°C and within 10 min at 4°C. L. monocytogenes was slightly more tolerant at 4°C, which may be attributable to the ability of the cell membrane to adapt to low temperatures. The sensory scores for soy sauce containing EOs were not significantly different from that of soy sauce without EOs (P>0.05). The stability of EO efficacy in soy sauce was also verified. These results suggest that carvacrol and thymol act synergistically with other factors present in soy sauce to increase antimicrobial activity against major foodborne pathogens at both 4°C and 22°C. The synergism may be attributable to the combination of factors (mainly high salt concentration and low pH imparted by organic acids) present in soy sauce and the membrane attacking properties of carvacrol and thymol. This method will facilitate the production of microbiologically safe soy sauce, soy sauce-based marinades, and various marinated foods. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Approach to the problem of combined radiation and environmental effect standardization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burykina, L.N.; Ajzina, N.L.; Vasil'eva, L.A.; Veselovskaya, K.A.; Likhachev, Yu.P.; Ponomareva, V.L.; Satarina, S.M.; Shmeleva, E.V.

1978-01-01

Rats were used to study combined forms of damage caused by radioactive substances with varioUs types of distribution ( 131 I and 147 Pm) and by external radiation sources (γ, X). Damage caused by radiation and dust factors was also studied. Synergism of the combined effect of the tolerance dose of 147 Pm introduced and preceding external general γ-irradiation was determined. The combined action of 131 I and external γ- and X-ray radiation exhibited an additional effect on rat thyroid glands. The combined action of dust and radiation factors showed that the biological effect depended on the dose abs.orbed in a critical organ (lungs). The results of the investigations point to an important role of critical organs (systems) and the degree of their radiosensitivity in response of body to combined internal and external irradiations. The facts presented show that the approach to standardizing radiation factors from the position of partial summation should be changed. This may be accomplished by using a combination factor which is determined experimentally and reflects a relative biological efficiency of the combined effects as compared to separate ones

Synergizing green and gray infrastructures to increase water supply resilience in the Brazos River basin in Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, H.; Yamazaki, D.; Finley, T.; Bohn, T. J.; Low, G.; Sabo, J. L.

2017-12-01

Water infrastructure lies at the heart of the challenges and opportunities of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). Green infrastructure (e.g., wetlands restoration) presents an alternative to its hard-path counterpart - gray infrastructure, which often has external, economic and unmeasured ecological costs. But the science framework to prioritize green infrastructure buildout is nascent. In this study, we addressed this gap in Brazos River basin in Texas, in the context of corporate decisions to secure water supplies for various water stewardship objectives. We developed a physically-based tool to quantify the potential for wetland restoration to restore desired flows (hydrology), and a financial framework for comparing its cost-benefit with heightening an existing dam (conservation finance). Our framework has three components. First, we harnessed a topographic index (HAND) to identify the potential wetlands sites. Second, we coupled a land surface model (VIC) with a hydrodynamic model (CaMa-Flood) to investigate the effects of wetland size, location, and vegetation on hydrology. Finally, we estimated the net present value, indirect rate of return and payback period for green (wetlands) vs. gray (reservoir expansion) infrastructure. We found wetlands have more substantial impact on peak flow than baseflow. Interestingly, wetlands can improve baseflow reliability but not directly except with the largest (>400 km2) projects. Peak flow reduction volumes of wetlands if used as credits towards reservoir flood-control storage provide adequate conservation storage to deliver guaranteed reliability of baseflow. Hence, the synergy of existing dams with newly created wetlands offers a promising natural solution to increase water supply resilience, while green projects also generate revenue compared to their gray counterparts. This study demonstrates the possibility of using innovative engineering design to synergize green and gray infrastructures to convert water

The company you keep: Effects of leader and teams network position on performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vernet, A; Deichmann, D.; Moser, C.

2016-01-01

In this paper we argue that leaders positively influence team performance through their positions in a collaboration network. We propose also that the leader’s effect on team performance is moderated by the position of the team in the larger collaboration network. We distinguish between brokerage

Automatic beam position control at Los Alamos Spallation Radiation Effects Facility (LASREF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oothoudt, M.; Pillai, C.; Zumbro, M.

1997-01-01

Historically the Los Alamos Spallation Radiation Effects Facility (LASREF) has used manual methods to control the position of the 800 kW, 800 MeV proton beam on targets. New experiments, however, require more stringent position control more frequently than can be done manually for long periods of time. Data from an existing harp is used to automatically adjust steering magnets to maintain beam position to required tolerances

Divergent Effects of Different Positive Emotions on Moral Judgment

Science.gov (United States)

Strohminger, Nina; Lewis, Richard L.; Meyer, David E.

2011-01-01

Positive emotions are often treated as relatively similar in their cognitive-behavioral effects, and as having unambiguously beneficial consequences. For example, Valdesolo and DeSteno (2006) reported that a humorous video made people more prone to choose a utilitarian solution to a moral dilemma. They attributed this finding to increased positive…

Undermining position effects in choices from arrays, with implications for police lineups.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Matthew A; Sauer, James D; Holt, Glenys A

2017-03-01

Choices from arrays are often characterized by position effects, such as edge-aversion. We investigated position effects when participants attempted to pick a suspect from an array similar to a police photo lineup. A reanalysis of data from 2 large-scale field studies showed that choices made under realistic conditions-closely matching eyewitness identification decisions in police investigations-displayed edge-aversion and bias to choose from the top row (Study 1). In a series of experiments (Studies 2a-2c and 3), participants guessing the location of a suspect exhibited edge-aversion regardless of whether the lineup was constructed to maximize the chances of the suspect being picked, to ensure the suspect did not stand out, or randomly. Participants favored top locations only when the lineup was constructed to maximize the chances of the suspect being picked. In Studies 4 and 5, position effects disappeared when (a) response options were presented in an array with no obvious center, edges, or corners, and (b) instructions stated that the suspect was placed randomly. These findings show that position effects are influenced by a combination of task instructions and array shape. Randomizing the location of the suspect and modifying the shape of the lineup array may reduce misidentification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Chimeric cellulase matrix for investigating intramolecular synergism between non-hydrolytic disruptive functions of carbohydrate-binding modules and catalytic hydrolysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuguo; Tang, Rentao; Tao, Jin; Wang, Xiaonan; Zheng, Baisong; Feng, Yan

2012-08-24

The conversion of renewable cellulosic biomass is of considerable interest for the production of biofuels and materials. The bottleneck in the efficient conversion is the compactness and resistance of crystalline cellulose. Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs), which disrupt crystalline cellulose via non-hydrolytic mechanisms, are expected to overcome this bottleneck. However, the lack of convenient methods for quantitative analysis of the disruptive functions of CBMs have hindered systematic studies and molecular modifications. Here we established a practical and systematic platform for quantifying and comparing the non-hydrolytic disruptive activities of CBMs via the synergism of CBMs and a catalytic module within designed chimeric cellulase molecules. Bioinformatics and computational biology were also used to provide a deeper understanding. A convenient vector was constructed to serve as a cellulase matrix into which heterologous CBM sequences can be easily inserted. The resulting chimeric cellulases were suitable for studying disruptive functions, and their activities quantitatively reflected the disruptive functions of CBMs on crystalline cellulose. In addition, this cellulase matrix can be used to construct novel chimeric cellulases with high hydrolytic activities toward crystalline cellulose.

Chimeric Cellulase Matrix for Investigating Intramolecular Synergism between Non-hydrolytic Disruptive Functions of Carbohydrate-binding Modules and Catalytic Hydrolysis*

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuguo; Tang, Rentao; Tao, Jin; Wang, Xiaonan; Zheng, Baisong; Feng, Yan

2012-01-01

The conversion of renewable cellulosic biomass is of considerable interest for the production of biofuels and materials. The bottleneck in the efficient conversion is the compactness and resistance of crystalline cellulose. Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs), which disrupt crystalline cellulose via non-hydrolytic mechanisms, are expected to overcome this bottleneck. However, the lack of convenient methods for quantitative analysis of the disruptive functions of CBMs have hindered systematic studies and molecular modifications. Here we established a practical and systematic platform for quantifying and comparing the non-hydrolytic disruptive activities of CBMs via the synergism of CBMs and a catalytic module within designed chimeric cellulase molecules. Bioinformatics and computational biology were also used to provide a deeper understanding. A convenient vector was constructed to serve as a cellulase matrix into which heterologous CBM sequences can be easily inserted. The resulting chimeric cellulases were suitable for studying disruptive functions, and their activities quantitatively reflected the disruptive functions of CBMs on crystalline cellulose. In addition, this cellulase matrix can be used to construct novel chimeric cellulases with high hydrolytic activities toward crystalline cellulose. PMID:22778256

Observing lowermost tropospheric ozone pollution with a new multispectral synergic approach of IASI infrared and GOME-2 ultraviolet satellite measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Cuesta, Juan; Foret, Gilles; Dufour, Gaëlle; Eremenko, Maxim; Coman, Adriana; Gaubert, Benjamin; Beekmann, Matthias; Liu, Xiong; Cai, Zhaonan; Von Clarmann, Thomas; Spurr, Robert; Flaud, Jean-Marie

2014-05-01

Tropospheric ozone is currently one of the air pollutants posing greatest threats to human health and ecosystems. Monitoring ozone pollution at the regional, continental and global scale is a crucial societal issue. Only spaceborne remote sensing is capable of observing tropospheric ozone at such scales. The spatio-temporal coverage of new satellite-based instruments, such as IASI or GOME-2, offer a great potential for monitoring air quality by synergism with regional chemistry-transport models, for both inter-validation and full data assimilation. However, current spaceborne observations using single-band either UV or IR measurements show limited sensitivity to ozone in the atmospheric boundary layer, which is the major concern for air quality. Very recently, we have developed an innovative multispectral approach, so-called IASI+GOME-2, which combines IASI and GOME-2 observations, respectively in the IR and UV. This unique multispectral approach has allowed the observation of ozone plumes in the lowermost troposphere (LMT, below 3 km of altitude) over Europe, for the first time from space. Our first analyses are focused on typical ozone pollution events during the summer of 2009 over Europe. During these events, LMT ozone plumes at different regions are produced photo-chemically in the boundary layer, transported upwards to the free troposphere and also downwards from the stratosphere. We have analysed them using IASI+GOME-2 observations, in comparison with single-band methods (IASI, GOME-2 and OMI). Only IASI+GOME-2 depicts ozone plumes located below 3 km of altitude (both over land and ocean). Indeed, the multispectral sensitivity in the LMT is greater by 40% and it peaks at 2 to 2.5 km of altitude over land, thus at least 0.8 to 1 km below that for all single-band methods. Over Europe during the summer of 2009, IASI+GOME-2 shows 1% mean bias and 21% precision for direct comparisons with ozonesondes and also good agreement with CHIMERE model simulations

Temozolomide, sirolimus and chloroquine is a new therapeutic combination that synergizes to disrupt lysosomal function and cholesterol homeostasis in GBM cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Sanford P C; Kuo, John S; Chiang, Hsin-Chien; Wang, Hsin-Ell; Wang, Yu-Shan; Huang, Cheng-Chung; Huang, Yi-Chun; Chi, Mau-Shin; Mehta, Minesh P; Chi, Kwan-Hwa

2018-01-23

Glioblastoma (GBM) cells are characterized by high phagocytosis, lipogenesis, exocytosis activities, low autophagy capacity and high lysosomal demand are necessary for survival and invasion. The lysosome stands at the cross roads of lipid biosynthesis, transporting, sorting between exogenous and endogenous cholesterol. We hypothesized that three already approved drugs, the autophagy inducer, sirolimus (rapamycin, Rapa), the autophagy inhibitor, chloroquine (CQ), and DNA alkylating chemotherapy, temozolomide (TMZ) could synergize against GBM. This repurposed triple therapy combination induced GBM apoptosis in vitro and inhibited GBM xenograft growth in vivo . Cytotoxicity is caused by induction of lysosomal membrane permeabilization and release of hydrolases, and may be rescued by cholesterol supplementation. Triple treatment inhibits lysosomal function, prevents cholesterol extraction from low density lipoprotein (LDL), and causes clumping of lysosome associated membrane protein-1 (LAMP-1) and lipid droplets (LD) accumulation. Co-treatment of the cell lines with inhibitor of caspases and cathepsin B only partially reverse of cytotoxicities, while N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) can be more effective. A combination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation from cholesterol depletion are the early event of underling mechanism. Cholesterol repletion abolished the ROS production and reversed the cytotoxicity from QRT treatment. The shortage of free cholesterol destabilizes lysosomal membranes converting aborted autophagy to apoptosis through either direct mitochondria damage or cathepsin B release. This promising anti-GBM triple therapy combination severely decreases mitochondrial function, induces lysosome-dependent apoptotic cell death, and is now poised for further clinical testing and validation.

An experimental study of the effect of green positioning on brand attitude

OpenAIRE

PATRIK HARTMANN; VANESSA APAOLAZA IBÁÑEZ; F. JAVIER FORCADA SAIZ

2004-01-01

Reducing the environmental impact of a product or its manufacturing process not necessarily limits the company’s activities. In the context of a green branding strategy, it might as well open new business opportunities. Ecological positioning provides a strategic tool for the active implementation of green brands. The empirical study shows that more positive attitudes are developed towards a brand positioned by environmental attributes and that these effects vary as a result of the implementa...

Preservation of the positive lusitropic effect of beta-adrenoceptors stimulation in diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Amour, Julien; Loyer, Xavier; Michelet, Pierre; Birenbaum, Aurélie; Riou, Bruno; Heymes, Christophe

2008-10-01

In diabetic cardiomyopathy, diastolic dysfunction results in part from sarcoplasmic reticulum abnormalities affecting both phospholamban and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ uptake (SERCA2a). Consequently, the positive lusitropic effect of beta-adrenoceptors stimulation could be altered, and beta3-adrenoceptor over-expression may play a role, as previously demonstrated with an altered positive inotropic effect. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the beta-adrenergic positive lusitropic effect is altered in diabetic cardiomyopathy, and that beta3-adrenoceptor over-expression is involved. beta-adrenergic responses were investigated in vivo (dobutamine-echocardiography) and in vitro (papillary muscle preparation) in healthy and diabetic rats killed 4 (4W) and 12 (12W) wk after IV streptozotocin injection. The effect of beta3-adrenoceptor pathway inhibition by S-cyanopindolol (selective beta3-adrenoceptor antagonist) or by NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl-ester (nonselective nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) on the lusitropic response to isoproterenol (nonselective beta-adrenoceptors agonist) was studied in vitro. Western blots were performed to quantify the protein expressions of beta1- and beta3-adrenoceptors, phospholamban, and SERCA2a. Data are presented as mean percentages of baseline+/-sd. Despite the increased phospholamban/SERCA2a protein ratio and documented diastolic dysfunction, the positive lusitropic effect of beta-adrenoceptors stimulation was preserved in vivo (dobutamine) and in vitro (isoproterenol) in 4W and 12W diabetic, compared with healthy, rats. The beta3-adrenoceptor was up-regulated whereas beta1-adrenoceptor was down-regulated in 4W and 12W diabetic, compared with healthy, rats. Nevertheless, S-cyanopindolol or NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl-ester had no lusitropic effect. The positive lusitropic effect of beta-adrenoceptor stimulation was preserved in diabetic cardiomyopathy. beta3-adrenoceptor over-expression does not seem to affect this process.

Put reading first: Positive effects of direct instruction and scaffolding ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Put reading first: Positive effects of direct instruction and scaffolding for ESL learners struggling with reading. ... are intended to open up for debate a topic of critical importance to the country's education system. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Eyewitness identification in simultaneous and sequential lineups: an investigation of position effects using receiver operating characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Meisters, Julia; Diedenhofen, Birk; Musch, Jochen

2018-04-20

For decades, sequential lineups have been considered superior to simultaneous lineups in the context of eyewitness identification. However, most of the research leading to this conclusion was based on the analysis of diagnosticity ratios that do not control for the respondent's response criterion. Recent research based on the analysis of ROC curves has found either equal discriminability for sequential and simultaneous lineups, or higher discriminability for simultaneous lineups. Some evidence for potential position effects and for criterion shifts in sequential lineups has also been reported. Using ROC curve analysis, we investigated the effects of the suspect's position on discriminability and response criteria in both simultaneous and sequential lineups. We found that sequential lineups suffered from an unwanted position effect. Respondents employed a strict criterion for the earliest lineup positions, and shifted to a more liberal criterion for later positions. No position effects and no criterion shifts were observed in simultaneous lineups. This result suggests that sequential lineups are not superior to simultaneous lineups, and may give rise to unwanted position effects that have to be considered when conducting police lineups.

Side effects after myelography with Dimer Xsup(R) (Iocarmat) with subsequent positioning of the patients in the sitting or lying position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norstedt, M.

1982-01-01

92 patients were examined after lumbar myelography with the water-soluble contrast medium Iocarmat (Dimer Xsup(R)) in order to find out if side effects have any relation with the patient's position after the myelographic examination. In one group, the patients were laid with their upper part of the body positioned higher while the others were allowed to lie flat. The comparative investigation covering both groups of patients revealed the following results: 1) In 11% of the flat-lying patients there were generalised spasms which was not the case as far as the sitting patients were concerned. This is why the author advises against a flat positioning of the patient. 2) The frequency of headache decreased when the patients were lying flat which, however, does not mean a statistical significance. 3) Other side effects registered (myoclonus, tonic spasm in the legs, paraesthesia, increase in existing root pain and neck pain, nausea and vomiting) occurred in both groups nearly to the same extent, independently of the position of the patient. (orig./MG) [de

Synergistic effects of arsenic trioxide combined with ascorbic acid in human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells: a systems biology analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, X C; Maimaiti, X Y M; Huang, C W; Zhang, L; Li, Z B; Chen, Z G; Gao, X; Chen, T Y

2014-01-01

To further understand the synergistic mechanism of As2O3 and asscorbic acid (AA) in human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells by systems biology analysis. Human osteosarcoma MG-63 cells were treated by As2O3 (1 µmol/L), AA (62.5 µmol/L) and combined drugs (1 µmol/L As2O3 plus 62.5 µmol/L AA). Dynamic morphological characteristics were recorded by Cell-IQ system, and growth rate was calculated. Illumina beadchip assay was used to analyze the differential expression genes in different groups. Synergic effects on differential expression genes (DEGs) were analyzed by mixture linear model and singular value decomposition model. KEGG pathway annotations and GO enrichment analysis were performed to figure out the pathways involved in the synergic effects. We captured 1987 differential expression genes in combined therapy MG-63 cells. FAT1 gene was significantly upregulated in all three groups, which is a promising drug target as an important tumor suppressor analogue; meanwhile, HIST1H2BD gene was markedly downregulated in the As2O3 monotherapy group and the combined therapy group, which was found to be upregulated in prostatic cancer. These two genes might play critical roles in synergetic effects of AA and As2O3, although the exact mechanism needs further investigation. KEGG pathway analysis showed many DEGs were related with tight junction, and GO analysis also indicated that DEGs in the combined therapy cells gathered in occluding junction, apical junction complex, cell junction, and tight junction. AA potentiates the efficacy of As2O3 in MG-63 cells. Systems biology analysis showed the synergic effect on the DEGs.

The Effect of Body Position on Pain Due to Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP in Premature Neonates: A Cross-Over Clinical Trial Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahnaz Jabraeili

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background The most common cause of admission to neonatal intensive care units (NICU is respiratory distress syndrome. One of the respiratory assistance methods is using nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP. Regarding the importance of pain control which is one of the major priorities in neonatal nursing care, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of body position on pain due to nasal CPAP in premature neonates. Materials and Methods In this cross-over clinical trial, 50 premature neonates who were receiving nasal CPAP admitted to the NICU of Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran, were included. The neonates were randomly placed at three body positions (fetal, supine, and prone positions. Pain was measured by Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital Pain Scale Neonates (ALPS-Neo pain assessment scale. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS software (Version 22.0. Results Significant difference existed regarding pain of nasal CPAP among body positions (p< 0.001. Mean (SD pain was 5.15 (0.822 in fetal position, 6.260 (0.747 in prone position and 7.326 (0.792 in supine position. Conclusion Body positioning in premature neonates under nasal CPAP in NICU can be effective as a non-pharmacologic method in alleviating pain due to nasal CPAP. Among the studied positions, the lowest pain score was seen in fetal position.

Atmospheric pressure loading effects on Global Positioning System coordinate determinations

Science.gov (United States)

Vandam, Tonie M.; Blewitt, Geoffrey; Heflin, Michael B.

1994-01-01

Earth deformation signals caused by atmospheric pressure loading are detected in vertical position estimates at Global Positioning System (GPS) stations. Surface displacements due to changes in atmospheric pressure account for up to 24% of the total variance in the GPS height estimates. The detected loading signals are larger at higher latitudes where pressure variations are greatest; the largest effect is observed at Fairbanks, Alaska (latitude 65 deg), with a signal root mean square (RMS) of 5 mm. Out of 19 continuously operating GPS sites (with a mean of 281 daily solutions per site), 18 show a positive correlation between the GPS vertical estimates and the modeled loading displacements. Accounting for loading reduces the variance of the vertical station positions on 12 of the 19 sites investigated. Removing the modeled pressure loading from GPS determinations of baseline length for baselines longer than 6000 km reduces the variance on 73 of the 117 baselines investigated. The slight increase in variance for some of the sites and baselines is consistent with expected statistical fluctuations. The results from most stations are consistent with approximately 65% of the modeled pressure load being found in the GPS vertical position measurements. Removing an annual signal from both the measured heights and the modeled load time series leaves this value unchanged. The source of the remaining discrepancy between the modeled and observed loading signal may be the result of (1) anisotropic effects in the Earth's loading response, (2) errors in GPS estimates of tropospheric delay, (3) errors in the surface pressure data, or (4) annual signals in the time series of loading and station heights. In addition, we find that using site dependent coefficients, determined by fitting local pressure to the modeled radial displacements, reduces the variance of the measured station heights as well as or better than using the global convolution sum.

Burnout synergic or inhibiting effects in combustion assays of coal/sawdust blends

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ximena Garcia; Ximena Matus; Claudia Ulloa; Alfredo L. Gordon [University of Concepcion, Concepcion (Chile). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

2007-07-01

Characterization of chars and charcoal and combustion assays of coal/ pine sawdust blends were carried on to evaluate the burnout, under conditions similar to those found in pulverized coal combustion. A drop tube furnace (DTF) was used to generate chars from three coals of different rank (Bitsch, a lignite; Lemington, a bituminous HV coal; and LD, a semianthracite) and charcoal from sawdust (S). Burning profiles, as well as morphological and optical characterization of these chars were obtained and discussed. Pulverized samples of pure constituents and sawdust/coal blends (5, 10 and 20%wt of S) were burned in the DTF reactor. Samples of combustion residues were collected for characterization. Depending on blend composition and the rank of the coal being blended, positive and negative deviations with respect to the expected weighted average value of the burnout were measured. This behavior is related both, to the duration of the step by which simultaneous burning of char and charcoal take place, and to the sawdust content in the blend. The optical analysis of combustion residues supports this conclusion. 7 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

Positive or negative Poynting effect? The role of adscititious inequalities in hyperelastic materials

KAUST Repository

Mihai, L. A.

2011-08-10

Motivated by recent experiments on biopolymer gels whereby the reverse of the usual (positive) Poynting effect was observed, we investigate the effect of the so-called \\'adscititious inequalities\\' on the behaviour of hyperelastic materials subject to shear. We first demonstrate that for homogeneous isotropic materials subject to pure shear, the resulting deformation consists of a triaxial stretch combined with a simple shear in the direction of the shear force if and only if the Baker-Ericksen inequalities hold. Then for a cube deformed under pure shear, the positive Poynting effect occurs if the \\'sheared faces spread apart\\', whereas the negative Poynting effect is obtained if the \\'sheared faces draw together\\'. Similarly, under simple shear deformation, the positive Poynting effect is obtained if the \\'sheared faces tend to spread apart\\', whereas the negative Poynting effect occurs if the \\'sheared faces tend to draw together\\'. When the Poynting effect occurs under simple shear, it is reasonable to assume that the same sign Poynting effect is btained also under pure shear. Since the observation of the negative Poynting effect in semiflexible biopolymers implies that the (stronger) empirical inequalities may not hold, we conclude that these inequalities must not be imposed when such materials are described. © 2011 The Royal Society.

Synergic effects of thermal mass and natural ventilation on the thermal behaviour of traditional massive buildings

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Gagliano, A.; Nocera, F.; Patania, F.; Moschella, A.; Detommaso, M.; Evola, G.

2016-05-01

The energy policies about energy efficiency in buildings currently focus on new buildings and on existing buildings in case of energy retrofit. However, historic and heritage buildings, that are the trademark of numerous European cities, should also deserve attention; nevertheless, their energy efficiency is nowadays not deeply investigated. In this context, this study evaluates the thermal performance of a traditional massive building situated in a Mediterranean city. Dynamic numerical simulations were carried out on a yearly basis through the software DesignBuilder, both in free-running conditions and in the presence of an air-conditioning (AC) system. The results highlight that the massive envelope of traditional residential buildings helps in maintaining small fluctuations of the indoor temperature, thus limiting the need for AC in the mid-season and in summer. This feature is highly emphasised by exploiting natural ventilation at night, which allows reducing the building energy demand for cooling by about 30%.The research also indicates that, for Mediterranean climate, the increase in thermal insulation does not always induce positive effects on the thermal performance in summer, and that it might even produce an increase in the heat loads due to the transmission through the envelope.

Challenges Women Face in Leadership Positions and Organizational Effectiveness: An Investigation

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Elmuti, Dean; Jia, Heather; Davis, Henry H.

2009-01-01

This study was undertaken to discover working public thoughts about roles of United States women in leadership positions and to test the relationship between managerial leadership styles and organizational effectiveness. A survey of perceptions of leadership roles and effectiveness distributed 700 randomly selected entities from industries in the…

Effects of positive relative accommodation on adolescent pseudomyopia with visual training

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Jiang Yue

2014-04-01

Full Text Available AIM:To investigate the changes of the positive relative accommodation in adolescent pseudomyopia with visual training.METHODS: A total of 42 cases(84 eyeswere randomly divided into the visual training group and the control group. Visual acuity, average refraction of two groups 4wk after the training were measured, as well as positive relative accommodation(5mwere checked before the training and repeated 1, 2, 4wk after the training. Correlation analysis were given.RESULTS: There was statistically significant difference in visual acuity 4wk after the training between the two groups(PP>0.05. There was statistically significant difference in positive relative accommodation(5m1, 2, 4wk after the training between the two groups(PPCONCLUSION: Visual training has significant effect on the positive relative accommodation on adolescent pseudomyopia.

Positive and negative affect produce opposing task-irrelevant stimulus preexposure effects.

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Lazar, Josef; Kaplan, Oren; Sternberg, Terri; Lubow, R E

2012-06-01

In three experiments, groups were exposed to either positive or negative affect video clips, after which they were presented with a series of task-irrelevant stimuli. In the subsequent test task, subjects were required to learn an association between the previously irrelevant stimulus and a consequence, and between a new stimulus and a consequence. Induced positive affect produced a latent inhibition effect (poorer evidence of learning with the previously irrelevant stimulus than with the novel stimulus). In opposition to this, induced negative affect resulted in better evidence of learning with a previously irrelevant stimulus than with a novel stimulus. In general, the opposing effects also were present in participants scoring high on self-report questionnaires of depression (Experiments 2 and 3). These unique findings were predicted and accounted for on the basis of two principles: (a) positive affect broadens the attentional field and negative affect contracts it; and (b) task-irrelevant stimuli are processed in two successive stages, the first encodes stimulus properties, and the second encodes stimulus relationships. The opposing influences of negative and positive mood on the processing of irrelevant stimuli have implications for the role of emotion in general theories of cognition, and possibly for resolving some of the inconsistent findings in research with schizophrenia patients.

Radiosensitivity and effect of hypoxia in HPV positive head and neck cancer cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sørensen, Brita Singers; Busk, Morten; Olthof, Nadine; Speel, Ernst-Jan; Horsman, Michael R.; Alsner, Jan; Overgaard, Jens

2013-01-01

Background and purpose: HPV associated Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) represents a distinct subgroup of HNSCC characterized by a favorable prognosis and a distinct molecular biology. Previous data from the randomized DAHANCA 5 trial indicated that HPV positive tumors did not benefit from hypoxic modifications by Nimorazole during radiotherapy, whereas a significant benefit was observed in the HPV negative tumors. However, more studies have demonstrated equal frequencies of hypoxic tumors among HPV-positive and HPV-negative tumors. The aim of the present study was to determine radiosensitivity, the impact of hypoxia and the effect of Nimorazole in HPV positive and HPV negative cell lines. Materials and method: The used cell lines were: UDSCC2, UMSCC47 and UPCISCC90 (HPV positive) and FaDu DD , UTSCC33 and UTSCC5 (HPV negative). Cells were cultured under normoxic or hypoxic conditions, and gene expression levels of previously established hypoxia induced genes were assessed by qPCR. Cells were irradiated with various doses under normoxia, hypoxia or hypoxia +1 mM Nimorazole, and the clonogenic survival was determined. Results: The HPV positive and HPV negative cell lines exhibited similar patterns of upregulation of hypoxia induced genes in response to hypoxia. The HPV positive cell lines were up to 2.4 times more radiation sensitive than HPV negative cell lines. However, all HPV positive cells displayed the same response to hypoxia in radiosensitivity, with an OER in the range 2.3–2.9, and a sensitizer effect of Nimorazole of 1.13–1.29, similar to HPV negative cells. Conclusions: Although HPV positive cells had a markedly higher radiosensitivity compared to HPV negative cells, they displayed the same relative radioresistance under hypoxia and the same relative sensitizer effect of Nimorazole. The clinical observation that HPV positive patients do not seem to benefit from Nimorazole treatment is not due to inherent differences in hypoxia sensitivity

Distortion-product otoacoustic emissions: body position effects with simultaneous presentation of tone pairs

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Samuel R. Atcherson

2011-11-01

Full Text Available This study examined the effect of three different body positions on distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE amplitude and noise levels with multiple primary tone pairs simultaneously-presented to 36 normal-hearing female human adults. Other studies have demonstrated that the simultaneously presented tone pairs method shows clinical promise as a screener, but the sequential method remains in widespread clinical use. Postural changes have been suggested to have an effect not only on DPOAEs, but also transient-evoked OAEs and stimulus- frequency OAEs. DPOAE amplitude and noise levels were recorded in seated, supine, and side-lying positions to the following order of simultaneously-presented tone pairs relative to the f2 frequencies: 1187, 2375, and 4812 Hz; 1500, 3000, and 6062 Hz; and 1875, 3812, and 7625 Hz. No DPOAE could be detected reliably at 7625 Hz as result of poor signal-to-noise ratio. For remaining DPOAEs, statistical analyses revealed that amplitudes were not significantly different among the three body positions. However, at 1500 Hz and below, body position did have a statistically significant effect on noise levels though they are likely clinically negligible. Except at 7625 Hz, results suggest that DPOAEs recorded using a simultaneously presented tone pairs appear to be comparably recorded regardless of an individual’s body position.

Regulation of positive and negative emotion: Effects of sociocultural context

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Sara A. Snyder

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Previous research has demonstrated that the use of emotion regulation strategies can vary by sociocultural context. In a previous study, we reported changes in the use of two different emotion regulation strategies at an annual alternative cultural event, Burning Man (McRae, Heller, John, & Gross, 2011. In this sociocultural context, as compared to home, participants reported less use of expressive suppression (a strategy generally associated with maladaptive outcomes, and greater use of cognitive reappraisal (a strategy associated with adaptive outcomes. What remained unclear was whether these changes in self-reported emotion regulation strategy use were characterized by changes in the regulation of positive emotion, negative emotion, or both. We addressed this issue in the current study by asking Burning Man participants separate questions about positive and negative emotion. Using multiple datasets, we not only replicated our previous findings, but also found that the decreased use of suppression is primarily driven by reports of decreased suppression of positive emotion at Burning Man. By contrast, the reported increased use of reappraisal is not characterized by differential reappraisal of positive and negative emotion at Burning Man. Moreover, we observed novel individual differences in the magnitude of these effects. The contextual changes in self-reported suppression that we report are strongest for men and younger participants. For those who had previously attended Burning Man, we observed lower levels of self-reported suppression in both sociocultural contexts: Burning Man and home. These findings have implications for understanding the ways in which certain sociocultural contexts may decrease suppression, and possibly minimize its associated maladaptive effects.

Invisible Support: Effects on the Provider's Positive and Negative Affect.

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König, Claudia; Stadler, Gertraud; Knoll, Nina; Ochsner, Sibylle; Hornung, Rainer; Scholz, Urte

2016-07-01

Social support that goes unnoticed by receivers (i.e. invisible support) seems to be most beneficial for the receivers' well-being. The providers' well-being, however, has been neglected so far. This study examines how invisible support is related to the providers' well-being and whether this association is dependent on the providers' relationship satisfaction. Overall, 97 non-smoking partners of smokers who were about to quit smoking were examined. Invisible support was assessed dyadically: partners' reports on smoking-specific provided social support together with smokers' reports on received support were assessed at baseline. Partners' relationship satisfaction was also assessed at baseline. Partners' positive and negative affect were measured at baseline and six-week follow-up. No main effects of invisible instrumental or emotional support occurred. However, partners' relationship satisfaction moderated the association between invisible instrumental support and change in partners' negative and positive affect: For partners with lower relationship satisfaction more invisible instrumental support was related to increased negative affect and decreased positive affect, whereas for partners with higher relationship satisfaction the inverse effects occurred. The study's results emphasise that invisible instrumental support might have emotional costs for the providers. Relationship satisfaction seems to serve as a protective factor. © 2016 The International Association of Applied Psychology.

Novel walnut peptide–selenium hybrids with enhanced anticancer synergism: facile synthesis and mechanistic investigation of anticancer activity

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Liao W

2016-04-01

effective method to achieve anticancer synergism. Moreover, the great potential exhibited by WP1-SeNPs could make them an ideal candidate as a chemotherapeutic agent for human cancers, especially for breast cancer.Keywords: selenium nanoparticles, walnut peptides, human cancer cell lines, antiproliferative activity, apoptosis

Patient position alters attenuation effects in multipinhole cardiac SPECT.

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Timmins, Rachel; Ruddy, Terrence D; Wells, R Glenn

2015-03-01

Dedicated cardiac cameras offer improved sensitivity over conventional SPECT cameras. Sensitivity gains are obtained by large numbers of detectors and novel collimator arrangements such as an array of multiple pinholes that focus on the heart. Pinholes lead to variable amounts of attenuation as a source is moved within the camera field of view. This study evaluated the effects of this variable attenuation on myocardial SPECT images. Computer simulations were performed for a set of nine point sources distributed in the left ventricular wall (LV). Sources were placed at the location of the heart in both an anthropomorphic and a water-cylinder computer phantom. Sources were translated in x, y, and z by up to 5 cm from the center. Projections were simulated with and without attenuation and the changes in attenuation were compared. A LV with an inferior wall defect was also simulated in both phantoms over the same range of positions. Real camera data were acquired on a Discovery NM530c camera (GE Healthcare, Haifa, Israel) for five min in list-mode using an anthropomorphic phantom (DataSpectrum, Durham, NC) with 100 MBq of Tc-99m in the LV. Images were taken over the same range of positions as the simulations and were compared based on the summed perfusion score (SPS), defect width, and apparent defect uptake for each position. Point sources in the water phantom showed absolute changes in attenuation of ≤8% over the range of positions and relative changes of ≤5% compared to the apex. In the anthropomorphic computer simulations, absolute change increased to 20%. The changes in relative attenuation caused a change in SPS of position-dependent changes were removed with attenuation correction. Translation of a source relative to a multipinhole camera caused only small changes in homogeneous phantoms with SPS changing position-dependent changes in attenuation.

Incidence of neuropsychiatric side effects of efavirenz in HIV-positive ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2016-06-30

Jun 30, 2016 ... HIV-positive treatment-naïve patients in public-sector ... current depression or other mental disorders would increase ... medication and the importance of adherence is discussed ..... neuropsychiatric side effects, substance abuse and emotional ... All authors contributed towards the conceptualisation and.

The effect of positive and negative memory bias on anxiety and depression symptoms among adolescents.

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Ho, Samuel M Y; Cheng, Joseph; Dai, Darren Wai Tong; Tam, Titian; Hui, Otilia

2018-02-28

To examine the interaction effect of anxiety and depression on the intentional forgetting of positive and negative valence words. One hundred fifty-five grade 7 to grade 10 students participated in the study. The item-method directed forgetting paradigm was used to examine the intentional forgetting of positive-valence, negative-valence, and neutral-valence words. Negative-valence words were recognized better than either positive-valence or neutral-valence words. The results revealed an anxiety main effect (p = .01, LLCI = -.09, and ULCI = -.01) and a depression main effect (p = .04, LLCI = .00, and ULCI = .24). The anxiety score was negative, whereas the depression score was positively related to the directed forgetting of negative-valence words. Regression-based moderation analysis revealed a significant anxiety × depression interaction effect on the directed forgetting of positive-valence words (p = .02, LLCI = .00, and ULCI = .01). Greater anxiety was associated with more directed forgetting of positive-valance words only among participants with high depression scores. With negative-valence words, the anxiety × depression interaction effect was not significant (p = .15, LLCI = - .00, and ULCI = .01). Therapeutic strategies to increase positive memory bias may reduce anxiety symptoms only among those with high depression scores. Interventions to reduce negative memory bias may reduce anxiety symptoms irrespective of levels of depression. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The synergic role of sociotechnical and personal characteristics on work injuries in mines.

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Paul, P S; Maiti, J

2008-05-01

Occupational injuries in mines are attributed to many factors. In this study, an attempt was made to identify the various factors related to work injuries in mines and to estimate their effects on work injuries to mine workers. An accident path model was developed to estimate the pattern and strength of relationships amongst the personal and sociotechnical variables in accident/injury occurrences. The input data for the model were the correlation matrix of 18 variables, which were collected from the case study mines. The case study results showed that there are sequential interactions amongst the sociotechnical and personal factors leading to accidents/injuries in mines. Amongst the latent endogenous constructs, job dissatisfaction and safe work behaviour show a significant positive and negative direct relationship with work injury, respectively. However, the construct safety environment has a significant negative indirect relationship with work injury. The safety environment is negatively affected by work hazards and positively affected by social support. The safety environment also shows a significant negative relationship with job stress and job dissatisfaction. However, negative personality has no significant direct or indirect effect on work injury, but it has a significant negative relationship with safe work behaviour. The endogenous construct negative personality is positively influenced by job stress and negatively influenced by social support.

Cost-effectiveness of positive contrast and nuclear arthrography in patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swan, J.S.; Braunstein, E.M.; Capello, W.; Wellman, H.

1989-01-01

The authors have compared the cost effectiveness of contrast arthrography (CA) and nuclear arthrography (NA), in which In-111 chloride is injected with the contrast material, of total hip arthroplasties. Their series included 48 cases of surgically proved loose femoral components. The cost per true-positive result was obtained by taking the total cost of the examinations in surgically proved cases and dividing by the number of true-position cases. The cost of CA was $297 and the cost of NA was $335. For CA, the cost per true positive was $1,018, and for the NA the cost per true positive was $946. In spite of higher initial cost, NA is more cost effective than CA on a cost per true-positive case basis. NA is cost effective in evaluating hip arthroplasties in which there is suspicion of a loose femoral component

Thermal effect of lubricating oil in positive-displacement air compressors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valenti, Gianluca; Colombo, Luigi; Murgia, Stefano; Lucchini, Andrea; Sampietro, Andrea; Capoferri, Andrea; Araneo, Lucio

2013-01-01

The isentropic efficiency of positive-displacement compressors may be improved in order to follow an increasing demand for energy savings. This work analyzes the thermal effect of the lubricating oil presence in the air during compression with the scope of exploiting it as a thermal ballast to mitigate both the gas temperature rise and its compression work. The bibliographic review shows that other authors suggested that oil can have positive effects if properly injected. Here an energy balance analysis is executed with the scope of deriving relations for the gas–liquid compression in analogy with those typical for the gas-only compression and of confirming that ideally the liquid presence may have beneficial effects, making the gas–liquid compression even better than 1- and 2-time intercooled gas compressions. Given these positive results, a heat transfer analysis is conducted to model the thermal interaction between gas and oil droplets within a mid-size rotary vane air compressor. A droplet diameter of the order of 100 μm leads to large reductions of both temperature increase and compression work: air can exit the discharge port at a temperature as low as 60 °C and compression work can be lowered by 23–28% with respect to conventional compressors. Finally, a test rig is constructed and operated to investigate a large-flow and large-angle oil nozzle taken from the market showing that, at the operating conditions of a compressor, oil breaks up into small droplets and undefined structures with large exchange surfaces. -- Highlights: ► Exploitation of thermal effect of oil in gas compressors is assessed numerically. ► Oil in 100 μm-diameter droplets mitigates effectively the gas temperature rise. ► Discharge temperature and compression work result to be much smaller than typical. ► An experimental setup is used to investigate oil atomization via commercial nozzles. ► A tested nozzle creates fine oil droplets and structures at conditions of

PEPTIDE SOLUBILITY, STRUCTURE AND CHARGE POSITION EFFECT ON ADSORPTION BY ALUMINIUM HYDROXIDE

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Mary Trujillo

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Solubility, structure and position of charges in a peptide antigen sequence can be mentioned as being amongst the basic features of adsorption. In order to study their effect on adsorption, seven analogue series were synthesized from a MSP-1 peptide sequence by systematically replacing each one of the positions in the peptide sequence by aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, alanine, asparagine, glutamine or lysine. Such modifications in analogue peptide sequences showed a non-regular tendency regarding solubility and adsorption data. Aspartic acid and Glutamic acid analogue series showed great improvements in adsorption, especially in peptides where Lysine in position 6 and Arginine in position 13 were replaced. Solubility of position 5 analogue was greater than the position 6 analogue in Aspartic acid series; however, the position 6 analogue showed best adsorption results whilst the Aspartic acid in position 5 analogue showed no adsorption in the same conditions. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance structural analysis revealed differences in the -helical structureextension between these analogues. The Aspartic acid in position 6, located in the polar side of the helix, may allow this analogueto fit better onto the adsorption regions suggesting that the local electrostatic charge is responsible for this behavior.

Comparison of synergism between colistin, fosfomycin and tigecycline against extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates or with carbapenem resistance

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Yee-Huang Ku

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To investigate the synergistic and bactericidal effects of antimicrobial combinations of any two of colistin, fosfomycin and tigecycline against the nine extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP clinical isolates, including 4 carbapenem-susceptible strains and five imipenem and/or meropenem-resistant strains. Methods: In vitro synergism and bactericidal activity of combination of colistin, fosfomycin and tigecycline were evaluated by time-kill studies in standard inoculum of bacterial densities of a suspension containing 5 × 105 CFU/mL by using 1/2× MIC for each alone, and both 1/2× and 1/4× MIC for any two drugs. The settings of low MIC dosing were allowed to rapidly survey the most active drug combination. Results: The most active combination group was colistin plus tigecycline, showing synergy in 8 isolates and bactericidal activities in 6 isolates by using concentrations of 1/2× MIC and 1/4× MIC, respectively. The least active combination was tigecycline plus fosfomycin, which showed synergy in only 4 isolates and no bactericidal activities by using concentrations of 1/2× MIC and 1/4× MIC, respectively. Conclusions: The combination of tigecycline and colistin may be considered as a last-resort approach to the ESBL-producing KP infections, especially those isolates with carbapenem resistance. Keywords: Carbapenem resistance, Colistin, ESBL, Fosfomycin, Tigecycline

Humanizing HIV/AIDS and its (re)stigmatizing effects: HIV public 'positive' speaking in India.

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Finn, Mark; Sarangi, Srikant

2009-01-01

Social stigma has been inextricably linked with HIV and AIDS since the epidemic erupted in the early 1980s. The stigma that has built up around HIV and AIDS is generally regarded as having a negative impact on the quality of life of HIV-positive people and on general prevention efforts. Current attempts to combat HIV-related stigma focus on increasing the acceptance of HIV among the stigmatizing public and stigmatized individuals alike. In this, the global HIV-positive community is being increasingly called upon to ;humanize' the virus, not least through public displays of HIV 'positive' health and public ;positive' speaking. This article critically explores the constitutive effects and inherent power relations of HIV Positive Speakers' Bureaus (PSBs) as a platform for such a display. Adopting a post-structuralist discourse analytic approach, we explore accounts of positive-speaking and HIV health from HIV-related non-government organizations in India and in PSB training manuals. In particular, we highlight ways in which positive-speaking in India can be seen to have significant (re)stigmatizing effects by way of ambivalent and hyper-real configurations of HIV 'positive' identity and life.

Autonomy, Positive Relationships, and IL-6: Evidence for Gender-Specific Effects

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Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory A.; Segerstrom, Suzanne C.

2014-01-01

Objectives A body of evidence indicates that women value relationship-centered aspects of well-being more than men do, while men value autonomy-centered aspects of well-being more than women do. The current study examined whether gender moderates relations between autonomy and positive relationships and interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine associated with inflammatory processes. Aspects of well-being consistent with gender-linked values were expected to be most health-protective such that positive relationships would predict lower IL-6 only or more strongly in women, and autonomy would predict lower IL-6 only or more strongly in men. Methods In the first study, a sample of 119 older adults (55% female) living in Kentucky were visited in their homes for interviews and blood draws. In the second study, a sample of 1,028 adults (45% female) living across the United States (U.S.) underwent a telephone interview followed by a visit to a research center for blood draws. Results In the Kentucky sample, autonomy was quadratically related to IL-6 such that average autonomy predicted higher IL-6; this effect was stronger in men, providing support for our hypothesis only at above average levels of IL-6. In the U.S. national sample, more positive relationships were associated with lower IL-6 in women only. When the national sample was restricted to match the Kentucky sample, higher autonomy was associated with lower IL-6 in men only. Conclusions Results provide preliminary evidence for gender-specific effects of positive relationships and autonomy on IL-6. Further work is needed to establish the generalizability of these effects to different ages, cultures, and health statuses. PMID:22908985

Method effects: the problem with negatively versus positively keyed items.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindwall, Magnus; Barkoukis, Vassilis; Grano, Caterina; Lucidi, Fabio; Raudsepp, Lennart; Liukkonen, Jarmo; Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie

2012-01-01

Using confirmatory factor analyses, we examined method effects on Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965) in a sample of older European adults. Nine hundred forty nine community-dwelling adults 60 years of age or older from 5 European countries completed the RSES as well as measures of depression and life satisfaction. The 2 models that had an acceptable fit with the data included method effects. The method effects were associated with both positively and negatively worded items. Method effects models were invariant across gender and age, but not across countries. Both depression and life satisfaction predicted method effects. Individuals with higher depression scores and lower life satisfaction scores were more likely to endorse negatively phrased items.

Susceptibility of different life stages of Tribolium confusum to pyrethrin aerosol: effects of a flour food source on insecticidal efficacy

Science.gov (United States)

Accumulated grain dust and flour residues in flour mills can potentially decrease the efficacy of contact insecticides used for control of adult and immature stages of stored product insects. A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of flour residues on the efficacy of synergized pyrethrin aero...

A Faraday effect position sensor for interventional magnetic resonance imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Bock, M; Umathum, R; Sikora, J; Brenner, S; Aguor, E N; Semmler, W

2006-02-21

An optical sensor is presented which determines the position and one degree of orientation within a magnetic resonance tomograph. The sensor utilizes the Faraday effect to measure the local magnetic field, which is modulated by switching additional linear magnetic fields, the gradients. Existing methods for instrument localization during an interventional MR procedure often use electrically conducting structures at the instruments that can heat up excessively during MRI and are thus a significant danger for the patient. The proposed optical Faraday effect position sensor consists of non-magnetic and electrically non-conducting components only so that heating is avoided and the sensor could be applied safely even within the human body. With a non-magnetic prototype set-up, experiments were performed to demonstrate the possibility of measuring both the localization and the orientation in a magnetic resonance tomograph. In a 30 mT m(-1) gradient field, a localization uncertainty of 1.5 cm could be achieved.

Effectiveness of Positive Psychotherapy in Improving Opiate Addicts’ Quality of Life

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P Porzoor

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study was aimed to assess the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy based on quality of life in improving opiate addicts’ quality of life. Method: A quasi experimental research design long with control group and pre-test, post-test and follow-up was employed for the conduct of this study. All the opiate addicts referring to treatment centers of Ardebil city in 2013 constituted the statistical population of the study and the number of 36 participants was selected as the sample via purposive sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. Quality-of-life-based psychotherapy was conducted on the experimental group in 8 sessions while the control group received no intervention. Quality of life questionnaire was used for data collection purposes. Results: The results suggested the effectiveness of the intervention in quality of life. Conclusion: This intervention, which is formed from the combination positive psychology and cognitive-behavioral approach, can be used as an effective treatment method.

The effect of scapular position on subacromial contact behavior: a cadaver study.

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Muraki, Takayuki; Yamamoto, Nobuyuki; Sperling, John W; Steinmann, Scott P; Cofield, Robert H; An, Kai-Nan

2017-05-01

Patients with subacromial impingement were reported to show abnormal scapular positions during shoulder elevation. However, the relationship between the scapular positions and subacromial impingement is unclear. The purpose of this study was to biomechanically determine the effect of scapular position on subacromial contact behavior by using fresh frozen cadavers. The peak contact pressure on the coracoacromial arch was measured with a flexible tactile force sensor in 9 fresh frozen cadaver shoulders. The measurement was performed during passive glenohumeral elevation in the scapular plane ranging from 30° to 75°. The scapular downward and internal rotations and anterior tilt were simulated by tilting the scapula in 5° increments up to 20°. The measurement was also performed with combination of scapular downward and internal rotations and anterior tilt positions. The peak contact pressure decreased linearly with anterior tilt, and a significant difference between neutral scapular position (1.06 ± 0.89 MPa) and anterior tilt by 20° (0.46 ± 0.18 MPa) was observed (P < .05). However, the scapular positioning in the other directions did not change the peak contact pressure significantly. Furthermore, any combination of abnormal scapular positions did not affect peak contact pressure significantly. Scapular anterior tilt decreased peak contact pressure during passive shoulder elevation. In addition, scapular downward and internal rotations had little effect on peak contact pressure. The abnormal scapular motion reported in previous studies might not be directly related to symptoms caused by subacromial impingement. Copyright © 2017 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Aerobic exercise decreases the positive-reinforcing effects of cocaine.

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Smith, Mark A; Schmidt, Karl T; Iordanou, Jordan C; Mustroph, Martina L

2008-11-01

Aerobic exercise can serve as an alternative, non-drug reinforcer in laboratory animals and has been recommended as a potential intervention for substance abusing populations. Unfortunately, relatively little empirical data have been collected that specifically address the possible protective effects of voluntary, long-term exercise on measures of drug self-administration. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of chronic exercise on sensitivity to the positive-reinforcing effects of cocaine in the drug self-administration procedure. Female rats were obtained at weaning and immediately divided into two groups. Sedentary rats were housed individually in standard laboratory cages that permitted no exercise beyond normal cage ambulation; exercising rats were housed individually in modified cages equipped with a running wheel. After 6 weeks under these conditions, rats were surgically implanted with venous catheters and trained to self-administer cocaine on a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement. Once self-administration was acquired, cocaine was made available on a progressive ratio schedule and breakpoints were obtained for various doses of cocaine. Sedentary and exercising rats did not differ in the time to acquire cocaine self-administration or responding on the fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement. However, on the progressive ratio schedule, breakpoints were significantly lower in exercising rats than sedentary rats when responding was maintained by both low (0.3mg/kg/infusion) and high (1.0mg/kg/infusion) doses of cocaine. In exercising rats, greater exercise output prior to catheter implantation was associated with lower breakpoints at the high dose of cocaine. These data indicate that chronic exercise decreases the positive-reinforcing effects of cocaine and support the possibility that exercise may be an effective intervention in drug abuse prevention and treatment programs.

Radioprotective effectiveness and toxicity of ATP, AET and serotonin applied individually or simultaneously to mice. Pt. 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benova, D.K.; Putev, I.K.

1979-01-01

Interactions occuring between three drugs - AET, serotonin, and ATP - in simultaneous administration were studied quantitatively. Using isobologram techniques, paired drug combination were examined for synergism in protective action against radiation. For ATP+AET pairs, increase in ATP fraction enhanced protection. For ATP+serotonin pairs, peak effect was observed at 360 mg/kg b.w. of ATP and 12 mg/kg b.w. of serotonin. Higher ATP fractions lowered the effectiveness. The highest degree of synergism was found for AET+serotonin, with peak effect at 17 to 33 mg/kg of AET plus 11 to 7 mg/kg of serotonin. By applying a method specially elaborated to enable prediction of interactions between three drugs administered simultaneously and by making use of three-dimensional diagrams, the parts played by individual components of triple combinations in total effect were estimated and the component dose ratio providing maximum protection identified. The determining components in protection were found to be AET and serotonin, the latter being of greater importance. The rhole of ATP in total effect is small and enhancement may be noted only up to ATP doses of no more than 156 mg/kg. The maximum effectiveness dose ratio of serotonin:AET:ATP was identified as 1:2:7.5-9. (orig.) [de

Positive Education for Young Children: Effects of a Positive Psychology Intervention for Preschool Children on Subjective Well Being and Learning Behaviors

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Anat Shoshani

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Despite the flourishing in recent years in applications of positive psychology in the field of education, there is a paucity of research investigating positive psychology interventions for preschool children. The present study examined the effects of a positive psychology-based intervention conducted in Israel on children’s subjective well-being, mental health and learning behaviors. Twelve preschool classrooms of 3–6.5 year-olds were randomly assigned to a positive psychology intervention condition or a wait-list control condition. In the intervention condition, during one school year, 160 children experienced eight modules of basic concepts in positive psychology that were adapted to the developmental characteristics of young children and were compared to 155 children in demographically similar control classrooms. Children were administered a pre-test and post-test of subjective well-being measures. In addition, children’s mental health and emotional well-being were measured by parental questionnaires. Preschool teachers completed questionnaires concerning children’s learning behaviors. The findings showed significant increases in subjective well-being and positive learning behaviors among the intervention participants, with no significant changes in the control group. The results highlight the potential of positive psychology interventions for increasing subjective well-being and a positive approach to learning at young ages.

The Effects of Positive or Neutral Communication during Acupuncture for Relaxing Effects: A Sham-Controlled Randomized Trial

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Annelie Rosén

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. The link between patient-clinician communication and its effect on clinical outcomes is an important clinical issue that is yet to be elucidated. Objective. Investigating if communication type (positive or neutral about the expected treatment outcome affected (i participants’ expectations and (ii short-term relaxation effects in response to genuine or sham acupuncture and investigating if expectations were related to outcome. Methods. Healthy volunteers (n=243, mean age of 42 were randomized to one treatment with genuine or sham acupuncture. Within groups, participants were randomized to positive or neutral communication, regarding expected treatment effects. Visual Analogue Scales (0–100 millimeters were used to measure treatment expectations and relaxation, directly before and after treatment. Results. Participants in the positive communication group reported higher treatment expectancy, compared to the neutral communication group (md 12 versus 6 mm, p=0.002. There was no difference in relaxation effects between acupuncture groups or between communication groups. Participants with high baseline expectancy perceived greater improvement in relaxation, compared to participants with low baseline levels (md 27 versus 15 mm, p=0.022. Conclusion. Our data highlights the importance of expectations for treatment outcome and demonstrates that expectations can be effectively manipulated using a standardized protocol that in future research may be implemented in clinical trials.

Positive effects of television content on emotional and social behavior of children

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Popović-Ćitić Branislava

2012-01-01

Full Text Available For decades, the dominance of studies with various aspects of the negative impact of television content as their subject of interest is evident in the field of theoretical and empirical analysis of the impact of television content on the development of children and youth, while the consideration of positive impact was mostly beyond the systematic interest of scientists and researchers. Even though the general assessment is that viewing prosocial television content may result in positive changes in social and emotional behavior of young people, research studies committed to the positive effects of television content on emotional and social behavior of children are scarce and insufficiently perceive the character and nature of the impact of television on the development of emotions and prosocial behavior during childhood. Based on the critical review of the findings of a number of foreign empirical studies, this article summarizes the research evidence of the positive effects of television content on emotional empathy, altruism, learning about emotions, social interaction and acceptance of diversity, with presentation of conclusions about potential mediator factors that may interact with the influences of television portrayals.

Effect of side chain position on solar cell performance in cyclopentadithiophene-based copolymers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Kyu; Seo, Jung Hwa; Cho, Nam Sung; Cho, Shinuk

2012-01-01

The photovoltaic properties of a series of low band-gap conjugated copolymers, in which alkyl side chains were substituted at various positions, were investigated using donor–acceptor (D–A) conjugated copolymers consisting of a cyclopentadithiophene derivative and dithienyl-benzothiadiazole. The base polymer, which has no alkyl side chains, yielded promising power conversion efficiency of 3.8%. Polymers with alkyl side chains, however, exhibited significantly decreased performance. In addition, the effects of processing additive became negligible. The results indicate that substituted side chains, which were introduced to improve solubility, critically affected the optical and electronic properties of D–A conjugated copolymers. Furthermore, the position of the side chain was also very important for controlling the morphological properties of the D–A conjugated copolymers. - Highlights: ► Effect of side chain position on solar cell performance was investigated. ► Polymer without alkyl chains yielded promising power conversion efficiency of 3.8%. ► Position of side chains critically affected the optical and electronic properties.

Is There a Paradox of Aging: When the Negative Aging Stereotype Meets the Positivity Effect in Older Adults.

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Zhou, Liqing; Lu, Jia; Chen, Guopeng; Dong, Li; Yao, Yujia

2017-01-01

Background/Study Context: Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) states that the positivity effect is a result of older adults' emotion regulation and that older adults derive more emotional satisfaction from prioritizing positive information processing. The authors explored whether the positivity effect appeared when the negative aging stereotype was activated in older adults and also whether the effect differed between mixed and unmixed valence conditions. Sixty younger (18-23 years of age) and 60 older (60-87 years of age) adults were randomly assigned to a control group and a priming group, in which the negative aging stereotype was activated. All the participants were asked to select 15 words that best described the elderly from a mixed-word list (positive and negative words were mixed together) and from an unmixed-word list (positive and negative words were separated). Older adults in the control group selected more positive words, whereas among younger adults, selection did not differ by valence in either the mixed- or unmixed-word list conditions. There were no differences between the positive and negative word choices of the younger and older adults in the priming group. We calculated the differences between the numbers of positive and negative words, and the differences in the older adults' word choices were larger than those among the younger adults; the differences were also larger in the control group than in the priming group. The positivity effect worked by choosing positive stimuli rather than avoiding negative stimuli. The role of emotion regulation in older adults was limited, and when the positivity effect faced the effect of the negative aging stereotype, the negative stereotype effect was dominant. Future research should explore the changes in the positivity effect in the face of a positive aging stereotype and what roles other factors (e.g., activation level of the stereotype, arousal level of affective words) might play.

The Effectiveness of CASAs in Achieving Positive Outcomes for Children.

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Litzelfelner, Pat

2000-01-01

Evaluated effectiveness of court-appointed special advocates (CASAs) in achieving positive outcomes for children in the child welfare system, using data from court and CASA program files on 200 children. Found that CASAs may have reduced the number of placements and court continuances children experienced. More services were provided to children…

Effect of the element substitutions in Cu position on positron annihilation spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Xianyi

1991-01-01

The effect of the element substitutions in Cu position on positron annihilation spectra was studied systematically by the measurement of one-dimensional angular correlation spectra of positron annihilation radiation for YBa 2 Cu 3-x M x O y (M = Sn, Al) samples. The results show that 1D ACPAR of YBaCuO superconductor is constituted by two Gaussian parts, corresponding to annihilation position sampled in the Cu-O plane and Cu-O chain respectively. The parabola like the positron annihilation with Fermi electron gas in metals and alloys is not found out. Positron annihilation spectra are sensitive to the element substitution in Cu positions, especially in Cu-chains, and could be used to probe the substituting positions in Y-Ba-Cu-O superconductors

Synergism between thrombin and adrenaline (epinephrine) in human platelets. Marked potentiation of inositol phospholipid metabolism.

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Steen, V M; Tysnes, O B; Holmsen, H

1988-01-01

We have studied synergism between adrenaline (epinephrine) and low concentrations of thrombin in gel-filtered human platelets prelabelled with [32P]Pi. Suspensions of platelets, which did not contain added fibrinogen, were incubated at 37 degrees C to measure changes in the levels of 32P-labelled phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PIP) and phosphatidate (PA), aggregation and dense-granule secretion after stimulation. Adrenaline alone (3.5-4.0 microM) did not cause a change in any parameter (phosphoinositide metabolism, aggregation and dense-granule secretion), but markedly enhanced the thrombin-induced responses over a narrow range of thrombin concentrations (0.03-0.08 units/ml). The thrombin-induced hydrolysis of inositol phospholipids by phospholipase C, which was measured as the formation of [32P]PA, was potentiated by adrenaline, as was the increase in the levels of [32P]PIP2 and [32P]PIP. The presence of adrenaline caused a shift to the left for the thrombin-induced changes in the phosphoinositide metabolism, without affecting the maximal levels of 32P-labelled compounds obtained. A similar shift by adrenaline in the dose-response relationship was previously demonstrated for thrombin-induced aggregation and dense-granule secretion. Also, the narrow range of concentrations of thrombin over which adrenaline potentiates thrombin-induced platelet responses is the same for changes in phosphoinositide metabolism and physiological responses (aggregation and dense-granule secretion). Our observations clearly indicate that adrenaline directly or indirectly influences thrombin-induced changes in phosphoinositide metabolism. PMID:2845924

Slope position and Soil Lithological Effects on Live Leaf Nitrogen Concentration.

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Szink, I.; Adams, T. S.; Orr, A. S.; Eissenstat, D. M.

2017-12-01

Soil lithology has been shown to have an effect on plant physiology from the roots to the leaves. Soils at ridgetop positions are typically more shallow and drier than soils at valley floor positions. Additionally, sandy soils tend to have a much lower water holding capacity and can be much harder for plants to draw nutrients from. We hypothesized that leaves from trees in shale derived soil at ridgetop positions will have lower nitrogen concentration than those in valley floor positions, and that this difference will be more pronounced in sandstone derived soils. This is due to the movement of nitrogen through the soil in a catchment, and the holding and exchange capacities of shale and sandstone lithologies. To test this, we collected live leaves using shotgun sampling from two locations in Central Pennsylvania from the Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (SSHCZO); one location where soils are underlain by the Rose Hill Shale, and one from where soils are underlain by the Tuscarora Sandstone formation. We then measured, dried, and massed in order to determine specific leaf area (SLA). Afterwards, we powderized the leaves to determined their C:N ratio using a CE Instruments EA 1110 CHNS-O elemental Analyzer based on the "Dumas Method". We found that live leaves of the same species at higher elevations had lower nitrogen concentrations than those at lower elevations, which is consistent with our hypothesis. However, the comparison of leaves from all species in the catchment is not as strong, suggesting that there is a species specific effect on nitrogen concentration within leaves. We are currently processing additional leaves from other shale and sandstone sites. These results highlight the effect of abiotic environments on leaf nutrient concentrations, and the connection between belowground and aboveground tree physiology.

Cognitive reserve and emotional stimuli in older individuals: level of education moderates the age-related positivity effect.

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Bruno, Davide; Brown, Adam D; Kapucu, Aycan; Marmar, Charles R; Pomara, Nunzio

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: A frequently observed age-related effect is a preference in older individuals for positive stimuli. The cognitive control model proposes that this positivity effect may be mediated by executive functions. We propose that cognitive reserve, operationally defined as years of education, which tempers cognitive decline and has been linked to executive functions, should also influence the age-related positivity effect, especially as age advances. An emotional free recall test was administered to a group of 84 cognitively intact individuals aged 60 to 88, who varied in years of education. As part of a larger test battery, data were obtained on measures of executive functioning and depression. Multiple regression and moderation analyses were performed, controlling for general cognitive function, severity of depressive symptoms, and executive function. In our data, years of education appeared to moderate the effect of age on the positivity effect; age was negatively associated with recall of positive words in participants with fewer years of education, whereas a nonsignificant positive correlation was observed between age and positivity in participants with more education. Cognitive reserve appears to play a role in explaining individual differences in the positivity effect in healthy older individuals. Future studies should investigate whether cognitive reserve is also implicated in the ability to process a wide range of emotional stimuli and whether greater reserve is reflected in improved emotional regulation.

Autonomy, positive relationships, and IL-6: evidence for gender-specific effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory; Segerstrom, Suzanne

2013-05-01

A body of evidence indicates that women value relationship-centred aspects of well-being more than men do, while men value autonomy-centred aspects of well-being more than women do. The current study examined whether gender moderates relations between autonomy and positive relationships and interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine associated with inflammatory processes. Aspects of well-being consistent with gender-linked values were expected to be most health protective such that positive relationships would predict lower IL-6 only or more strongly in women, and autonomy would predict lower IL-6 only or more strongly in men. In the first study, a sample of 119 older adults (55% female) living in Kentucky were visited in their homes for interviews and blood draws. In the second study, a sample of 1,028 adults (45% female) living across the United States underwent a telephone interview followed by a visit to a research centre for blood draws. In the Kentucky sample, autonomy was quadratically related to IL-6 such that moderate autonomy predicted higher IL-6; this effect was stronger in men. In the US national sample, more positive relationships were associated with lower IL-6 in women only. When the national sample was restricted to match the Kentucky sample, moderate autonomy was again associated with higher IL-6 in men only. Results provide preliminary evidence for gender-specific effects of positive relationships and autonomy on IL-6. Further work is needed to establish the generalizability of these effects to different ages, cultures, and health statuses. What is already known on this subject? A host of previous work indicates that women value relationship-centred aspects of well-being more than men, while men value autonomy-centred aspects of well-being more than women. Further, there is some evidence suggesting that well-being consistent with gender-linked values is more health protective, such that relationships are more protective for women than for men, while

Synergism and rules from combination of Baicalin, Jasminoidin and Desoxycholic acid in refined Qing Kai Ling for treat ischemic stroke mice model.

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Jian Li

Full Text Available Refined Qing-Kai-Ling (QKL, a modified Chinese medicine, consists of three main ingredients (Baicalin, Jasminoidin and Desoxycholic acid, plays a synergistic effect on the treatment of the acute stage of ischemic stroke. However, the rules of the combination and synergism are still unknown. Based on the ischemic stroke mice model, all different kinds of combination of Baicalin, Jasminoidin, and Desoxycholic acid were investigated by the methods of neurological examination, microarray, and genomics analysis. As a result, it confirmed that the combination of three drugs offered a better therapeutical effect on ischemic stroke than monotherapy of each drug. Additionally, we used Ingenuity pathway Analysis (IPA and principal component analysis (PCA to extract the dominant information of expression changes in 373 ischemia-related genes. The results suggested that 5 principal components (PC1-5 could account for more than 95% energy in the gene data. Moreover, 3 clusters (PC1, PC2+PC5, and PC3+PC4 were addressed with cluster analysis. Furthermore, we matched PCs on the drug-target networks, the findings demonstrated that Baicalin related with PC1 that played the leading role in the combination; Jasminoidin related with PC2+PC5 that played a compensatory role; while Desoxycholic acid had the least performance alone which could relate with PC3+PC4 that played a compatible role. These manifestations were accorded with the principle of herbal formulae of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM, emperor-minister-adjuvant-courier. In conclusion, we firstly provided scientific evidence to the classic theory of TCM formulae, an initiating holistic viewpoint of combination therapy of TCM. This study also illustrated that PCA might be an applicable method to analyze the complicated data of drug combination.

Sample positioning effects in x-ray spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carpenter, D.

Instrument error due to variation in sample position in a crystal x-ray spectrometer can easily exceed the total instrumental error. Lack of reproducibility in sample position in the x-ray optics is the single largest source of system error. The factors that account for sample positioning error are described, and many of the details of flat crystal x-ray optics are discussed

Enhanced synergism of antibiotics with zinc oxide nanoparticles against extended spectrum β-lactamase producers implicated in urinary tract infections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhande, Rashmi M.; Khobragade, C. N.; Mane, R. S.; Bhande, S.

2013-01-01

In this study, enhanced synergistic bioactivity of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) with β-lactam antibiotics were evaluated against a panel of clinically isolated extended spectrum β-lactamase producers implicated in urinary tract infections. Chemically synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles (15 nm) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmittance electron microscopy (HR-TEM), selective area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV–Visible spectrophotometry techniques. The antimicrobial potency (10 ± 0.66, 12, 11.33 ± 1.10, and 0.7 ± 0.66 mm inhibiting zone) and minimum inhibitory concentrations (80, 60, 30, 50 μg/ml) of ZnO NPs were tested separately whereas time–kill and membrane leakage assays were evaluated in combination with ZnO NPs+ cefotaxime, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, cefepime against the β-lactamase producer strains of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, S. paucimobilis, and P. aeruginosa, respectively. Time–kill curve dynamics of ZnO NPs with β-lactam antibiotics revealed enhanced bactericidal activity (50, 85, 58, 50 % fold inhibition) by delaying the exponential and stationary phases of all isolates when tested separately. Posttime–kill effect was studied on cell membrane by assaying leakage of reducing sugars (130.2, 124.7, 137, and 115.8 μg/bacterial dry weight of 1 mg (μg/mg) and proteins (15, 10, 16, 18 μg/mg). These assays revealed that membrane leakage was due to synergism of ZnO NPs+ β-lactam antibiotics which successfully damage cell membrane thereby leading to death of all ESBL producers. The results demonstrate the utilization of ZnO NPs as a potentiator of β-lactam antibiotics and suggest the possibility to use nanoparticles in a combination therapy to treat UTI.

Enhanced synergism of antibiotics with zinc oxide nanoparticles against extended spectrum β-lactamase producers implicated in urinary tract infections

Science.gov (United States)

Bhande, Rashmi M.; Khobragade, C. N.; Mane, R. S.; Bhande, S.

2013-01-01

In this study, enhanced synergistic bioactivity of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) with β-lactam antibiotics were evaluated against a panel of clinically isolated extended spectrum β-lactamase producers implicated in urinary tract infections. Chemically synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles (15 nm) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmittance electron microscopy (HR-TEM), selective area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Visible spectrophotometry techniques. The antimicrobial potency (10 ± 0.66, 12, 11.33 ± 1.10, and 0.7 ± 0.66 mm inhibiting zone) and minimum inhibitory concentrations (80, 60, 30, 50 μg/ml) of ZnO NPs were tested separately whereas time-kill and membrane leakage assays were evaluated in combination with ZnO NPs+ cefotaxime, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, cefepime against the β-lactamase producer strains of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, S. paucimobilis, and P. aeruginosa, respectively. Time-kill curve dynamics of ZnO NPs with β-lactam antibiotics revealed enhanced bactericidal activity (50, 85, 58, 50 % fold inhibition) by delaying the exponential and stationary phases of all isolates when tested separately. Posttime-kill effect was studied on cell membrane by assaying leakage of reducing sugars (130.2, 124.7, 137, and 115.8 μg/bacterial dry weight of 1 mg (μg/mg) and proteins (15, 10, 16, 18 μg/mg). These assays revealed that membrane leakage was due to synergism of ZnO NPs+ β-lactam antibiotics which successfully damage cell membrane thereby leading to death of all ESBL producers. The results demonstrate the utilization of ZnO NPs as a potentiator of β-lactam antibiotics and suggest the possibility to use nanoparticles in a combination therapy to treat UTI.

High-effective position time spectrometer in actual measurements of low intensity region of electron spectra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babenkov, M.I.; Zhdanov, V.S.

2002-01-01

Magnetic position-time spectrometer was proposed in previous work, where not only electron coordinates in focal plane are measured by position sensitive detector (PSD) but places of their birth in beta source plane of a large area are fixed using another PSD, situated behind it, by quick effects, accompanying radioactive decay. PSD on the basis of macro-channel plates are used. It is succeeded in position-time spectrometer to combine beta sources of a large area with multichannel registration for a wide energy interval, that efficiency of measurements was two orders of magnitude increase d in comparison magnetic apparatus having PSD only in focal plane. Owing to two detectors' switching on coincidence the relation effect/background in increased minimum on two orders of magnitude in comparison with the same apparatus. At some complication of mathematical analysis it was obtained, that high characteristics of position-time spectrometer are kept during the use the magnetic field, providing double focusing. Owning to this focusing the gain the efficiency of measurements will make one more order of magnitude. Presented high-effective position-time spectrometer is supposed to use in the measurements of low-intensity region of electron spectra, which are important for development of fundamental physics. This is the first of all estimation of electron anti-neutrino mass by the form of beta spectrum of tritium in the region of boundary energy. Recently here there was problem of non physical negative values. This problem can be solved by using in measurement of different in principle high-effective spectrometers, which possess improved background properties. A position-time spectrometers belongs to these apparatus, which provides the best background conditions at very large effectiveness of the measurements of tritium beta spectrum in the region of boundary energy with acceptable high resolution. An important advantage of position-time spectrometer is the possibility of

Effect of parental family history of Alzheimer's disease on serial position profiles.

Science.gov (United States)

La Rue, Asenath; Hermann, Bruce; Jones, Jana E; Johnson, Sterling; Asthana, Sanjay; Sager, Mark A

2008-07-01

An exaggerated recency effect (ie, disproportionate recall of last-presented items) has been consistently observed in the word list learning of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our study sought to determine whether there were similar alterations in serial position learning among asymptomatic persons at risk for AD as a result of parental family history. Subjects included 623 asymptomatic middle-aged children of patients with AD (median, 53 years) and 157 control participants whose parents survived to at least age 70 without AD or other memory disorders. All participants were administered the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, which requires learning and recall of 15 unrelated nouns. There was no significant difference in total words recalled between the AD children and control groups. However, compared with controls, AD children exhibited a significantly greater tendency to recall words from the end (recency) versus beginning (primacy) of the list. Serial position effects were unrelated to apolipoprotein allele epsilon 4 or depressive symptoms. Asymptomatic persons at risk for AD by virtue of family history do not show a difference in total words recalled compared with controls, but they exhibit a distinctly different serial position curve, suggesting greater reliance on immediate as opposed to episodic memory. This is the same serial position pattern observed in mild AD, seen here in reduced severity. Longitudinal follow-up is planned to determine whether changes in serial position patterns are a meaningful marker for preclinical detection of AD.

Effect of Positive Psychotherapy in Depression Symptoms and Character Strengths in Cancer Affected Patients

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R Khodabakhash

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to study the effect of positive psychotherapy on depression symptoms and character strengths in cancer affected patients. Based on a quasi-experimental design by available sampling, 58 cancer patients were investigated. 30 patients were assigned in two groups: 15 patients in positive psychotherapy group (treatment and 15 patients as control group. In the present research, Oxford Happiness-Depression Questionnaire (OHDQ and Values In Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS were used. The results showed that the positive psychotherapy was effective in reducing depression, increasing the character strengths and virtues, improving meaningful, pleasant and engaged life of cancer patients.

Exploring subgroup effects by socioeconomic position of three effective school-based dietary interventions: the European TEENAGE project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lien, N.; Haerens, L.; te Velde, S.J.; Mercken, L.; Klepp, K.I.; Moore, L.; de Bourdeaudhuij, I.; Faggiano, F.; Lenthe, F.J.

2014-01-01

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore subgroup effects by high and low socioeconomic position (SEP) of three previously conducted, effective European interventions. Methods: Reanalyses stratified by SEP were conducted by the research groups of each study. All studies were school-based:

Discernment of synergism in pyrolysis of biomass blends using thermogravimetric analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallick, Debarshi; Poddar, Maneesh Kumar; Mahanta, Pinakeswar; Moholkar, Vijayanand S

2018-04-12

This study reports pyrolysis kinetics of biomass blends using isoconversional methods, viz. Friedman, FWO and KAS. Blends of three biomasses, viz. saw dust, bamboo dust and rice husk, were used. Extractives and volatiles in biomass and minerals in ash had marked influence on enhancement of reaction kinetics during co-pyrolysis, as indicated by reduction in activation energy and increase in decomposition intensity. Pyrolysis kinetics of saw dust and rice husk accelerated (positive synergy), while that of bamboo dust decelerated after blending (negative synergy). Predominant reaction mechanism of all biomass blends was 3-D diffusion in lower conversion range (α ≤ 0.5), while for α ≥ 0.5 pyrolysis followed random nucleation (or nucleation and growth mechanism). Higher reaction order for pyrolysis of blends of rice husk with saw dust and bamboo dust was attributed to catalytic effect of minerals in ash. Positive ΔH and ΔG was obtained for pyrolysis of all biomass blends. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automatic and controlled attentional orienting in the elderly: A dual-process view of the positivity effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Gronchi, G; Righi, S; Pierguidi, L; Giovannelli, F; Murasecco, I; Viggiano, M P

2018-04-01

The positivity effect in the elderly consists of an attentional preference for positive information as well as avoidance of negative information. Extant theories predict either that the positivity effect depends on controlled attentional processes (socio-emotional selectivity theory), or on an automatic gating selection mechanism (dynamic integration theory). This study examined the role of automatic and controlled attention in the positivity effect. Two dot-probe tasks (with the duration of the stimuli lasting 100 ms and 500 ms, respectively) were employed to compare the attentional bias of 35 elderly people to that of 35 young adults. The stimuli used were expressive faces displaying neutral, disgusted, fearful, and happy expressions. In comparison to young people, the elderly allocated more attention to happy faces at 100 ms and they tended to avoid fearful faces at 500 ms. The findings are not predicted by either theory taken alone, but support the hypothesis that the positivity effect in the elderly is driven by two different processes: an automatic attention bias toward positive stimuli, and a controlled mechanism that diverts attention away from negative stimuli. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Positive emotional change: mediating effects of forgiveness and spirituality.

Science.gov (United States)

Levenson, Michael R; Aldwin, Carolyn M; Yancura, Loriena

2006-01-01

We evaluated the efficacy of an emotional education program that seeks to reduce the intergenerational transmission of negative interaction patterns by increasing forgiveness and spirituality. We examined both reduction of psychological symptoms and increase in positive psychological outcomes over the course of a year, as well as the mediators of this change. At baseline, the sample consisted of 99 participants and 47 waiting list controls. Comparisons of scores from baseline (Time 1) to one week after the Hoffman Quadrinity Process (Time 2) showed large declines in negative affect (depressive symptoms) and increases in both positive outcomes (mastery, empathy, emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, forgiveness, and spiritual experience) and health and well-being. Over the course of a year, most of these gains were sustained, in comparison with the control group. Further, increases in forgiveness and spirituality mediated the effect of program participation on depressive symptoms.

Investigating the effects of tea, water and a positive affect induction on mood and creativity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Einöther, S.J.L.; Baas, M.; Rowson, M.; Giesbrecht, T.

2015-01-01

Positive affect has been shown to be predictive of improved creativity. This study investigated the immediate effect of the tea experience on positive affect and creativity, compared to both a neutral and positive control condition. Regular tea drinkers (N = 150) were allocated to three conditions:

Positive or negative Poynting effect? The role of adscititious inequalities in hyperelastic materials

KAUST Repository

Mihai, L. A.; Goriely, A.

2011-01-01

Motivated by recent experiments on biopolymer gels whereby the reverse of the usual (positive) Poynting effect was observed, we investigate the effect of the so-called 'adscititious inequalities' on the behaviour of hyperelastic materials subject

The Positive Effects of Cognitive Learning Styles in ELT Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Yagcioglu, Ozlem

2016-01-01

In the EFL, ESL, ESP and in the ELT classes, students are taught their courses with different kinds of methods and approaches. Cognitive learning styles are the most essential styles in foreign language education. In this paper, the positive effects of cognitive learning styles will be handled. The benefits of these styles will be highlighted.…

Flowshop Scheduling Problems with a Position-Dependent Exponential Learning Effect

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Mingbao Cheng

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We consider a permutation flowshop scheduling problem with a position-dependent exponential learning effect. The objective is to minimize the performance criteria of makespan and the total flow time. For the two-machine flow shop scheduling case, we show that Johnson’s rule is not an optimal algorithm for minimizing the makespan given the exponential learning effect. Furthermore, by using the shortest total processing times first (STPT rule, we construct the worst-case performance ratios for both criteria. Finally, a polynomial-time algorithm is proposed for special cases of the studied problem.

Relativistic effects on complexity indexes in atoms in position and momentum spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maldonado, P.; Sarsa, A.; Buendia, E.; Galvez, F.J.

2010-01-01

Three different statistical measures of complexity are explored for the atoms He to Ra. The measures are analysed in both position and momentum spaces. Relativistic effects on the complexity indexes are systematically studied. These effects are discussed in terms of the information content factor and the disorder terms of the complexity indexes. Relativistic and non-relativistic complexity indexes are calculated from Optimized Effective Potential densities.

The effect of selective phosphodiesterase inhibitors, alone and in combination, on a murine model of allergic asthma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Galbraith Deirdre

2004-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The anti-inflammatory effects of the selective phosphodiesterase (PDE inhibitors cilostazol (PDE 3, RO 20-1724 (PDE 4 and sildenafil (PDE 5 were examined in a murine model of allergic asthma. These compounds were used alone and in combination to determine any potential synergism, with dexamethasone included as a positive control. Methods Control and ovalbumin sensitised Balb/C mice were administered orally with each of the possible combinations of drugs at a dose of 3 mg/Kg for 10 days. Results When used alone, RO 20-1724 significantly reduced eosinophil influx into lungs and lowered tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin-4 and interleukin-5 levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid when compared to untreated mice. Treatment with cilostazol or sildenafil did not significantly inhibit any markers of inflammation measured. Combining any of these PDE inhibitors produced no additive or synergistic effects. Indeed, the anti-inflammatory effects of RO 20-1724 were attenuated by co-administration of either cilostazol or sildenafil. Conclusions These results suggest that concurrent treatment with a PDE 3 and/or PDE 5 inhibitor will reduce the anti-inflammatory effectiveness of a PDE 4 inhibitor.

Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure on renal function.

Science.gov (United States)

Järnberg, P O; de Villota, E D; Eklund, J; Granberg, P O

1978-01-01

The effects were studied positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on renal function in eight patients with acute respiratory failure, requiring mechanical ventilation. On application of PEEP + 10 cm H2O, central venous pressure increased, systolic blood pressure decreased, urine flow and PAH-clearance were reduced, while inulin clearance remained stable. There was a marked increase in fractional sodium reabsorption and a concurrent decrease in fractional osmolal excretion. Fractional free-water clearance and the ratio UOsm/POsm did change.

Positive emotion in distress as a potentially effective emotion regulation strategy for depression: A preliminary investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, Keiko; Ito, Masaya; Takebayashi, Yoshitake

2018-03-12

Emotion regulation utilizing positive emotion during negative emotional states might be one of the effective ways to alleviate depression and anxiety problems among people with emotional disorders. This study examined the psychometric properties and incremental validity of the Positive Emotion In Distress Scale (PEIDS), a newly developed self-report scale, in a sample of university students in Japan. To examine the psychometric properties of the PEIDS, the scale was completed by Japanese university students (396 men and 363 women; mean age of 19.92). Participants additionally answered the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Rumination and Reflection Questionnaire - Shorter Version, Affective Style Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Affective Schedule, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The survey was conducted at two time points separated by 1 month to assess test-retest reliability and validity of the PEIDS. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed a one-factor structure. Reliability was confirmed by high internal consistency and test-retest stability; the convergent and discriminant validity was confirmed by correlations with related and unrelated variables. The results of hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that positive emotion in distress might predict depression above and beyond the effect of baseline depression and other common emotion regulation strategies. The PEIDS showed acceptable reliability and validity within young adults and a non-clinical population in Japan. Further research will be needed to examine the effect of positive emotion among clinical populations. Previous research suggests that positive emotions play a key role in recovery from depression and anxiety problems through some forms of psychotherapy. The Positive Emotion In Distress Scale (PEIDS) measures individual differences regarding the extent to which people can experience positive emotions in negative emotional states. Results suggested that the

Quantal health effects for a combination of several toxic agents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seiler, F A

1988-12-01

Quantal health effects caused by the combined action of a number of toxic agents are modeled using the information available for each toxicant acting in isolation. Two basic models are used; one assumes no interaction, the other postulates a separable kind of interaction in which each agent contributes an enhancement factor independent of all other agents. These two models provide yardsticks by which to measure synergisms and antagonisms in the interaction between the effects of toxic agents. Equations are given in approximations for small and large values of the risk. (author)

Quantal health effects for a combination of several toxic agents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seiler, F.A.

1988-01-01

Quantal health effects caused by the combined action of a number of toxic agents are modeled using the information available for each toxicant acting in isolation. Two basic models are used; one assumes no interaction, the other postulates a separable kind of interaction in which each agent contributes an enhancement factor independent of all other agents. These two models provide yardsticks by which to measure synergisms and antagonisms in the interaction between the effects of toxic agents. Equations are given in approximations for small and large values of the risk. (author)

The Upward Spiral of Adolescents' Positive School Experiences and Happiness: Investigating Reciprocal Effects over Time

Science.gov (United States)

Stiglbauer, Barbara; Gnambs, Timo; Gamsjager, Manuela; Batinic, Bernad

2013-01-01

In line with self-determination theory and Fredrickson's (2001) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, this study adopts a positive perspective on students' school experiences and their general psychological functioning. The reciprocal effects of positive school experiences and happiness, a dimension of affective well-being, are examined…

The effect of emphasis and position on word identification by adult cochlear implant listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Morris, David Jackson; Magnusson, Lennart; Jönsson, Radoslava

2013-01-01

sentence framework. It was found that emphasised stimuli were not identified more accurately than unemphasised stimuli. A regression analysis revealed a significant main effect for words drawn from the initial position in a sentence, however there was no interaction between original word position...

Prioritizing Positivity: An Effective Approach to Pursuing Happiness?

Science.gov (United States)

Catalino, Lahnna I.; Algoe, Sara B.; Fredrickson, Barbara L.

2017-01-01

A decade of research reveals the benefits of positive emotions for mental and physical health; however, recent empirical work suggests the explicit pursuit of happiness may backfire. The present study hypothesized that the pursuit of happiness is not inherently self-defeating; in particular, individuals who seek positivity, as exemplified by how they make decisions about how to organize their day-to-day lives, may be happier. This individual difference is labeled prioritizing positivity. In a community sample of young to older adults (N = 233), prioritizing positivity predicted a host of well-being outcomes (positive emotions, depressive symptomology). In addition, people high in prioritizing positivity have greater resources, and these links are explained by more frequent experiences of positive emotions. In sum, the present study suggests that seeking happiness, although a delicate art, may be a worthwhile pursuit. PMID:25401290

Effects of particle's off-axis position, shape, orientation and entry position on resistance changes of micro Coulter counting devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin, Zhenpeng; Zhe, Jiang; Wang, Guo-Xiang

2011-01-01

With the recent advance in micro/nano-fabrication technology, micro Coulter counters have been widely used in detecting and characterizing micro- and nanoscale objects. In this paper, the electrical resistance change during translocation of a non-conducting particle through a channel is studied numerically. The numerical results are validated by proven analytical results available in the literature. The effects of particle's off-axis position, shape and orientation, and entry position are studied for particles with a large dynamic range. From the numerical results, a new fitted correlation is proposed that can accurately predict the resistance change caused by off-axis spherical particles regardless of their size. The shape and orientation effects of the electrical resistance change are studied by changing the axis ratio of spheroid particles and their orientation angles. Results show that a particle's shape and orientation have a significant influence on the resistance change. Simulation of an entry effect indicates that a particle starts to induce a resistance change before it enters the channel and still causes a resistance change even after the particle exits the channel completely. This study will offer some guidelines in designing and implementing Coulter counting devices and experiments, and provide insights into explaining experimental results

Decreasing the effective radiation dose in pediatric craniofacial CT by changing head position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Didier, Ryne A.; Kuang, Anna A.; Schwartz, Daniel L.; Selden, Nathan R.; Stevens, Donna M.; Bardo, Dianna M.E.

2010-01-01

Children are exposed to ionizing radiation during pre- and post-operative evaluation for craniofacial surgery. The primary purpose of the study was to decrease effective radiation dose while preserving the diagnostic quality of the study. In this prospective study 49 children were positioned during craniofacial CT (CFCT) imaging with their neck fully extended into an exaggerated sniff position, parallel to the CT gantry, to eliminate the majority of the cervical spine and the thyroid gland from radiation exposure. Image-quality and effective radiation dose comparisons were made retrospectively in age-matched controls (n = 49). When compared to CT scans reviewed retrospectively, the prospective examinations showed a statistically significant decrease in z-axis length by 16% (P < 0.0001) and delivered a reduced effective radiation dose by 18% (P < 0.0001). The subjective diagnostic quality of the exams performed in the prospective arm was maintained despite a slight decrease in the quality of the brain windows. There was statistically significant improvement in the quality of the bone windows and three-dimensional reconstructed images. Altering the position of the head by extending the neck during pediatric craniofacial CT imaging statistically reduces the effective radiation dose while maintaining the diagnostic quality of the images. (orig.)

Effects of positive electrical feedback in the oscillating Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction: Experiments and simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sriram, K.

2006-01-01

This paper describes both the experimental and numerical investigations on the effect of positive electrical feedback in the oscillating Belovsou-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction under batch conditions. Positive electrical feedback causes an increase in the amplitude and period of the oscillations with the corresponding increase of the feedback strength. Oregonator model with a positive feedback term suitably incorporated in one of the dynamical variables is used to account for these experimental observations. Further, the effect of positive feedback on the Hopf points are investigated numerically by constructing the bifurcation diagrams. In the absence of feedback, for a particular stoichiometric parameter, the model exhibits both supercritical and subcritical Hopf bifurcations with canard existing near the former Hopf point. In the presence of positive feedback it is observed that (i) both the Hopf points advances, (ii) the distance between the two Hopf points decreases linearly, while the period increases exponentially with the increase of feedback strength near the Hopf points, (iii) only supercritical Hopf point without canard survives for a very strong positive feedback strength and (iv) moderate feedback strength takes the system away from limit cycle to the canard regime. These observations are explained in terms of Field-Koeroes-Noyes mechanism of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. This may be the first instance where the advancement of Hopf points due to positive feedback is clearly shown

Suppressor Effects of Positive and Negative Religious Coping on Academic Burnout Among Korean Middle School Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Noh, Hyunkyung; Chang, Eunbi; Jang, Yoojin; Lee, Ji Hae; Lee, Sang Min

2016-02-01

Statistical suppressor effects in prediction models can provide evidence of the interdependent relationship of independent variables. In this study, the suppressor effects of positive and negative religious coping on academic burnout were examined using longitudinal data. First, 388 middle school students reported their type of religion and use of positive and negative religious coping strategies. Four months later, they also reported their level of academic burnout. From structural equation modeling, significant suppressor effects were found among religious students. That is, the coefficients became larger when both positive and negative religious coping predicted academic burnout simultaneously, compared to when each religious coping predicted academic burnout alone. However, suppressor effects were not found among non-religious students.

Effect of patient position on the lordosis and scoliosis of patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Fei, Han; Li, Wei-Shi; Sun, Zhuo-Ran; Jiang, Shuai; Chen, Zhong-Qiang

2017-08-01

This study aimed to analyze the effect of patient positions on the lordosis and scoliosis of patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS).Seventy-seven patients with DLS were retrospectively analyzed. We measured lordosis and Cobb's angle on preoperative upright x-rays and magnetic resonance imagings in supine position. The lordosis and scoliosis of surgical segments in intraoperative prone position were measured on intraoperative radiographs of 20 patients to compare with that in standing position. Paired t tests were performed to investigate the parameters of the sample.From standing to supine position the whole lordosis increased (29.2 ± 15.7 degree vs. 34.9 ± 11.2 degree), and the whole scoliosis decreased (24.3 ± 11.8 degree vs. 19.0 ± 10.5 degree); 53 of 77 (68.8%) cases had increased lordosis, and 67 of 77 (87%) cases had decreased scoliosis. The lordosis of surgical segments in standing position had no difference with that in intraoprerative prone position. But in changing from supine/standing position to intraoprerative prone position, the scoliosis of surgical segments decreased (14.7 ± 9.4 degree vs. 11.4 ± 7.0 degree; 19.0 ± 11.8 degree vs. 11.4 ± 7.0 degree, respectively), and 18 of 20 (90%) cases had decreased scoliosis in intraoperative prone position than that in standing position.Compared with standing position in DLS patients, supine position increased lordosis and reduced scoliosis, and intraoperative prone position reduced scoliosis significantly. When evaluating the severity of DLS and making preoperative surgical plans, lumbar lordosis in supine position should also be evaluated in addition to upright x-ray, and the effects of different positions should be taken into consideration to reduce deviation.

Evaluation of the combination effect of different antiviral compounds against HIV in vitro

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, A M; Nielsen, C; Mathiesen, Lars Reinhardt

1993-01-01

3'-azido-3'deoxythymidine (AZT), a clinically used anti-HIV compound, was evaluated for antiviral effect on HIV infection in combination with other antiviral compounds in vitro. Interactions were evaluated by the median-effect principle and the isobologram technique. Synergistic effect was obtained...... by combining many evaluated antiviral agents with AZT. We observed a difference in the degree of synergism depending on the evaluated compound; the results indicate that compounds with the same target in the viral replicative cycle (ddI: 2',3'-dideoxyinosine, didanosine; d4T: 2',3'-dideoxy-2...

Positive, negative, and bipolar questions: The effect of question polarity on ratings of text readability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naomi Kamoen

2013-12-01

Full Text Available For decades, survey researchers have known that respondents give different answers to attitude questions worded positively (X is good. Agree-Disagree, negatively (X is bad. Agree-Disagree or on a bipolar scale (X is bad-good. This makes survey answers hard to interpret, especially since findings on exactly how the answers are affected are conflicting. In the current paper, we present twelve studies in which the effect of question polarity was measured for a set of thirteen contrastive adjectives. In each study, the same adjectives were used so the generalizability of wording effects across studies could be examined for each word pair. Results show that for five of the word pairs an effect of question wording can be generalized. The direction of these effects are largely consistent: respondents generally give the same answers to positive and bipolar questions, but they are more likely to disagree with negative questions than to agree with positive questions or to choose the positive side of the bipolar scale. In other words, respondents express their opinions more positively when the question is worded negatively. Even though answers to the three wording alternatives sometimes differ, results also show that reliable answers can be obtained with all three wording alternatives. So, for survey practice, these results suggest that all three wording alternatives may be used for attitude measurement.

Synergism and Antagonism between Bacillus thuringiensis Vip3A and Cry1 Proteins in Heliothis virescens, Diatraea saccharalis and Spodoptera frugiperda

Science.gov (United States)

Lemes, Ana Rita Nunes; Davolos, Camila Chiaradia; Legori, Paula Cristina Brunini Crialesi; Fernandes, Odair Aparecido; Ferré, Juan; Lemos, Manoel Victor Franco; Desiderio, Janete Apparecida

2014-01-01

Second generation Bt crops (insect resistant crops carrying Bacillus thuringiensis genes) combine more than one gene that codes for insecticidal proteins in the same plant to provide better control of agricultural pests. Some of the new combinations involve co-expression of cry and vip genes. Because Cry and Vip proteins have different midgut targets and possibly different mechanisms of toxicity, it is important to evaluate possible synergistic or antagonistic interactions between these two classes of toxins. Three members of the Cry1 class of proteins and three from the Vip3A class were tested against Heliothis virescens for possible interactions. At the level of LC50, Cry1Ac was the most active protein, whereas the rest of proteins tested were similarly active. However, at the level of LC90, Cry1Aa and Cry1Ca were the least active proteins, and Cry1Ac and Vip3A proteins were not significantly different. Under the experimental conditions used in this study, we found an antagonistic effect of Cry1Ca with the three Vip3A proteins. The interaction between Cry1Ca and Vip3Aa was also tested on two other species of Lepidoptera. Whereas antagonism was observed in Spodoptera frugiperda, synergism was found in Diatraea saccharalis. In all cases, the interaction between Vip3A and Cry1 proteins was more evident at the LC90 level than at the LC50 level. The fact that the same combination of proteins may result in a synergistic or an antagonistic interaction may be an indication that there are different types of interactions within the host, depending on the insect species tested. PMID:25275646

False Positive and False Negative Effects on Network Attacks

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Yilun

2018-01-01

Robustness against attacks serves as evidence for complex network structures and failure mechanisms that lie behind them. Most often, due to detection capability limitation or good disguises, attacks on networks are subject to false positives and false negatives, meaning that functional nodes may be falsely regarded as compromised by the attacker and vice versa. In this work, we initiate a study of false positive/negative effects on network robustness against three fundamental types of attack strategies, namely, random attacks (RA), localized attacks (LA), and targeted attack (TA). By developing a general mathematical framework based upon the percolation model, we investigate analytically and by numerical simulations of attack robustness with false positive/negative rate (FPR/FNR) on three benchmark models including Erdős-Rényi (ER) networks, random regular (RR) networks, and scale-free (SF) networks. We show that ER networks are equivalently robust against RA and LA only when FPR equals zero or the initial network is intact. We find several interesting crossovers in RR and SF networks when FPR is taken into consideration. By defining the cost of attack, we observe diminishing marginal attack efficiency for RA, LA, and TA. Our finding highlights the potential risk of underestimating or ignoring FPR in understanding attack robustness. The results may provide insights into ways of enhancing robustness of network architecture and improve the level of protection of critical infrastructures.

Effects of Nutrient Antagonism and Synergism on Yield and Fertilizer Use Efficiency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rietra, René P.J.J.; Heinen, Marius; Dimkpa, Chistian O.; Bindraban, Prem S.

2017-01-01

Interaction among plant nutrients can yield antagonistic or synergistic outcomes that influence nutrient use efficiency. To provide insight on this phenomenon, peer-reviewed articles were selected that quantified the interaction effects of nutrients on crop yield levels. In total 94 articles were

The effects of positive versus negative impact reflection on change in job performance and work-life conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Cardador, M Teresa

2014-01-01

Research on task significance and relational job design suggests that information from beneficiaries of one's work fosters perceptions of impact, and thus improved work outcomes. This paper presents results from a longitudinal field experiment examining the effect of another strategy for fostering perceptions of impact - engaging employees in regular reflection about how their work benefits others. With a sample of professionals from multiple organizations, this longitudinal study examined the effect on job performance and work-life conflict of both positive and negative impact reflection. Results show that negative impact reflection had a pronounced negative effect on job performance, but no effect on work-life conflict. Positive impact reflection had a weak positive effect on work-life conflict, but no significant effect on job performance. The direction of effects seen in the no intervention condition mirrored that of the negative impact reflection condition, suggesting a possible buffering effect for positive impact reflection. This research provides empirical and theoretical contributions to the literatures on relational job design and task significance.

Comparing the effects of positive and negative feedback in information-integration category learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Freedberg, Michael; Glass, Brian; Filoteo, J Vincent; Hazeltine, Eliot; Maddox, W Todd

2017-01-01

Categorical learning is dependent on feedback. Here, we compare how positive and negative feedback affect information-integration (II) category learning. Ashby and O'Brien (2007) demonstrated that both positive and negative feedback are required to solve II category problems when feedback was not guaranteed on each trial, and reported no differences between positive-only and negative-only feedback in terms of their effectiveness. We followed up on these findings and conducted 3 experiments in which participants completed 2,400 II categorization trials across three days under 1 of 3 conditions: positive feedback only (PFB), negative feedback only (NFB), or both types of feedback (CP; control partial). An adaptive algorithm controlled the amount of feedback given to each group so that feedback was nearly equated. Using different feedback control procedures, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that participants in the NFB and CP group were able to engage II learning strategies, whereas the PFB group was not. Additionally, the NFB group was able to achieve significantly higher accuracy than the PFB group by Day 3. Experiment 3 revealed that these differences remained even when we equated the information received on feedback trials. Thus, negative feedback appears significantly more effective for learning II category structures. This suggests that the human implicit learning system may be capable of learning in the absence of positive feedback.

Human-Induced Effects on RSS Ranging Measurements for Cooperative Positioning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Della Rosa, Francescantonio; Pelosi, Mauro; Nurmi, Jari

2012-01-01

of human-induced perturbations for enhancing the final positioning accuracy through cooperative schemes has been assessed. It has been proved that the effect of cooperation is very limited if human factors are not taken into account when performing experimental activities.......We present experimental evaluations of human-induced perturbations on received-signal-strength-(RSS-) based ranging measurements for cooperative mobile positioning. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first attempt to gain insight and understand the impact of both body loss and hand grip...... on the RSS for enhancing proximity measurements among neighbouring devices in cooperative scenarios. Our main contribution is represented by experimental investigations. Analysis of the errors introduced in the distance estimation using path-loss-based methods has been carried out. Moreover, the exploitation...

Hybrid PD and effective multi-mode positive position feedback control for slewing and vibration suppression of a smart flexible manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lou, Jun-qiang; Wei, Yan-ding; Yang, Yi-ling; Xie, Feng-ran

2015-01-01

A hybrid control strategy for slewing and vibration suppression of a smart flexible manipulator is presented in this paper. It consists of a proportional derivative controller to realize motion control, and an effective multi-mode positive position feedback (EMPPF) controller to suppress the multi-mode vibration. Rather than treat each mode equally as the standard multi-mode PPF, the essence of the EMPPF is that control forces of different modes are applied according to the mode parameters of the respective modes, so the vibration modes with less vibration energy receive fewer control forces. Stability conditions for the close loop system are established through stability analysis. Optimal parameters of the EMPPF controller are obtained using the method of root locus analysis. The performance of the proposed strategy is demonstrated by simulation and experiments. Experimental results show that the first two vibration modes of the manipulator are effectively suppressed. The setting time of the setup descends approximately 55%, reaching 3.12 s from 5.67 s. (paper)

Hybrid PD and effective multi-mode positive position feedback control for slewing and vibration suppression of a smart flexible manipulator

Science.gov (United States)

Lou, Jun-qiang; Wei, Yan-ding; Yang, Yi-ling; Xie, Feng-ran

2015-03-01

A hybrid control strategy for slewing and vibration suppression of a smart flexible manipulator is presented in this paper. It consists of a proportional derivative controller to realize motion control, and an effective multi-mode positive position feedback (EMPPF) controller to suppress the multi-mode vibration. Rather than treat each mode equally as the standard multi-mode PPF, the essence of the EMPPF is that control forces of different modes are applied according to the mode parameters of the respective modes, so the vibration modes with less vibration energy receive fewer control forces. Stability conditions for the close loop system are established through stability analysis. Optimal parameters of the EMPPF controller are obtained using the method of root locus analysis. The performance of the proposed strategy is demonstrated by simulation and experiments. Experimental results show that the first two vibration modes of the manipulator are effectively suppressed. The setting time of the setup descends approximately 55%, reaching 3.12 s from 5.67 s.

The Effect of Positive and Negative Feedback on Risk-Taking across Different Contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Losecaat Vermeer, Annabel B; Sanfey, Alan G

2015-01-01

Preferences for risky choices have often been shown to be unstable and context-dependent. Though people generally avoid gambles with mixed outcomes, a phenomenon often attributed to loss aversion, contextual factors can impact this dramatically. For example, people typically prefer risky options after a financial loss, while generally choosing safer options after a monetary gain. However, it is unclear what exactly contributes to these preference shifts as a function of prior outcomes, as these gain/loss outcomes are usually confounded with participant performance, and therefore it is unclear whether these effects are driven purely by the monetary gains or losses, or rather by success or failure at the actual task. Here, we experimentally separated the effects of monetary gains/losses from performance success/failure prior to a standard risky choice. Participants performed a task in which they experienced contextual effects: 1) monetary gain or loss based directly on performance, 2) monetary gain or loss that was randomly awarded and was, crucially, independent from performance, and 3) success or failure feedback based on performance, but without any monetary incentive. Immediately following these positive/negative contexts, participants were presented with a gain-loss gamble that they had to decide to either play or pass. We found that risk preferences for identical sets of gambles were biased by positive and negative contexts containing monetary gains and losses, but not by contexts containing performance feedback. This data suggests that the observed framing effects are driven by aversion for monetary losses and not simply by the positive or negative valence of the context, or by potential moods resulting from positive or negative contexts. These results highlight the specific context dependence of risk preferences.

Processing Distracting Non-face Emotional Images: No Evidence of an Age-Related Positivity Effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Madill, Mark; Murray, Janice E

2017-01-01

Cognitive aging may be accompanied by increased prioritization of social and emotional goals that enhance positive experiences and emotional states. The socioemotional selectivity theory suggests this may be achieved by giving preference to positive information and avoiding or suppressing negative information. Although there is some evidence of a positivity bias in controlled attention tasks, it remains unclear whether a positivity bias extends to the processing of affective stimuli presented outside focused attention. In two experiments, we investigated age-related differences in the effects of to-be-ignored non-face affective images on target processing. In Experiment 1, 27 older (64-90 years) and 25 young adults (19-29 years) made speeded valence judgments about centrally presented positive or negative target images taken from the International Affective Picture System. To-be-ignored distractor images were presented above and below the target image and were either positive, negative, or neutral in valence. The distractors were considered task relevant because they shared emotional characteristics with the target stimuli. Both older and young adults responded slower to targets when distractor valence was incongruent with target valence relative to when distractors were neutral. Older adults responded faster to positive than to negative targets but did not show increased interference effects from positive distractors. In Experiment 2, affective distractors were task irrelevant as the target was a three-digit array and did not share emotional characteristics with the distractors. Twenty-six older (63-84 years) and 30 young adults (18-30 years) gave speeded responses on a digit disparity task while ignoring the affective distractors positioned in the periphery. Task performance in either age group was not influenced by the task-irrelevant affective images. In keeping with the socioemotional selectivity theory, these findings suggest that older adults preferentially

Partial Sleep Deprivation Attenuates the Positive Affective System: Effects Across Multiple Measurement Modalities.

Science.gov (United States)

Finan, Patrick H; Quartana, Phillip J; Remeniuk, Bethany; Garland, Eric L; Rhudy, Jamie L; Hand, Matthew; Irwin, Michael R; Smith, Michael T

2017-01-01

Ample behavioral and neurobiological evidence links sleep and affective functioning. Recent self-report evidence suggests that the affective problems associated with sleep loss may be stronger for positive versus negative affective state and that those effects may be mediated by changes in electroencepholographically measured slow wave sleep (SWS). In the present study, we extend those preliminary findings using multiple measures of affective functioning. In a within-subject randomized crossover experiment, we tested the effects of one night of sleep continuity disruption via forced awakenings (FA) compared to one night of uninterrupted sleep (US) on three measures of positive and negative affective functioning: self-reported affective state, affective pain modulation, and affect-biased attention. The study was set in an inpatient clinical research suite. Healthy, good sleeping adults (N = 45) were included. Results indicated that a single night of sleep continuity disruption attenuated positive affective state via FA-induced reductions in SWS. Additionally, sleep continuity disruption attenuated the inhibition of pain by positive affect as well as attention bias to positive affective stimuli. Negative affective state, negative affective pain facilitation, nor negative attention bias were altered by sleep continuity disruption. The present findings, observed across multiple measures of affective function, suggest that sleep continuity disruption has a stronger influence on the positive affective system relative to the negative affective affective system. © Sleep Research Society 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Sleep Research Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Solvent effects in the synergistic solvent extraction of Co2+

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kandil, A.T.; Ramadan, A.

1979-01-01

The extraction of Co 2+ from a 0.1M ionic strength aqueous phase (Na + , CH 3 COOH) of pH = 5.1 was studied using thenoyltrifluoroacetone, HTTA, in eight different solvents and HTTA + trioctylphosphine oxide, TOPO, in the same solvents. A comparison of the effect of solvent dielectric constant on the equilibrium constant shows a synergism as a result of the increased hydrophobic character imparted to the metal complex due to the formation of the TOPO adduct. (author)

KORIDOR ANTAR KOTA SEBAGAI PENENTU SINERGISME SPASIAL: KAJIAN GEOGRAFI YANG SEMAKIN PENTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sri Rum Giyarsih

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The research conducted in the Yogyakarta-Surakarta Corridor is aimed at firstly understanding the dynamic of the corridor as one of the key factors to establish spatial synergism and secondly linking the findings with the recent discussion and future research agenda in urban geography. The investigation used survey research methods combined with in-depth interview with some key informants and scholars. The results of the research show that the potentials of the sub-regions within the corridor can play an important role and position to form spatial synergism in the corridor. The intra-regional proximity among sub-regions has impacted in increased efficiency in the production process. It also had an effect in reduced transportation cost. This research also found that some other issues in the corridor development such as the impact of climate change to regional development could be of interest in future research in urban geography and related fields

Effects of Modes, Obesity, and Body Position on Non-invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation Success in the Intensive Care Unit: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Türk, Murat; Aydoğdu, Müge; Gürsel, Gül

2018-01-01

Different outcomes and success rates of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) still pose a significant problem in intensive care units. Previous studies investigating different modes, body positioning, and obesity-associated hypoventilation in patients with chronic respiratory failure showed that these factors may affect ventilator mechanics to achieve a better minute ventilation. This study tried to compare pressure support (BiPAP-S) and average volume targeted pressure support (AVAPS-S) modes in patients with acute or acute-on-chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure. In addition, short-term effects of body position and obesity within both modes were analyzed. We conducted a randomized controlled study in a 7-bed intensive care unit. The course of blood gas analysis and differences in ventilation variables were compared between BiPAP-S (n=33) and AVAPS-S (n=29), and between semi-recumbent and lateral positions in both modes. No difference was found in the length of hospital stay and the course of PaCO2, pH, and HCO3 levels between the modes. There was a mean reduction of 5.7±4.1 mmHg in the PaCO2 levels in the AVAPS-S mode, and 2.7±2.3 mmHg in the BiPAP-S mode per session (ppositioning had no notable effect in both modes. Although the decrease in the PaCO2 levels in the AVAPS-S mode per session was remarkably high, the course was similar in both modes. Furthermore, obesity and body positioning had no prominent effect on the PaCO2 response and ventilator mechanics. Post hoc power analysis showed that the sample size was not adequate to detect a significant difference between the modes.

The relevance of body positioning and its training effect on badminton smash.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shiming; Zhang, Zhao; Wan, Bingjun; Wilde, Brandie; Shan, Gongbing

2017-02-01

One of the dominant skills in badminton is the forehand overhead smash, which consists of 1/5 attacks during games. Empirical evidences show that one has to adjust the body position in relation to the coming shuttlecock to produce a powerful and accurate smash. Therefore, positioning is a fundamental aspect influencing smash quality. Unfortunately, a search of literature has shown that there is a dearth/lack of study on this fundamental aspect. The goals of this study were to determine the influence of positioning and training experience on smash quality in order to discover information that could help learn/acquire the skill. Using 3D motion capture and full-body biomechanical modelling, 14 skilled and 15 novice players were analysed. Results have revealed that the body positioning has direct influence on shuttlecock release angle and clearance height of the offensive player. The results also suggest that, for training the positioning of beginners, one could conduct a self-selected comfort position towards a statically hanged shuttlecock and then step one foot back - a practical reference marker for learning. As one gains experience through repetitive training, improved limbs' coordination would increase smash quality further. We hope our findings will benefit practitioners for developing effective training programmes for beginners.

Positioning effects on lung ventilation in older normal subjects: a technegas study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krieg, S.; McCarren, B.; Alison, J.; Cowell, S.F.; Leiper, C.; Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, Sydney, NSW; El Zein, H.

2002-01-01

Full text: While the effects of positioning on the distribution of ventilation in the lungs of younger subjects has been relatively well investigated, this is not so in the older age group. Known age-associated changes in the respiratory system are proposed to alter the distribution of ventilation in the lungs of older people. The aim of the present study was therefore to determine the effects of positioning on the distribution of ventilation in the lungs of older normal subjects. The distribution of ventilation in upright sitting and right side lying was measured in ten subjects using Technegas lung ventilation during tidal breathing. In the upright sitting position ventilation was preferentially distributed to the middle and basal regions (dependent regions). Right side lying ventilation was preferentially distributed to the right lung (dependent region). These results suggest that preferential distribution of ventilation to the dependent lung regions in older subjects is mainly due to the gravity-dependent gradient in pleural pressure. It is proposed that this distribution may partly result from loss of elasticity in the lungs with ageing. Predominantly, the distribution of ventilation in the lungs of older normal subjects in our study is similar to that previously described in younger subjects (Amis et al., 1984, Kaneko et al, 1966, Milic-Emili et al, 1966. This suggests that a similar pleural pressure gradient may exist in the lungs of older and younger subjects. This is an important implication as the majority of patients that physiotherapists treat with cardiopulmonary dysfunction are in the older age group. Further research is required to determine the effects of positioning on the distribution of ventilation in older patients with cardiopulmonary dysfunction to enable direct clinical implications to be made. Copyright (2002) The Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine Inc

Postural And Eye-Positional Effects On Human Biting Force: An Experimental Study

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Altay Tabancacı

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Muscle groups affected on biting force are called temporal muscle as a major and masseter muscle as a minor. According to the human posture stability, forces of these muscles vary with the force directions. In this case, experimental investigation is strictly important such that biting force under different postural and eye- positional situations is changed. In this study, seven-male and seven-female within the age-range of 17-24 are considered corresponding to having with restorated molar tooth and without that type of tooth. With the help of specially designed biting fork, different posture- and eye-positions are investigated for experimental biting force analysis. Changes in eye-positions are not indicated significant difference for all postural positions. On one hand, it is obtained that biting force of no-filling tooth in men becomes maximum if facial muscles give full effort to biting. On the other hand, effect of facial muscles for women is not clearly noticed depending on the postural differences.

Patient position alters attenuation effects in multipinhole cardiac SPECT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timmins, Rachel; Ruddy, Terrence D.; Wells, R. Glenn

2015-01-01

Purpose: Dedicated cardiac cameras offer improved sensitivity over conventional SPECT cameras. Sensitivity gains are obtained by large numbers of detectors and novel collimator arrangements such as an array of multiple pinholes that focus on the heart. Pinholes lead to variable amounts of attenuation as a source is moved within the camera field of view. This study evaluated the effects of this variable attenuation on myocardial SPECT images. Methods: Computer simulations were performed for a set of nine point sources distributed in the left ventricular wall (LV). Sources were placed at the location of the heart in both an anthropomorphic and a water-cylinder computer phantom. Sources were translated in x, y, and z by up to 5 cm from the center. Projections were simulated with and without attenuation and the changes in attenuation were compared. A LV with an inferior wall defect was also simulated in both phantoms over the same range of positions. Real camera data were acquired on a Discovery NM530c camera (GE Healthcare, Haifa, Israel) for five min in list-mode using an anthropomorphic phantom (DataSpectrum, Durham, NC) with 100 MBq of Tc-99m in the LV. Images were taken over the same range of positions as the simulations and were compared based on the summed perfusion score (SPS), defect width, and apparent defect uptake for each position. Results: Point sources in the water phantom showed absolute changes in attenuation of ≤8% over the range of positions and relative changes of ≤5% compared to the apex. In the anthropomorphic computer simulations, absolute change increased to 20%. The changes in relative attenuation caused a change in SPS of <1.5 for the water phantom but up to 4.2 in the anthropomorphic phantom. Changes were larger for axial than for transverse translations. These results were supported by SPS changes of up to six seen in the physical anthropomorphic phantom for axial translations. Defect width was also seen to significantly increase. The

Whole-School Positive Behaviour Support: Effects on Student Discipline Problems and Academic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Luiselli, James K.; Putnam, Robert F.; Handler, Marcie W.; Feinberg, Adam B.

2005-01-01

Many students attending public schools exhibit discipline problems such as disruptive classroom behaviour, vandalism, bullying, and violence. Establishing effective discipline practices is critical to ensure academic success and to provide a safe learning environment. In this article, we describe the effects of whole-school positive behaviour…

Decreasing the Burden of Side Effects Through Positive Message Framing: an Experimental Proof-of-Concept Study.

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Wilhelm, Marcel; Rief, Winfried; Doering, Bettina K

2018-05-21

Informing patients about treatment side effects increases the occurrence and intensity of side effects. Since the obligatory informed consent procedure in drug treatments requires transparency and nocebo research suggests that the informed consent of a drug leads to an increased occurrence of the mentioned side effects, the aim of this proof of concept study was to determine the effect of two different framings of informed consent on the occurrence, intensity, and perceived threat of side effects. Healthy male participants (n = 80) were randomized to one of two framing groups. The positive framing group was informed that the common side effect dizziness was a sign that the drug had started to work, while the neutral framing group was told that dizziness is an unpleasant but well-known side effect. Side effects were measured after the administration of metoprolol, an antihypertensive agent. Post hoc moderator analyses investigated the effect of pre-existing negative beliefs about the general harm of medication on the framing manipulation. Metoprolol-specific drug-attributed side effects were rated significantly less threatening in the positive framing group. The between-group effect size (Cohen's d) was small (d = 0.38, p = 0.049). Exploratory post hoc moderator analyses suggest that participants who believed that medication is a source of harmful effects benefited from positive framing, compared to neutral framing of drug-attributed side effects. Positive framing was partially effective in decreasing specific side effect measures, particularly among participants with a tendency to believe that medicine is harmful. Informed consent procedures should therefore be personalized, focusing on patients with negative treatment beliefs.

Noticeable positive Doppler effect on optical bistability in an N-type active Raman gain atomic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang Zeng-Guang; Zhang Jing-Tao; Niu Yue-Ping; Gong Shang-Qing

2012-01-01

We theoretically investigate the Doppler effect on optical bistability in an N-type active Raman gain atomic system inside an optical ring cavity. It is shown that the Doppler effect can greatly enhance the dispersion and thus create the bistable behaviour or greatly increase the bistable region, which has been known as the positive Doppler effect on optical bistability. In addition, we find that a positive Doppler effect can change optical bistability from the hybrid dispersion-gain type to a dispersive type

Perceived duration of emotional events: evidence for a positivity effect in older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicol, Jeffrey R; Tanner, Jessica; Clarke, Kelly

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Arousal and negative affect modulate the effect of emotion on the subjective experience of the passage of time. Given that older adults are less aroused by negative emotional stimuli, and report lower levels of negative affect, compared with younger adults, the present study examined whether the effect of emotion on time perception differed in older and younger adults. Participants performed a temporal bisection task for emotional (i.e., angry, sad, happy) and neutral facial expressions presented at varying temporal intervals. Older adults perceived the duration of both positive and threatening events longer than neutral events, whereas younger adults only perceived threatening events longer than neutral events. The results, which are partially consistent with the positivity effect of aging postulated by the socioemotional selectivity theory, are the first to show how the effect of emotion on perceived duration affects older adults, and support previous research indicating that only threatening events prolong perceived duration in younger adults.

Effects of body position and sex group on tongue pressure generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dietsch, Angela M; Cirstea, Carmen M; Auer, Ed T; Searl, Jeff P

2013-11-01

Fine control of orofacial musculature is necessary to precisely accelerate and decelerate the articulators across exact distances for functional speech and coordinated swallows (Amerman & Parnell, 1990; Benjamin, 1997; Kent, Duffy, Slama, Kent, & Clift, 2001). Enhanced understanding of neural control for such movements could clarify the nature of and potential remediation for some dysarthrias and other orofacial myofunctional impairments. Numerous studies have measured orolingual force and accuracy during speech and nonspeech tasks, but have focused on young adults, maximum linguapalatal pressures, and upright positioning (O'Day, Frank, Montgomery, Nichols, & McDade, 2005; Solomon & Munson, 2004; Somodi, Robin, & Luschei, 1995; Youmans, Youmans, & Stierwalt, 2009). Patients' medical conditions or testing procedures such as concurrent neuroimaging may preclude fully upright positioning during oral motor assessments in some cases. Since judgments about lingual strength and coordination can influence clinical decisions regarding the functionality of swallowing and speech, it is imperative to understand any effects of body positioning differences. In addition, sex differences in the control of such tasks are not well defined. Therefore, this study evaluated whether pressures exerted during tongue movements differ in upright vs. supine body position in healthy middle-aged men and women. Twenty healthy middle-aged adults compressed small air-filled plastic bulbs in the oral cavity at predetermined fractions of task-specific peak pressure in a randomized block design. Tasks including phoneme repetitions and nonspeech isometric contractions were executed in upright and supine positions. Participants received continuous visual feedback regarding targets and actual exerted pressures. Analyses compared average pressure values for each subject, task, position, and effort level. Speech-like and nonspeech tongue pressures did not differ significantly across body position or sex

Effect of mobilities and electric field on the stability of magnetized positive column

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dogra, V.K.; Uberoi, M.S.

1983-01-01

The effect of ratio of the mobilities of electrons and ions and non-dimensional electric field, on the stability of magnetized positive column for all unstable modes is studied in a self-consistent formulation for the perturbations of plasma density and electric potential. The minimum non-dimensional electric field at which magnetized positive column becomes unstable for different ratios of the mobilities of electrons and ions is also investigated. (author)

Theoretical approach towards increasing effectiveness of palatal surgery in obstructive sleep apnea: role for concomitant positional therapy?

Science.gov (United States)

van Maanen, J P; Witte, B I; de Vries, N

2014-05-01

The aims of this study are to evaluate the effect of palatal surgery (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) or Z-palatoplasty (ZPP)) with or without (+/-) concomitant radiofrequent ablation of the base of the tongue (RFTB) on body position-specific apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) values in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and to compare this treatment outcome to the theoretical effect of (addition of) positional therapy (PT). Retrospective analysis of pre- and posttreatment polysomnographies in 139 patients who had undergone UPPP/ZPP +/- RFTB was performed. Hypothetical evaluation of the effects of (addition of) ideal PT on AHI in positional OSA (POSA) patients was carried out. Median AHI significantly decreased from 18.0 to 11.2 (p effect of body position needs to be taken into account. PT, either as monotherapy or in addition to surgery, theoretically has shown to improve treatment results dramatically in POSA patients. Prospective, controlled trials focusing on the effects of this combination of treatments should further evaluate this hypothetical conclusion.

Elimination of Listeria monocytogenes in sausage meat by combination treatment: Radiation and radiation-resistant bacteriocins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turgis, Mélanie; Stotz, Viviane; Dupont, Claude; Salmieri, Stéphane; Khan, Ruhul A.; Lacroix, Monique

2012-01-01

Two new bacteria were isolated from human feces and were designated MT 104 and MT 162. They were able to produce bacteriocins that are active against five strains of Listeria monocytogenes. Bacteriocins produced by these isolated strains had 100% and 82.35% residual activity when they were treated by gamma radiation at doses of 4 and 40 kGy, respectively. A reduction of 1.0, 1.5 and 3 log CFU/g of L. monocytogenes was observed in sausage meat when treated with bacteriocins from MT 104, MT 162, and nisin, respectively. For synergic effect, the D 10 value in presence of the bacteriocins produced by MT 104 showed a 1.08 fold increased relative sensitivity of L. monocytogenes as compared to control after 5 days. The highest synergic effect was observed in presence of nisin which led to 1.61 fold increased relative sensitivity. Combined treatments with nisin and γ-irradiation showed a synergic antimicrobial effect in meat after 24 h and 5 days of storage. A synergic effect was observed only after 5 days at 4 °C for the bacteriocin from MT 104, as compared to the bacteriocin produced by MT 162 that had only an additive antimicrobial effect in all conditions.

Elimination of Listeria monocytogenes in sausage meat by combination treatment: Radiation and radiation-resistant bacteriocins

Science.gov (United States)

Turgis, Mélanie; Stotz, Viviane; Dupont, Claude; Salmieri, Stéphane; Khan, Ruhul A.; Lacroix, Monique

2012-08-01

Two new bacteria were isolated from human feces and were designated MT 104 and MT 162. They were able to produce bacteriocins that are active against five strains of Listeria monocytogenes. Bacteriocins produced by these isolated strains had 100% and 82.35% residual activity when they were treated by gamma radiation at doses of 4 and 40 kGy, respectively. A reduction of 1.0, 1.5 and 3 log CFU/g of L. monocytogenes was observed in sausage meat when treated with bacteriocins from MT 104, MT 162, and nisin, respectively. For synergic effect, the D10 value in presence of the bacteriocins produced by MT 104 showed a 1.08 fold increased relative sensitivity of L. monocytogenes as compared to control after 5 days. The highest synergic effect was observed in presence of nisin which led to 1.61 fold increased relative sensitivity. Combined treatments with nisin and γ-irradiation showed a synergic antimicrobial effect in meat after 24 h and 5 days of storage. A synergic effect was observed only after 5 days at 4 °C for the bacteriocin from MT 104, as compared to the bacteriocin produced by MT 162 that had only an additive antimicrobial effect in all conditions.

The Effect of Positive and Negative Feedback on Risk-Taking across Different Contexts.

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Annabel B Losecaat Vermeer

Full Text Available Preferences for risky choices have often been shown to be unstable and context-dependent. Though people generally avoid gambles with mixed outcomes, a phenomenon often attributed to loss aversion, contextual factors can impact this dramatically. For example, people typically prefer risky options after a financial loss, while generally choosing safer options after a monetary gain. However, it is unclear what exactly contributes to these preference shifts as a function of prior outcomes, as these gain/loss outcomes are usually confounded with participant performance, and therefore it is unclear whether these effects are driven purely by the monetary gains or losses, or rather by success or failure at the actual task. Here, we experimentally separated the effects of monetary gains/losses from performance success/failure prior to a standard risky choice. Participants performed a task in which they experienced contextual effects: 1 monetary gain or loss based directly on performance, 2 monetary gain or loss that was randomly awarded and was, crucially, independent from performance, and 3 success or failure feedback based on performance, but without any monetary incentive. Immediately following these positive/negative contexts, participants were presented with a gain-loss gamble that they had to decide to either play or pass. We found that risk preferences for identical sets of gambles were biased by positive and negative contexts containing monetary gains and losses, but not by contexts containing performance feedback. This data suggests that the observed framing effects are driven by aversion for monetary losses and not simply by the positive or negative valence of the context, or by potential moods resulting from positive or negative contexts. These results highlight the specific context dependence of risk preferences.

The role of the maturation stage of thymocytes on the phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A responses in thymocyte and lymph node lymphocyte cocultures in guinea pig. Effects of pretreatment of thymocytes with thymosin or levamisole.

Science.gov (United States)

Soppi, E

1981-02-01

Guinea pig thymocytes (TH) and lymph node lymphocytes (LNL) synergized optimally in both phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and concanavalin (Con A) responses in mixtures containing 0.3 x 10(6) TH and 0.2 x 10(6) LNL. Using discontinuous albumin gradient centrifugation thymocytes were separated into two subpopulations (F4 and F6) at different stages of maturation. Immature, PHA and Con A unresponsive F6 thymocytes synergized significantly only in the PHA response. More mature, PHA and Con A responsive F4 thymocytes cooperated well in the Con A response, but only a small synergy was observed in the PHA response. Pretreatment of the unfractionated thymocytes with the low concentration (0.05 microgram/ml) of thymosin decreased significantly their capacity to interact with LNL in both PHA and Con A responses. Preincubation of F4 thymocytes with the high concentration (200 microgram/ml) of thymosin increased the synergy in PHA response. All other combinations with thymosin or levamisole and thymocytes were ineffective on the mitogenic responses in the TH and LNL cocultures. Altogether, the results how that the thymocyte populations that induce synergy in PHA, or in (PHA and) Con A responses represent the two subpopulations of thymocytes with different maturation stages. The differential effects of the two concentrations of thymosin on the thymocytes support further the concept that the thymocytes synergizing in responses to both mitogens are more mature than those synergizing only PHA response. Thus, the ability of thymocytes to interact with LNL is dependent on the maturation stage of thymocytes, and can be utilized to study the differentiation of thymocytes.

Stabilizing effect of passive conductors with arbitrary shape for positional instabilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seki, Shogo; Ninomiya, Hiromasa; Yoshida, Hidetoshi

1983-10-01

For positional instabilities in the tokamak, the stabilizing index nsub(s) is an adequate parameter to characterize the stabilizing effect produced by several kinds of passive conductors around a plasma column such as vacuum vessel and poloidal field coils. Since a system of passive conductors with arbitrary shape can be involved into multiple L-R circuits, this parameter nsub(s) of those passive conductors is expressed in a simple form by using a method of the eigen mode expansion of multiple L-R circuits. This parameter nsub(s) is very useful to estimate not only a growth rate of positional instability and its feedback stabilization but also an inward shift of plasma column due to a minor disruption. (author)

Effectiveness of a positive psychology intervention combined with cognitive behavioral therapy in university students

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Rosario-Josefa Marrero

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to design and implement a positive intervention combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy to enhance subjective and psychological well-being and other positive functioning constructs in a convenience sample. Participants analysed were 48 university students (mean age 22.25, 25 assigned nonrandomized to intervention condition and 23 to no-treatment waiting-list control condition. All participants were assessed pre- and post-intervention to test the treatment program effectiveness. Repeated-measures ANCOVAs, controlling baseline differences between the two groups, indicated that the intervention group reported greater social support after the intervention period than the waiting-list control group. Within-group differences were found for happiness, selfacceptance, positive relations with others, optimism, and self-esteem in the intervention group; these differences did not appear in the waiting-list control group. These findings suggest the limited capacity of this intervention program for improving well-being through positive activities combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy. Future research should analyse what kind of activities could be more effective in promoting well-being depending on the characteristics of participants.

Breastfeeding practices: Positioning, attachment (latch-on and effective suckling - A hospital-based study in Libya

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Ram C Goyal

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose/Objective: To assess the correct position, attachment and effective suckling in the breastfeeding of infants as practiced by mothers attending hospitals at Benghazi. Materials and Methods : An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was done at AlJamahiriya and AlFateh Hospital in Benghazi, Libya, from November 2009 to February 2010. One hundred ninety-two mother-neonate units were observed for mother′s and baby′s position, attachment and effective suckling using WHO B-R-E-A-S-T- Feed observation form. Grading of positioning, attachment and suckling was done according to the score of various characteristics. Data thus collected were analyzed using software SPSS 11.5 version. Results: About 15% of the infants were about a week old (early neonatal period and 85% were in the late neonatal period. There was poorer positioning among primipara (24.0% than multipara (8.9-12.5%mothers. Poorer attachment was also more evident among primipara (30.0% compared to multipara (20.9% mothers. Parity was significantly associated with poor position (P = 0.028 and attachment (P = 0.002. Poor attachment was related to cracked nipples and mastitis. Preterm and low birth weight were significantly associated with poor attachment and poor effective suckling. Poor suckling was more (42.8% in the early neonatal period than late neonatal period (32.9%. Conclusions and Recommendations: Young (<20 years and primipara mothers were more in need of support and guidance for appropriate breastfeeding techniques. It is recommended that each mother should be observed for mother′s and infant′s positioning and attachment at the onset of breastfeeding and if needed subsequent counseling should be given on correct positioning and attachment.

Effects on resilience of caregivers of persons with autism spectrum disorder: the role of positive cognitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bekhet, Abir K; Johnson, Norah L; Zauszniewski, Jaclene A

2012-01-01

Approximately 2.8 million people in the United States are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Family caregivers manage many aspects of their care, which is demanding, overwhelming, and can affect their mental health. This study examined the effects of caregiver burden (risk factor) and positive cognitions (protective factors) on resourcefulness (resilience indicator) in 95 caregivers of persons with ASD. Descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional. Positive cognitions explained 32% of the variance in resourcefulness, F(1, 93) = 44.49, p caregivers' resourcefulness increased. A substantial drop in the beta weight of caregiver burden from B = -.36 to -.04 when positive cognitions was entered the equation suggested that positive cognitions mediated the effect of caregiver burden on resourcefulness. The results support resilience theory and suggest a need for developing interventions to strengthen positive thinking among caregivers of persons with ASD.

Negativity and positivity effects in person perception and inference: Ability versus morality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martijn, A.C.; Spears, R.; van der Pligt, J.; Jakobs, E.

1992-01-01

Examined, in 2 experiments involving 190 undergraduates, negativity and positivity effects in trait inferences and impression formation. In Exp 1, Ss made trait inferences of actors in different behavioral instances. Results support the prediction that negative behavior is more informative for

The influence of upper limb position on the effect of a contrast agent in chest CT enhancement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Shi-Ting; Wang, Meng; Gao, Zhenhua; Tan, Guosheng; Cai, Huasong; Hu, Xiaoshu; Yang, Jianyong; Li, Zi-Ping

2013-01-01

Purpose: To compare the influence of two different upper limb positions on contrast agent effects in chest CT enhancement. Materials and methods: In 142 patients undergoing contrast-enhanced CT chest scanning, an indwelling venous catheter was placed in the right hand and iodinated contrast agent was injected through a high-pressure single syringe pump. The patients were divided into three age groups (<40 years; 40–60 years; and >60 years) and randomly assigned to one of two upper limb position groups: (1) supine position, both upper limbs extended and raised above head in the same horizontal plane as the body; and (2) supine position, both upper limbs raised and crossed on the forehead, with the right arm on top. Differences in mean CT values on the two sides of the thoracic inlet along the right subclavian vein were used to evaluate the effects of the contrast agent. Results: Although contrast agent effects were not significantly different among the three age groups with either limb position, there was a significant difference between patients adopting the second limb positions (Chi-square value was 5.936, P < 0.05). An excellent or good contrast agent effect was observed in 63.08% of patients assuming the first limb position, as compared with 81.69% assuming the second position. Conclusion: For contrast-enhanced CT chest scans, use of the second limb position can reduce retention of the contrast agent in the right axillary vein and the right subclavian vein outside the thorax, increase contrast agent utilization, and decrease artifacts caused by high-density, local retention of the contrast agent

Effect of Pneumoperitoneum and Lateral Position on Oropharyngeal Seal Pressures of Proseal LMA in Laparoscopic Urological Procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Rustagi, Preeti; Patkar, Geeta A; Ourasang, Anil Kumar; Tendolkar, Bharati A

2017-02-01

A sustained and effective oropharyngeal sealing with supraglottic airway is required to maintain the ventilation during laparoscopic surgery. Previous studies have observed the Oropharyngeal Seal Pressure (OSP) for Proseal Laryngeal Mask Airway (PLMA) after pneumoperitoneum in supine and trendelenburg position, where PLMA was found to be an effective airway device. This study was conducted with ProSeal LMA, for laparoscopic Urologic procedures done in lateral position. To measure OSP in supine and lateral position and to observe the effect of pneumoperitoneum in lateral position on OSP. Secondary objectives were to assess adequacy of ventilation and incidence of adverse events. A total number of 25 patients of American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) physical status II and I were enrolled. After induction of anaesthesia using a standardized protocol, PLMA was inserted. Ryle's tube was inserted through drain tube. The position of PLMA was confirmed with ease of insertion of Ryle's tube and fibreoptic grading of vocal cords. Patients were then put in lateral position. The OSP was measured in supine position. This value was baseline comparison for OSP in lateral position and that after pneumoperitoneum. We assessed the efficacy of PLMA for ventilation, after carboperitoneum in lateral position (peak airway pressure, End Tidal Carbon dioxide (EtCO 2 ), SPO 2 ). Incidence of adverse effects (displacement of device, gastric insufflation, regurgitation, coughing, sore throat, blood on device, trauma) was also noted. The OSP was above Peak Airway Pressure (PAP) in supine (22.1±5.4 and 15.4±4.49cm of H 2 O) and lateral position (22.6±5.3 and 16.1±4.6). After pneumoperitoneum, which was in lateral position, there was statistically significant (p-value <0.05) increase in both PAP (19.96±4.015) and OSP (24.32±4.98, p-value 0.03). There was no intraoperative displacement of PLMA. There was no event of suboptimal oxygenation. EtCO 2 was always within normal limits

Induction position for spinal anaesthesia: Sitting versus lateral position

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shahzad, K.; Afshan, G.

2013-01-01

Objective: To compare the effect of induction position on block characteristics (sensory and motor nerves) and haemodynamic stability in elderly patients with isobaric bupivacaine. Patient comfort was also looked at. Methods: The randomized single blinded study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from September 2007 to August 2008. A total of 70 patients aged >60 years of both genders were included. Spinal anaesthesia was performed either in sitting or lateral position according to random allocation. Assessments of sensory, motor block and heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were recorded for 20 minutes. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis. Results: There was no significant difference for haemodynamic variables heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The onset of anaesthesia was faster in the sitting group (4.5 minutes vs 5.4 minutes). The motor block characteristics were similar in both the groups. The majority of patients who reported 'very comfortable' for induction position belonged to the lateral group. Conclusion: Both sitting and lateral positions have similar effects on sensory and motor blockade and haemodynamic stability. However, patients generally found lateral position very comfortable. (author)

A Sleep Position Trainer for positional sleep apnea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laub, Rasmus R; Tønnesen, Philip; Jennum, Poul J

2017-01-01

We tested the effect of the Sleep Position Trainer, a vibrational device, for positional sleep apnea in an open, randomized controlled trial with 101 patients, where 52 patients were allocated to Sleep Position Trainer and 49 patients to a non-treatment control group for 2 months (Part 1). All...... patients were then followed as a cohort for a period of 6 months with use of the Sleep Position Trainer (Part 2). The participants were assessed with polygraphy at entry, and after 2 and 6 months. The mean apnea-hypopnea index supine was 35 per h (SD, 18) in the Sleep Position Trainer group and 38 per h...... (SD, 15) in the control group at entry. In a per protocol analysis, the mean total apnea-hypopnea index at entry and after 2 months in the Sleep Position Trainer group was 18 per h (SD, 10) and 10 per h (SD, 9; P

Effect of Randomness in Element Position on Performance of Communication Array Antennas in Internet of Things

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Congsi Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available As a critical component for wireless communication, active phased array antennas face the restrictions of creating effective performance with the effect of randomness in the position of the array element, which are inevitably produced in the manufacturing and operating process of antenna. A new method for efficiently and effectively evaluating the statistic performance of antenna is presented, with consideration of randomness in element position. A coupled structural-electromagnetic statistic model for array antenna is proposed from the viewpoint of electromechanical coupling. Lastly, a 12×12 planar array is illustrated to evaluate the performance of antenna with the saddle-shaped distortion and random position error. The results show that the presented model can obtain the antenna performance quickly and effectively, providing an advantageous guidance for structural design and performance optimization for array antennas in wireless application.

Positive mood broadens visual attention to positive stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Wadlinger, Heather A; Isaacowitz, Derek M

2006-03-01

In an attempt to investigate the impact of positive emotions on visual attention within the context of Fredrickson's (1998) broaden-and-build model, eye tracking was used in two studies to measure visual attentional preferences of college students (n=58, n=26) to emotional pictures. Half of each sample experienced induced positive mood immediately before viewing slides of three similarly-valenced images, in varying central-peripheral arrays. Attentional breadth was determined by measuring the percentage viewing time to peripheral images as well as by the number of visual saccades participants made per slide. Consistent with Fredrickson's theory, the first study showed that individuals induced into positive mood fixated more on peripheral stimuli than did control participants; however, this only held true for highly-valenced positive stimuli. Participants under induced positive mood also made more frequent saccades for slides of neutral and positive valence. A second study showed that these effects were not simply due to differences in emotional arousal between stimuli. Selective attentional broadening to positive stimuli may act both to facilitate later building of resources as well as to maintain current positive affective states.

Parallel effects of processing fluency and positive affect on familiarity-based recognition decisions for faces

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Devin eDuke

2014-04-01

Full Text Available According to attribution models of familiarity assessment, people can use a heuristic in recognition-memory decisions, in which they attribute the subjective ease of processing of a memory probe to a prior encounter with the stimulus in question. Research in social cognition suggests that experienced positive affect may be the proximal cue that signals fluency in various experimental contexts. In the present study, we compared the effects of positive affect and fluency on recognition-memory judgments for faces with neutral emotional expression. We predicted that if positive affect is indeed the critical cue that signals processing fluency at retrieval, then its manipulation should produce effects that closely mirror those produced by manipulations of processing fluency. In two experiments, we employed a masked-priming procedure in combination with a Remember-Know paradigm that aimed to separate familiarity- from recollection-based memory decisions. In addition, participants performed a prime-discrimination task that allowed us to take inter-individual differences in prime awareness into account. We found highly similar effects of our priming manipulations of processing fluency and of positive affect. In both cases, the critical effect was specific to familiarity-based recognition responses. Moreover, in both experiments it was reflected in a shift towards a more liberal response bias, rather than in changed discrimination. Finally, in both experiments, the effect was found to be related to prime awareness; it was present only in participants who reported a lack of such awareness on the prime-discrimination task. These findings add to a growing body of evidence that points not only to a role of fluency, but also of positive affect in familiarity assessment. As such they are consistent with the idea that fluency itself may be hedonically marked.

Parallel effects of processing fluency and positive affect on familiarity-based recognition decisions for faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Duke, Devin; Fiacconi, Chris M; Köhler, Stefan

2014-01-01

According to attribution models of familiarity assessment, people can use a heuristic in recognition-memory decisions, in which they attribute the subjective ease of processing of a memory probe to a prior encounter with the stimulus in question. Research in social cognition suggests that experienced positive affect may be the proximal cue that signals fluency in various experimental contexts. In the present study, we compared the effects of positive affect and fluency on recognition-memory judgments for faces with neutral emotional expression. We predicted that if positive affect is indeed the critical cue that signals processing fluency at retrieval, then its manipulation should produce effects that closely mirror those produced by manipulations of processing fluency. In two experiments, we employed a masked-priming procedure in combination with a Remember-Know (RK) paradigm that aimed to separate familiarity- from recollection-based memory decisions. In addition, participants performed a prime-discrimination task that allowed us to take inter-individual differences in prime awareness into account. We found highly similar effects of our priming manipulations of processing fluency and of positive affect. In both cases, the critical effect was specific to familiarity-based recognition responses. Moreover, in both experiments it was reflected in a shift toward a more liberal response bias, rather than in changed discrimination. Finally, in both experiments, the effect was found to be related to prime awareness; it was present only in participants who reported a lack of such awareness on the prime-discrimination task. These findings add to a growing body of evidence that points not only to a role of fluency, but also of positive affect in familiarity assessment. As such they are consistent with the idea that fluency itself may be hedonically marked.

Effects of positive emotion, extraversion, and dopamine on cognitive stability-flexibility and frontal EEG asymmetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Wacker, Jan

2018-01-01

The influence of positive emotions on the balance between cognitive stability and flexibility has been suggested to (a) differ among various positive emotional/motivational states (e.g., of varying approach motivation intensity), and (b) be mediated by brain dopamine (DA). Frontal EEG alpha asymmetry (ASY) is considered an indicator of approach motivational states and may be modulated by DA. The personality trait of extraversion is strongly linked to positive emotions and is now thought to reflect DA-based individual differences in incentive/approach motivation. The present study independently manipulated positive emotion (high approach wanting-expectancy [WE] vs. low approach warmth-liking [WL]) and dopamine (placebo vs. DA D2 blocker sulpiride) to examine their effects on both cognitive stability-flexibility and emotion-related ASY changes. The results showed numerically lower stability-flexibility in WE versus WL under placebo and a complete reversal of this effect under the D2 blocker, no differentiation between WE and WL groups in terms of emotion-related ASY change, but an association between self-reported WE and WL and ASY changes toward left and right frontal cortical activity, respectively. Finally, extraversion was positively associated with both stability-flexibility and ASY changes toward left frontal cortical activity under placebo, and these associations were completely reversed under the D2 blocker. The results (a) support a dopaminergic basis for frontal EEG asymmetry, extraversion, and the modulating effect of positive emotions on stability-flexibility, and (b) extend previous reports of cognitive differences between introverts and extraverts. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Effect of parsley (Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Nym. ex A.W. Hill, Apiaceae) extracts on some biochemical parameters of oxidative stress in mice treated with CCl(4).

Science.gov (United States)

Popović, Mira; Kaurinović, Biljana; Jakovljević, Vida; Mimica-Dukic, Neda; Bursać, Marija

2007-08-01

The in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activity of different extracts of leaves and root of parsley (Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Nym. ex A.W. Hill, Apiaceae) were studied. Free radical scavenging capacity (RSC) was evaluated measuring the scavenging activity on the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) and OH radicals. Also, the effects on lipid peroxidation (LP) were evaluated. The results obtained showed that all examined extracts act as good scavengers of DPPH and OH radicals and reduce the intensity of LP. The in vivo effects were evaluated on some antioxidant systems (activities of LPx, GSH-Px, Px, CAT and XOD, and GSH content) in the mice liver and blood after treatment with the examined parsley extracts, or in combination with carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)). On the basis of the results obtained it can be concluded that the examined extracts exhibited a certain protective effect. However, combined treatments with CCl(4) and the examined extracts showed both positive and negative synergism, inducing or suppressing the influence of CCl(4) alone. (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Positive Effect of Authoritarian Leadership on Employee Performance: The Moderating Role of Power Distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Honglei; Guan, Bichen

2018-01-01

Based on goal setting theory, this study explores the positive effect and influencing process of authoritarian leadership on employee performance, as well as the moderating role of individual power distance in this process. Data from 211 supervisor-subordinate dyads in Chinese organizations indicates that authoritarian leadership is positively associated with employee performance, and learning goal orientation mediates this relationship. Furthermore, power distance moderates the effect of authoritarian leadership on learning goal orientation, such that the effect was stronger when individual power distance was higher. The indirect effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance via learning goal orientation is also moderated by power distance. Theoretical and managerial implications and future directions are also discussed.

The Positive Effect of Authoritarian Leadership on Employee Performance: The Moderating Role of Power Distance

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Honglei; Guan, Bichen

2018-01-01

Based on goal setting theory, this study explores the positive effect and influencing process of authoritarian leadership on employee performance, as well as the moderating role of individual power distance in this process. Data from 211 supervisor-subordinate dyads in Chinese organizations indicates that authoritarian leadership is positively associated with employee performance, and learning goal orientation mediates this relationship. Furthermore, power distance moderates the effect of authoritarian leadership on learning goal orientation, such that the effect was stronger when individual power distance was higher. The indirect effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance via learning goal orientation is also moderated by power distance. Theoretical and managerial implications and future directions are also discussed. PMID:29628902

Position detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayakawa, Toshifumi.

1985-01-01

Purpose: To enable to detect the position of an moving object in a control rod position detector, stably in a digital manner at a high accuracy and free from the undesired effects of circumstantial conditions such as the reactor temperature. Constitution: Coils connected in parallel with each other are disposed along the passage of a moving object and variable resistors and relays are connected in series with each of the coils respectively. Light emitting diodes is connected in series with the contacts of the respective relays. The resistance value of the variable resistors are adjusted depending on the changes in the circumstantial conditions and temperature distribution upon carrying out the positional detection. When the object is inserted into a coils, the relevant relay is deenergized, by which the relay contacts are closed to light up the diode. In the same manner, as the object is successively inserted into the coils, the diodes are lighted-up successively thereby enabling highly accurate and stable positional detection in a digital manner, free from the undesired effects of the circumstantial conditions. (Horiuchi, T.)

Meta-analysis of age and skill effects on recalling chess positions and selecting the best move.

Science.gov (United States)

Moxley, Jerad H; Charness, Neil

2013-10-01

A meta-analysis was conducted of studies that measured the effects of both age and skill in chess on the tasks of selecting the best move for chess positions (the best move task) as well as recalling chess game positions (the recall task). Despite a small sample of studies, we demonstrated that there are age and skill effects on both tasks: age being negatively associated with performance on both tasks and skill being positively associated with performance on both tasks. On the best move task, we found that skill was the dominant effect, while on the recall task, skill and age were approximately equally strong effects. We also found that skill was best measured by the best move task. In the case of the best move task, this result is consistent with the argument that it accurately replicates expert performance (Ericsson & Smith, 1991). Results for the recall task argue that this task captures effects related to skill, but also effects likely due to a general aging process. Implications for our understanding of aging in skilled domains are also discussed.

Synergistic effects of the combination of galangin with gentamicin against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Young-Seob; Kang, Ok-Hwa; Choi, Jang-Gi; Oh, You-Chang; Chae, Hee-Sung; Kim, Jong Hak; Park, Hyun; Sohn, Dong Hwan; Wang, Zheng-Tao; Kwon, Dong-Yeul

2008-06-01

The antimicrobial killing activity toward methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has been a serious emerging global issue. New effective antimicrobials and/or new approaches to settle this issue are urgently needed. The oriental herb, Alpinia officinarum, has been used in Korea for several hundreds of years to treat various infectious diseases. As it is well known, one of the active constituents of Alpinia officinarum is galangin. Against the 17 strains, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of galangin (GAL) were in the range of 62.5 ~ 125 microg/ml, and the MICs of gentamicin (GEN) ranged from 1.9 microg/ml to 2,000 microg/ml. The fractional inhibitory concentrations (FICs) of GAL, in combination with GEN, against 3 test strains were 0.4, 3.9, and 250 microg/ml, and were all 15.62 microg/ml in GEN. The FIC index showed marked synergism in the value range of 0.19 to 0.25. By determining time-kill curves, also confirmed the low synergism of the GAL and GEN combination against 4 h, 8 h, 12 h, and 24 h cultured MRSA. The time-kill study results indicated a low synergistic effect against 3 test strains. Thus, the mixture of GAL and GEN could lead to the development of new combination antibiotics against MRSA infection.

THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF COGNITIVE LEARNING STYLES IN ELT CLASSES

OpenAIRE

Ozlem Yagcioglu

2016-01-01

In the EFL, ESL, ESP and in the ELT classes, students are taught their courses with different kinds of methods and approaches. Cognitive learning styles are the most essential styles in foreign language education. In this paper, the positive effects of cognitive learning styles will be handled. The benefits of these styles will be highlighted. Games on cognitive learning styles will be explained. Sample classroom activities will be shared. Useful books, videos and websites on cognitive learni...

NEGATIVITY AND POSITIVITY EFFECTS IN PERSON PERCEPTION AND INFERENCE : ABILITY VERSUS MORALITY

NARCIS (Netherlands)

MARTIJN, C; SPEARS, R; VAN DER PLIGT, J; JAKOBS, E

1992-01-01

The present paper deals with negativity and positivity effects in trait inferences and impression formation. In the first experiment we tested the suggestion of Skowronski and Carlston (1987) that in the domain of morality negative information is more diagnostic, will therefore receive more weight

Synergized resmethrin and corticosterone alter the chicken's response to west nile virus

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jankowski, Mark David [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Franson, J Christian [US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY; Mostl, Erich [UNIV OF VIENNA; Porter, Warren P [UNIV OF WISCONSIN; Hofmeister, Erik K [US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

2009-01-01

Debate concerning arbovirus control strategies remains contentious because concern regarding the relative risk of viral infection and environmental toxicant exposure is high but inadequately characterized. Taking this into account, mosquito control agencies employ aerial insecticides only after arbovirus surveillance data indicate high local mosquito-infection-rates. Successfully mitigating the risk of adult-mosquito-control insecticides ('adulticides') to non-target species such as humans, domestic animals, fish, beneficial insects and wildlife, while increasing their efficacy to reduce arbovirus outbreak intensity requires targeted scientific data from animal toxicity studies and environmental monitoring activities. Wild birds are an important reservoir host for WNv and are potentially exposed to insecticides used for mosquito control. However, no risk assessments have evaluated whether insecticides augment or extend the potential transmissibility of West Nile virus (WNv) in birds. In order to augment existing resmethrin risk assessments, we aimed to determine whether synergized resmethrin (SR) may cause chickens to develop an elevated or extended WN viremia and if subacute stress may affect its immunotoxicity. We distributed 40 chickens into four groups then exposed them prior to and during WNv infection with SR (50 {mu}g/l resmethrin + 150 {mu}g/l piperonyl butoxide) and/or 20 mg/I corticosterone (CORT) in their drinking-water. Corticosterone was given for 10 continuous days and SR was given for 3 alternate days starting the 3rd day of CORT exposure, then chickens were subcutaneously inoculated with WNv on the 5th day of CORT treatment. Compared to controls, CORT treatment extended and elevated viremia, enhanced WNv-specific antibody and increased the percentage of birds that shed oral virus, whereas SR treatment extended viremia, depressed WNv-specific IgG, and increased the percentage of CORT-treated birds that shed oral virus. Corticosterone and SR

The effect of opioid antagonists on synergism between dexketoprofen and tramadol.

Science.gov (United States)

Zegpi, C; Gonzalez, C; Pinardi, G; Miranda, H F

2009-10-01

The antinociceptive activity of dexketoprofen was studied in mice using the formalin assay for orofacial pain. The interaction between dexketoprofen and co-administered tramadol was studied using isobolographic analysis. The intraperitoneal administration of dexketoprofen or tramadol, showed dose-dependent antinociceptive activity in both phases of the assay. When administered together, the interaction was mildly synergistic during the first phase, and antagonistic in the second phase. Selective opioid receptor antagonists where used in order to measure the analgesic activity of tramadol in other regions of the CNS. The co-administration of dexketoprofen and tramadol, with previous administration of naltrexone, showed high synergistic activity during the first phase, and less but still synergistic during the second. When using naltrindole, the interaction was mildly more synergistic than the mixture dexketoprofen+tramadol during both phases. Using norbinaltorphimine, the interaction was synergistic in both phases, more marked in the second. These results suggest that the opioid activity of tramadol has an inhibiting effect in antinociceptive activity of the interaction between dexketoprofen and tramadol during the inflammatory (late) stages of pain.

Combinatorial effects of arginine and fluoride on oral bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, X; Cheng, X; Wang, L; Qiu, W; Wang, S; Zhou, Y; Li, M; Li, Y; Cheng, L; Li, J; Zhou, X; Xu, X

2015-02-01

Dental caries is closely associated with the microbial disequilibrium between acidogenic/aciduric pathogens and alkali-generating commensal residents within the dental plaque. Fluoride is a widely used anticaries agent, which promotes tooth hard-tissue remineralization and suppresses bacterial activities. Recent clinical trials have shown that oral hygiene products containing both fluoride and arginine possess a greater anticaries effect compared with those containing fluoride alone, indicating synergy between fluoride and arginine in caries management. Here, we hypothesize that arginine may augment the ecological benefit of fluoride by enriching alkali-generating bacteria in the plaque biofilm and thus synergizes with fluoride in controlling dental caries. Specifically, we assessed the combinatory effects of NaF/arginine on planktonic and biofilm cultures of Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis, and Porphyromonas gingivalis with checkerboard microdilution assays. The optimal NaF/arginine combinations were selected, and their combinatory effects on microbial composition were further examined in single-, dual-, and 3-species biofilm using bacterial species-specific fluorescence in situ hybridization and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We found that arginine synergized with fluoride in suppressing acidogenic S. mutans in both planktonic and biofilm cultures. In addition, the NaF/arginine combination synergistically reduced S. mutans but enriched S. sanguinis within the multispecies biofilms. More importantly, the optimal combination of NaF/arginine maintained a "streptococcal pressure" against the potential growth of oral anaerobe P. gingivalis within the alkalized biofilm. Taken together, we conclude that the combinatory application of fluoride and arginine has a potential synergistic effect in maintaining a healthy oral microbial equilibrium and thus represents a promising ecological approach to caries management. © International & American

Evaluation of Effects of Warning Sign Position on Driving Behavior in Horizontal Sharp Curves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-hua Zhao

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In present time, the guidelines on warning sign position in the China National Standard lack detailed and standard regulations of placing warning signs on sharp curves, which may cause road safety problems. Therefore, this paper briefly discussed how to optimize the position of a warning sign on a sharp curve through a driving simulator experiment. This study concluded that a warning sign placed at different positions prior to a sharp curve will have different influence ranges for drivers approaching and negotiating the curve. Meanwhile, different positions of a warning sign imposed different effect obviously on the adjustment of vehicle's lane position on sharp curves with the same radius, especially at the midpoint of a sharp curve. The evaluation results of five positions (0 m, 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m in advance showed that only when the warning signs were placed 100 m or 200 m prior to sharp curves, can they achieve positive influence on driving behavior. On this basis, the authors look forward to providing rationalization proposals in selecting the best position of a warning sign on a sharp curve for the engineering implementation and national standard.

Synergic Adsorption–Biodegradation by an Advanced Carrier for Enhanced Removal of High-Strength Nitrogen and Refractory Organics

KAUST Repository

Ahmad, Muhammad

2017-03-29

Coking wastewater contains not only high-strength nitrogen but also toxic biorefractory organics. This study presents simultaneous removal of high-strength quinoline, carbon, and ammonium in coking wastewater by immobilized bacterial communities composed of a heterotrophic strain Pseudomonas sp. QG6 (hereafter referred as QG6), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria (anammox). The bacterial immobilization was implemented with the help of a self-designed porous cubic carrier that created structured microenvironments including an inner layer adapted for anaerobic bacteria, a middle layer suitable for coaggregation of certain aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and an outer layer for heterotrophic bacteria. By coating functional polyurethane foam (FPUF) with iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), the biocarrier (IONPs-FPUF) could provide a good outer-layer barrier for absorption and selective treatment of aromatic compounds by QG6, offer a conducive environment for anammox in the inner layer, and provide a mutualistic environment for AOB in the middle layer. Consequently, simultaneous nitrification and denitrification were reached with the significant removal of up to 322 mg L (98%) NH, 311 mg L (99%) NO, and 633 mg L (97%) total nitrogen (8 mg L averaged NO concentration was recorded in the effluent), accompanied by an efficient removal of chemical oxygen demand by 3286 mg L (98%) and 350 mg L (100%) quinoline. This study provides an alternative way to promote synergic adsorption and biodegradation with the help of a modified biocarrier that has great potential for treatment of wastewater containing high-strength carbon, toxic organic pollutants, and nitrogen.

Synergic Adsorption-Biodegradation by an Advanced Carrier for Enhanced Removal of High-Strength Nitrogen and Refractory Organics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Muhammad; Liu, Sitong; Mahmood, Nasir; Mahmood, Asif; Ali, Muhammad; Zheng, Maosheng; Ni, Jinren

2017-04-19

Coking wastewater contains not only high-strength nitrogen but also toxic biorefractory organics. This study presents simultaneous removal of high-strength quinoline, carbon, and ammonium in coking wastewater by immobilized bacterial communities composed of a heterotrophic strain Pseudomonas sp. QG6 (hereafter referred as QG6), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), and anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria (anammox). The bacterial immobilization was implemented with the help of a self-designed porous cubic carrier that created structured microenvironments including an inner layer adapted for anaerobic bacteria, a middle layer suitable for coaggregation of certain aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and an outer layer for heterotrophic bacteria. By coating functional polyurethane foam (FPUF) with iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), the biocarrier (IONPs-FPUF) could provide a good outer-layer barrier for absorption and selective treatment of aromatic compounds by QG6, offer a conducive environment for anammox in the inner layer, and provide a mutualistic environment for AOB in the middle layer. Consequently, simultaneous nitrification and denitrification were reached with the significant removal of up to 322 mg L -1 (98%) NH 4 , 311 mg L -1 (99%) NO 2 , and 633 mg L -1 (97%) total nitrogen (8 mg L -1 averaged NO 3 concentration was recorded in the effluent), accompanied by an efficient removal of chemical oxygen demand by 3286 mg L -1 (98%) and 350 mg L -1 (100%) quinoline. This study provides an alternative way to promote synergic adsorption and biodegradation with the help of a modified biocarrier that has great potential for treatment of wastewater containing high-strength carbon, toxic organic pollutants, and nitrogen.

SU-C-12A-07: Effect of Vertical Position On Dose Reduction Using X-Care

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silosky, M; Marsh, R

2014-01-01

Purpose: Reduction of absorbed dose to radiosensitive tissues is an important goal in diagnostic radiology. Siemens Medical has introduced a technique (X-CARE) to lower CT dose to anterior anatomy by reducing the tube current during 80° of rotation over radiosensitive tissues. Phantom studies have shown 30-40% dose reduction when phantoms are positioned at isocenter. However, for CT face and sinus exams, the center of the head is commonly positioned below isocenter. This work investigated the effects of vertical patient positioning on dose reduction using X-CARE. Methods: A 16cm Computed Tomography Dose Index phantom was scanned on a Siemens Definition Flash CT scanner using a routine head protocol, with the phantom positioned at scanner isocenter. Optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters were placed on the anterior and posterior sides of the phantom. The phantom was lowered in increments of 2cm and rescanned, up to 8cm below isocenter. The experiment was then repeated using the same scan parameters but adding the X-CARE technique. The mean dosimeter counts were determined for each phantom position, and the difference between XCARE and routine scans was plotted as a function of distance from isocenter. Results: With the phantom positioned at isocenter, using XCARE reduced dose to the anterior side of the phantom by 40%, compared to dose when X-CARE was not used. Positioned below isocenter, anterior dose was reduced by only 20-27%. Additionally, using X-CARE at isocenter reduced dose to the anterior portion of the phantom by 45.6% compared to scans performed without X-CARE 8cm below isocenter. Conclusion: While using X-CARE substantially reduced dose to the anterior side of the phantom, this effect was diminished when the phantom was positioned below isocenter, simulating common practice for face and sinus scans. This indicates that centering the head in the gantry will maximize the effect of X-CARE

[Longitudinal genetic effects on mandibular position of female twins from six to twelve years old].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Chang-feng; Peng, Jing

2013-06-01

To find the longitudinal genetic effects on mandibular position in mixed dentition. The sample used in this study consisted of lateral cephalograms of eighty-nine pairs of female twins in Beijing. With a mixed longitudinal method, the effective twins were 183 pairs(monozygous 110 pairs and dizygous 73 ones). The genetic and environmental effects on mandibular position were analyzed by statistical methods in female twins from six to twelve years old. Statistical comparisons revealed significant (Pchin is the most subjective to environment change, then the mandibular angle, and the condyle is the least. Using N and S as references, the environmental influence on heights showed different order from the most to least changeable: The mandibular angle, the condyle and the chin. In later stage of our observation, the mandibular morphology and growth type might be family inherited. For environmental influences plays important roles on mandibular position, these findings can be used in orthodontic treatment planning.

Financial Position and House Price Determination : An Empirical Study of Income and Wealth Effects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steegmans, J.W.A.M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/377458708; Hassink, W.H.J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/090437411

This paper examines the effect of the relative financial position of buyers and sellers on house prices, distinguishing between income and wealth effects. Using administrative data from the Netherlands (2006–2010) that combine transaction data, house characteristics, and household characteristics of

MEDIATOR EFFECTS OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS ON SOCIAL SUPPORT AND DEPRESSION AMONG ADOLESCENTS SUFFERING FROM MOBILE PHONE ADDICTION

OpenAIRE

Li, Menglong; Jiang, Xia; Ren, Yujia

2017-01-01

Background: Depression is a common mental disorder that is widely seen among adolescents suffering from mobile phone addiction. While it is well known that both positive emtions in adolescents wiotions and social support can have a positive impact by helping individuals to maintain a positive attitude, the correlation between positive emotions, social support, and depression among these adolescents remains to be investigated. This study examined the mediator effects of positive emoti...

Effect of orthographic processes on letter-identity and letter-position encoding in dyslexic children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline eReilhac

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The ability to identify letters and encode their position is a crucial step of the word recognition process. However and despite their word identification problem, the ability of dyslexic children to encode letter-identity and letter-position within strings was not systematically investigated. This study aimed at filling this gap and further explored how letter identity and letter position encoding is modulated by letter context in developmental dyslexia. For this purpose, a letter-string comparison task was administered to French dyslexic children and two chronological-age (CA and reading-age (RA-matched control groups. Children had to judge whether two successively and briefly presented 4-letter-strings were identical or different. Letter-position and letter-identity were manipulated through the transposition (e.g., RTGM vs. RMGT or substitution of two letters (e.g., TSHF vs. TGHD. Non-words, pseudo-words and words were used as stimuli to investigate sub-lexical and lexical effects on letter encoding. Dyslexic children showed both substitution and transposition detection problems relative to CA controls. A substitution advantage over transpositions was only found for words in dyslexic children whereas it extended to pseudo-words in RA controls and to all type of items in CA controls. Letters were better identified in the dyslexic group when belonging to orthographically familiar strings. Letter position encoding was very impaired in dyslexic children who did not show any word context effect in contrast to CA controls. Overall, the current findings point to a strong letter identity and letter position encoding disorder in developmental dyslexia.

Vorinostat positively regulates synaptic plasticity genes expression and spine density in HIV infected neurons: role of nicotine in progression of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) is characterized by development of cognitive, behavioral and motor abnormalities, and occurs in approximately 50% of HIV infected individuals. In the United States, the prevalence of cigarette smoking ranges from 35-70% in HIV-infected individuals compared to 20% in general population. Cognitive impairment in heavy cigarette smokers has been well reported. However, the synergistic effects of nicotine and HIV infection and the underlying mechanisms in the development of HAND are unknown. Results In this study, we explored the role of nicotine in the progression of HAND using SK-N-MC, a neuronal cell line. SK-N-MC cells were infected with HIV-1 in the presence or absence of nicotine for 7 days. We observed significant increase in HIV infectivity in SK-N-MC treated with nicotine compared to untreated HIV-infected neuronal cells. HIV and nicotine synergize to significantly dysregulate the expression of synaptic plasticity genes and spine density; with a concomitant increase of HDAC2 levels in SK-N-MC cells. In addition, inhibition of HDAC2 up-regulation with the use of vorinostat resulted in HIV latency breakdown and recovery of synaptic plasticity genes expression and spine density in nicotine/HIV alone and in co-treated SK-N-MC cells. Furthermore, increased eIF2 alpha phosphorylation, which negatively regulates eukaryotic translational process, was observed in HIV alone and in co-treatment with nicotine compared to untreated control and nicotine alone treated SK-N-MC cells. Conclusions These results suggest that nicotine and HIV synergize to negatively regulate the synaptic plasticity gene expression and spine density and this may contribute to the increased risk of HAND in HIV infected smokers. Apart from disrupting latency, vorinostat may be a useful therapeutic to inhibit the negative regulatory effects on synaptic plasticity in HIV infected nicotine abusers. PMID:24886748

The word concreteness effect occurs for positive, but not negative, emotion words in immediate serial recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Tse, Chi-Shing; Altarriba, Jeanette

2009-02-01

The present study examined the roles of word concreteness and word valence in the immediate serial recall task. Emotion words (e.g. happy) were used to investigate these effects. Participants completed study-test trials with seven-item study lists consisting of positive or negative words with either high or low concreteness (Experiments 1 and 2) and neutral (i.e. non-emotion) words with either high or low concreteness (Experiment 2). For neutral words, the typical word concreteness effect (concrete words are better recalled than abstract words) was replicated. For emotion words, the effect occurred for positive words, but not for negative words. While the word concreteness effect was stronger for neutral words than for negative words, it was not different for the neutral words and the positive words. We conclude that both word valence and word concreteness simultaneously contribute to the item and order retention of emotion words and discuss how Hulme et al.'s (1997) item redintegration account can be modified to explain these findings.

Serial position effects in Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and normal aging: predictive value for conversion to dementia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunha, Catarina; Guerreiro, Manuela; de Mendonça, Alexandre; Oliveira, Paulo Eduardo; Santana, Isabel

2012-01-01

Serial position effects in word list learning have been used to differentiate normal aging and dementia. Prominent recency and diminished primacy have consistently been observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We examined serial position effects in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), in patients with AD, and in normal healthy controls. Additionally, we classified MCI patients into those who progressed to AD (MCI-p) and those who did not (MCI-np). We compared two serial position measures: regional and standard scores. Regional scores, mainly the primacy effect, improved discrimination between MCI and controls and between MCI-np and MCI-p, proving to be more sensitive and specific than the recency effect.

Effects of Signaled Positive Reinforcement on Problem Behavior Maintained by Negative Reinforcement

Science.gov (United States)

Schieltz, Kelly M.; Wacker, David P.; Romani, Patrick W.

2017-01-01

We evaluated the effects of providing positive reinforcement for task completion, signaled via the presence of a tangible item, on escape-maintained problem behavior displayed by three typically developing children during one-time 90-min outpatient evaluations. Brief functional analyses of problem behavior, conducted within a multielement design,…

Phosphorus addition reverses the positive effect of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) on the toxic cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarnelle, Orlando; White, Jeffrey D; Horst, Geoffrey P; Hamilton, Stephen K

2012-07-01

We tested the hypothesis that zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) have positive effects on the toxin-producing cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa, at low phosphorus (P) concentrations, but negative effects on M. aeruginosa at high P, with a large-scale enclosure experiment in an oligotrophic lake. After three weeks, mussels had a significantly positive effect on M. aeruginosa at ambient P (total phosphorus, TP ∼10 μg L⁻¹), and a significantly negative effect at high P (simulating a TP of ∼40 μg L⁻¹ in lakes). Positive and negative effects were strong and very similar in magnitude. Thus, we were able to ameliorate a negative effect of Dreissena invasion on water quality (i.e., promotion of Microcystis) by adding P to water from an oligotrophic lake. Our results are congruent with many field observations of Microcystis response to Dreissena invasion across ecosystems of varying P availability. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

3-Bromopyruvate antagonizes effects of lactate and pyruvate, synergizes with citrate and exerts novel anti-glioma effects.

Science.gov (United States)

El Sayed, S M; El-Magd, R M Abou; Shishido, Y; Chung, S P; Diem, T H; Sakai, T; Watanabe, H; Kagami, S; Fukui, K

2012-02-01

Oxidative stress-energy depletion therapy using oxidative stress induced by D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) and energy depletion induced by 3-bromopyruvate (3BP) was reported recently (El Sayed et al., Cancer Gene Ther., 19, 1-18, 2012). Even in the presence of oxygen, cancer cells oxidize glucose preferentially to produce lactate (Warburg effect) which seems vital for cancer microenvironment and progression. 3BP is a closely related structure to lactate and pyruvate and may antagonize their effects as a novel mechanism of its action. Pyruvate exerted a potent H(2)O(2) scavenging effect to exogenous H(2)O(2), while lactate had no scavenging effect. 3BP induced H(2)O(2) production. Pyruvate protected against H(2)O(2)-induced C6 glioma cell death, 3BP-induced C6 glioma cell death but not against DAO/D-serine-induced cell death, while lactate had no protecting effect. Lactate and pyruvate protected against 3BP-induced C6 glioma cell death and energy depletion which were overcome with higher doses of 3BP. Lactate and pyruvate enhanced migratory power of C6 glioma which was blocked by 3BP. Pyruvate and lactate did not protect against C6 glioma cell death induced by other glycolytic inhibitors e.g. citrate (inhibitor of phosphofructokinase) and sodium fluoride (inhibitor of enolase). Serial doses of 3BP were synergistic with citrate in decreasing viability of C6 glioma cells and spheroids. Glycolysis subjected to double inhibition using 3BP with citrate depleted ATP, clonogenic power and migratory power of C6 glioma cells. 3BP induced a caspase-dependent cell death in C6 glioma. 3BP was powerful in decreasing viability of human glioblastoma multiforme cells (U373MG) and C6 glioma in a dose- and time-dependent manner.

Extinction of fear is facilitated by social presence: Synergism with prefrontal oxytocin.

Science.gov (United States)

Brill-Maoz, Naama; Maroun, Mouna

2016-04-01

This study addressed the question of whether extinction in pairs would have a beneficial effect on extinction of fear conditioning. To that end, we established an experimental setting for extinction in which we trained animals to extinguish contextual fear memory in pairs. Taking advantage of the role of oxytocin (OT) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in the mediation of memory extinction and social interaction, we also sought to study its role in social interaction-induced effects on extinction. Our results clearly show that the social presence of another animal in the extinction context facilitates extinction, and that this facilitation is mediated through mPFC-OT. Our results suggest that social interaction may be a positive regulator of fear inhibition, implying that social interaction may be an easy, accessible therapeutic tool for the treatment of fear-associated disorders. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Effect of quantum well position on the distortion characteristics of transistor laser

Science.gov (United States)

Piramasubramanian, S.; Ganesh Madhan, M.; Radha, V.; Shajithaparveen, S. M. S.; Nivetha, G.

2018-05-01

The effect of quantum well position on the modulation and distortion characteristics of a 1300 nm transistor laser is analyzed in this paper. Standard three level rate equations are numerically solved to study this characteristics. Modulation depth, second order harmonic and third order intermodulation distortion of the transistor laser are evaluated for different quantum well positions for a 900 MHz RF signal modulation. From the DC analysis, it is observed that optical power is maximum, when the quantum well is positioned near base-emitter interface. The threshold current of the device is found to increase with increasing the distance between the quantum well and the base-emitter junction. A maximum modulation depth of 0.81 is predicted, when the quantum well is placed at 10 nm from the base-emitter junction, under RF modulation. The magnitude of harmonic and intermodulation distortion are found to decrease with increasing current and with an increase in quantum well distance from the emitter base junction. A minimum second harmonic distortion magnitude of -25.96 dBc is predicted for quantum well position (230 nm) near to the base-collector interface for 900 MHz modulation frequency at a bias current of 20 Ibth. Similarly, a minimum third order intermodulation distortion of -38.2 dBc is obtained for the same position and similar biasing conditions.

The effect of nesting positions on pain, stress and comfort during heel lance in premature infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahraman, Ayşe; Başbakkal, Zümrüt; Yalaz, Mehmet; Sözmen, Eser Y

2017-11-13

Nesting positions are commonly used in procedural analgesic administration in premature neonates. The effectiveness of nesting positions is questioned. The aim of the this study was to assess the pain, stress, comfort and salivary cortisol and melatonin values in nesting positions during the heel lance procedure in premature infants at the NICU. Experimental research; repeated measurement design. The sample comprised 33 premature neonates with gestational age of 31-35 weeks who had been hospitalized in the NICU. Nesting positions were given using linen or towels. The procedure of heel lance was recorded on camera. The camera recordings were evaluated according to the NIPS and the COMFORTneo scale. Saliva samples were obtained five minutes prior to and 30 min after the heel lance procedure. Salivary Cortisol and Melatonin were measured using the Salimetrics Cortisol Elisa Kit and the Salimetrics Melatonin Elisa Kit. The crying time, the mean NIPS score, the COMFORTneo score, the COMFORTneo NRS-pain scores and the COMFORTneo NRS-distress scores for premature neonates who were in the prone position during the procedure were significantly lower than the scores in the supine position (p lance procedure had significantly decreased in the prone position; however, there were insignificant differences in the mean levels of salivary melatonin between the positions. Nesting in the prone position has a pain reducing effect, enhancing comfort and reducing stress in premature infants. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Effectiveness of Positive Coping Program on Reduction of Addiction Potential in Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatemeh Nematollahi

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study aimed to study the effectiveness of positive coping program on reduction of addiction potential in dormitory girl students. Method: The research method was semi experimental method namely: pre test-post test with witness group. In selection of sample, first addiction potential scale administered among 160 dormitory girl students, and 20 of them who were scored higher than cutoff score on addiction potential scale selected and divided to two experimental and witness groups. Experimental group received 10 sessions training which each session was 90 minutes. Positive coping program was based on three components of Bob Murray’s theory namely: social relationships, goal setting and spirituality. After finishing of training Post test were administered in both experimental and witness groups. Results: The results showed positive coping training was significantly reduced students’ addiction potential. Conclusion: The training of positive coping can be affect on reduction of girl students’ addiction potential.

The effect of the nuclear track detectors' position on the radon concentration measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yilmaz, A.; Kuerkcueoglu, M. E.; Haner, B.

2009-01-01

It is important to determine the radon concentration values of the underground mines according to workers' health. For this purpose, to be able to measure radon concentrations by using passive nuclear etched track detectors, CR-39 detectors were placed into 66 points on the way of aeration galleries of Armutcuk, Amasra, Karadon, Kozlu and Uezuelmez bituminous coal mines which are known as the Carboniferous outcrops of the Western Black Sea Area in Turkey. In every measurement point, a pair of detectors, one of them is being perpendicular and the other one is parallel to air flow, were exposed to radon gases over 40 days for four seasons of the year 2008. The relationship between the readings of vertically and horizontally positioned detectors was investigated by evaluating the effect of the detectors' positions on the detected radon concentrations. It can be concluded that, the vertically positioned detectors, in general, recorded higher radon gases concentration values than that of the horizontally positioned ones.

Trait Positive Affect Buffers the Effects of Acute Stress on Skin Barrier Recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Robles, Theodore F.; Brooks, Kathryn P.; Pressman, Sarah D.

2010-01-01

Objective This study examines the role of self-reported trait positive affect (PA) on skin barrier recovery after skin disruption, and whether the role of trait PA in wound healing is consistent with the direct effects model or the stress-buffering model of PA and health. Design Sixty healthy participants (mean age 22.7 ± 3.9 years) completed a self-report measure of trait positive and negative affect, underwent a “tape-stripping” procedure that disrupts normal skin barrier function, and were randomly assigned to a Stress (Trier Social Stress Test) or No Stress (reading task) condition. Main Outcome Measures Skin barrier recovery was assessed by measuring transepidermal water loss up to 2 hr after skin disruption. Results Multilevel modeling indicated that greater trait PA was related to faster skin barrier recovery (p < .05). The effects of PA on skin barrier recovery were independent of levels of trait NA. Conclusion These findings suggest that trait PA may influence skin barrier recovery following a brief stressor. In addition, these results provide additional evidence that trait PA can positively impact objective health outcomes. PMID:19450044

Biocidal effects of Piper hispidinervum (Piperaceae) essential oil and synergism among its main components.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrés, M F; Rossa, G E; Cassel, E; Vargas, R M F; Santana, O; Díaz, C E; González-Coloma, A

2017-11-01

In this study we evaluated the effect of a pressure gradient (1-2 atm) in the extraction and composition of the essential oil (EO) of Piper hispidinervum by steam distillation. We also evaluated the insect antifeedant effects (Spodoptera littoralis, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, Myzus persicae and Rhopalosiphum padi) and nematicidal activity (Meloidogyne javanica) of the oils, their major components and their synergistic interactions. Safrole was the major component (78-81%) followed by terpinolene (5-9%). The EOs tested were effective insect antifeedants. Safrole, explained most of the insect antifeedant action of P. hispidinervum EOs. When safrole and terpinolene were tested in binary combinations, low ratios of safrole improved the antifeedant effects of terpinolene. P. hispidinervum EOs caused higher mortality of M. javanica juveniles than their major components. In binary combinations, low ratios of terpinolene increased the nematicidal effects of safrole. The EO treatment strongly suppressed nematode egg hatching and juvenile infectivity. P. hispidinervum EOs affected the germination of S. lycopersicum and L. sativa mostly at 24 h of treatment, being L. sativa the most sensitive. Safrole moderately affected germination and root growth of L. sativa, S. lycopersicum and L. perenne. Terpinolene only affected S. lycopersicum root growth. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Common origin of positive ionospheric storms at middle latitudes and the geomagnetic activity effect at low latitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proelss, G.W.

1993-01-01

The author looks for a correlation between two different atmospheric effects. They are a positive atmospheric storm (an anomalous increase in the F2 region ionization density), observed at middle latitudes, and the geomagnetic activity effect (the anomalous changes of temperature and gas density seen in the thermosphere), observed at low latitudes. A temporal correlation is sought to test the argument that both of these effects are the result of travelling atmospheric disturbances (TAD). A TAD is a pulselike atmospheric wave thought to be generated by substorm activity, and to propagate with high velocity (600 m/s) from polar latitudes toward equatorial latitudes. The author looks at data from five separate events correlating magnetic, ionospheric, and neutral atmospheric measurements. The conclusion is that there is a positive correlation between magnetic substorm activity at high latitudes, and positive ionospheric storms at middle latitudes and geomagnetic activity at low latitudes. The time correlations are consistent with high propagation speeds between these events. The author also presents arguments which indicate that the middle latitude positive ionospheric storms are not the result of electric field effects

The Effects of Positive and Negative Mood on Cognition and Motivation in Multimedia Learning Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Liew, Tze Wei; Tan, Su-Mae

2016-01-01

The Cognitive-Affective Theory of Learning with Media framework posits that the multimedia learning process is mediated by the learner's mood. Recent studies have shown that positive mood has a facilitating effect on multimedia learning. Though literature has shown that negative mood encourages an individual to engage in a more systematic,…

Positive Adjustment Among American Repatriated Prisoners of the Vietnam War: Modeling the Long-Term Effects of Captivity.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Daniel W; King, Lynda A; Park, Crystal L; Lee, Lewina O; Kaiser, Anica Pless; Spiro, Avron; Moore, Jeffrey L; Kaloupek, Danny G; Keane, Terence M

2015-11-01

A longitudinal lifespan model of factors contributing to later-life positive adjustment was tested on 567 American repatriated prisoners from the Vietnam War. This model encompassed demographics at time of capture and attributes assessed after return to the U.S. (reports of torture and mental distress) and approximately 3 decades later (later-life stressors, perceived social support, positive appraisal of military experiences, and positive adjustment). Age and education at time of capture and physical torture were associated with repatriation mental distress, which directly predicted poorer adjustment 30 years later. Physical torture also had a salutary effect, enhancing later-life positive appraisals of military experiences. Later-life events were directly and indirectly (through concerns about retirement) associated with positive adjustment. Results suggest that the personal resources of older age and more education and early-life adverse experiences can have cascading effects over the lifespan to impact well-being in both positive and negative ways.

Effect of tramadol on metamizol pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics after single and repeated administrations in arthritic rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Alfonso Moreno-Rocha

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Combined administration of certain doses of opioid compounds with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug can produce additive or supra-additive effects while reducing unwanted effects. We have recently reported that co-administration of metamizol with tramadol produces antinociceptive effect potentiation, after acute treatment. However, none information about the effect produced by the combination after chronic or repeated dose administration exists. The aims of this study were to investigate whether the antinociceptive synergism produced by the combination of metamizol and tramadol (177.8 + 17.8 mg/kg, s.c. respectively is maintained after repeated treatment and whether the effects observed are primarily due to pharmacodynamic interactions or may be related to pharmacokinetics changes. Administration of metamizol plus tramadol acute treatment significantly enhanced the antinociceptive effect of the drugs given alone (P  0.05. The mechanism involved in the synergism of the antinociceptive effect observed with the combination of metamizol and tramadol in single dose cannot be attributed to a pharmacokinetic interaction, and other pharmacodynamic interactions have to be considered. On the other hand, when metamizol and tramadol were co-administered under repeated administrations, a pharmacokinetic interaction and tolerance development occurred. Differences found in metamizol active metabolites’ pharmacokinetics (P < 0.05 were related to the development of tolerance produced by the combination after repeated doses. This work shows an additional preclinical support for the combination therapy. The clinical utility of this combination in a suitable dose range should be evaluated in future studies.

Noise-driven diamagnetic susceptibility of impurity doped quantum dots: Role of anisotropy, position-dependent effective mass and position-dependent dielectric screening function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bera, Aindrila; Saha, Surajit; Ganguly, Jayanta; Ghosh, Manas

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Diamagnetic susceptibility (DMS) of doped quantum dot is studied. • The dot is subjected to Gaussian white noise. • Role of anisotropy, PDEM and PDDSF have been analyzed. • Noise amplifies and suppresses DMS depending on particular condition. • Findings bear significant technological importance. - Abstract: We explore Diamagnetic susceptibility (DMS) of impurity doped quantum dot (QD) in presence of Gaussian white noise introduced to the system additively and multiplicatively. In view of this profiles of DMS have been pursued with variations of geometrical anisotropy and dopant location. We have invoked position-dependent effective mass (PDEM) and position-dependent dielectric screening function (PDDSF) of the system. Presence of noise sometimes suppresses and sometimes amplifies DMS from that of noise-free condition and the extent of suppression/amplification depends on mode of application of noise. It is important to mention that the said suppression/amplification exhibits subtle dependence on use of PDEM, PDDSF and geometrical anisotropy. The study reveals that DMS, or more fundamentally, the effective confinement of LDSS, can be tuned by appropriate mingling of geometrical anisotropy/effective mass/dielectric constant of the system with noise and also on the pathway of application of latter.

Effects of Varying Entry Points and Trendelenburg Positioning ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2018-04-04

Apr 4, 2018 ... ... made in superior and inferior entry points at supine position at 0° .... Trendelenburg degree, taking all risks into consideration. As a result of our .... patient's position influences the incidence of dysrhythmias during pulmonary.

Effects of Positive Affect on Risk Perceptions in Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

Haase, Claudia M.; Silbereisen, Rainer K.

2011-01-01

Affective influences may play a key role in adolescent risk taking, but have rarely been studied. Using an audiovisual method of affect induction, two experimental studies examined the effect of positive affect on risk perceptions in adolescence and young adulthood. Outcomes were risk perceptions regarding drinking alcohol, smoking a cigarette,…

Combined effects of socioeconomic position, smoking, and hypertension on risk of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nordahl, Helene; Osler, Merete; Frederiksen, Birgitte Lidegaard

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Combined effects of socioeconomic position and well-established risk factors on stroke incidence have not been formally investigated. METHODS: In a pooled cohort study of 68 643 men and women aged 30 to 70 years in Denmark, we examined the combined effect and interaction...... between socioeconomic position (ie, education), smoking, and hypertension on ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke incidence by the use of the additive hazards model. RESULTS: During 14 years of follow-up, 3613 ischemic strokes and 776 hemorrhagic strokes were observed. Current smoking and hypertension were...... more prevalent among those with low education. Low versus high education was associated with greater ischemic, but not hemorrhagic, stroke incidence. The combined effect of low education and current smoking was more than expected by the sum of their separate effects on ischemic stroke incidence...

Disentangling the Origin of the Kok Effect Using Position Specific Glucose Labeling in Sunflower Leaves

Science.gov (United States)

Gauthier, P. P.; Bender, M. L.; Saenz, N.

2015-12-01

In plants, leaf mitochondrial respiratory CO2 release is inhibited by light. Bessel Kok first demonstrated this inhibition in 1948. Based on curves of CO2 assimilation vs irradiance, it is understood that respiration is maximal in the dark. It then frequently decreases linearly with irradiance until reaching some value around the compensation point, beyond which it is constant. CO2 released by mitochondrial respiration is the result of decarboxylation through pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), the tricarboxylic acid pathway (TCAP) and the oxydative pentose phosphate pathway (OPPP). The overall activity of these three reactions is reduced by light. However, their individual contributions to the Kok effect are unknown. We measured the rate of decarboxylation of glucose, position-specifically labeled with 13C, to evaluate the participation of PDH, TCAP and OPPP in the Kok effect of sunflower. Leaves were fed with labeled glucose through their transpiration stream. The δ13C of the CO2 released by the leaf was then measured as a function of irradiance. The results showed that the inhibition of the decarboxylation of carbon positions 3 and 4 in glucose is at the origin of the Kok effect. These are the positions of carbon atoms decarboxylated by PDH. In addition, the rate of decarboxylation of position 1 was not different in the light and in the dark. Thus OPPP plays no role in the Kok effect in sunflower leaves. This work improves our current understanding of leaf mitochondrial respiratory metabolism in the light. Invoking the Kok effect in plant physiology models should improve our ability to simulate carbon fluxes of terrestrial ecosystems.

Positivity effect in source attributions of arousal-matched emotional and non-emotional words during item-based directed forgetting.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallant, Sara N; Yang, Lixia

2014-01-01

Consistent with their emphasis on emotional goals, older adults often exhibit a positivity bias in attention and memory relative to their young counterparts (i.e., a positivity effect). The current study sought to determine how this age-related positivity effect would impact intentional forgetting of emotional words, a process critical to efficient operation of memory. Using an item-based directed forgetting task, 36 young and 36 older adults studied a series of arousal-equivalent words that varied in valence (i.e., positive, negative, and neutral). Each word was followed by a cue to either remember or forget the word. A subsequent "tagging" recognition task required classification of items as to-be-remembered (TBR), to-be-forgotten (TBF), or new as a measure of directed forgetting and source attribution in participants' memory. Neither young nor older adults' intentional forgetting was affected by the valence of words. A goal-consistent valence effect did, however, emerge in older adults' source attribution performance. Specifically, older adults assigned more TBR-cues to positive words and more TBF-cues to negative words. Results are discussed in light of existing literature on emotion and directed forgetting as well as the socioemotional selectivity theory underlying the age-related positivity effect.

Positivity effect in source attributions of arousal-matched emotional and non-emotional words during item-based directed forgetting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara N. Gallant

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Consistent with their emphasis on emotional goals, older adults often exhibit a positivity bias in attention and memory relative to their young counterparts (i.e., a positivity effect. The current study sought to determine how this age-related positivity effect would impact intentional forgetting of emotional words, a process critical to efficient operation of memory. Using an item-based directed forgetting task, 36 young and 36 older adults studied a series of arousal-equivalent words that varied in valence (i.e., positive, negative, and neutral. Each word was followed by a cue to either remember or forget the word. A subsequent tagging recognition task required classification of items as to-be-remembered (TBR, to-be-forgotten (TBF, or new as a measure of directed forgetting and source attribution in participants’ memory. Valence did not affect intentional forgetting in both young and older age groups. A goal-consistent valence effect did, however, emerge in older adults’ source attribution performance. Specifically, older adults assigned more TBR-cues to positive words and more TBF-cues to negative words. Results are discussed in light of existing literature on emotion and directed forgetting as well as the socioemotional selectivity theory underlying the age-related positivity effect.

Characterization of the positive and negative inotropic effects of acetylcholine in the human myocardium

NARCIS (Netherlands)

X.Y. Du (Xiaoyi); R.G. Schoemaker (Regien); E. Bos (Egbert); P.R. Saxena (Pramod Ranjan)

1995-01-01

textabstractIn the human isolated myocardium, acetylcholine (10−9 to 10−3 M) elicited a biphasic inotropic effect (a decrease in the lower and an increase in the higher concentration range) in atrial and a positive inotropic effect in ventricular trabeculae. However, under conditions of raised

Sleep position trainer versus tennis ball technique in positional obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eijsvogel, Michiel M.; Ubbink, Rinse; Dekker, Janita; Mos-Oppersma, Eline; de Jongh, Franciscus H.C.; van der Palen, Jacobus Adrianus Maria; Brusse-Keizer, Marjolein G.J.

2015-01-01

Study Objective Positional therapy (PT) is an effective therapy in positional obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (POSAS) when used, but the compliance of PT is low. The objective of this study was to investigate whether a new kind of PT is effective and can improve compliance. Methods 29 patients were

Feedback enhances the positive effects and reduces the negative effects of multiple-choice testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Andrew C; Roediger, Henry L

2008-04-01

Multiple-choice tests are used frequently in higher education without much consideration of the impact this form of assessment has on learning. Multiple-choice testing enhances retention of the material tested (the testing effect); however, unlike other tests, multiple-choice can also be detrimental because it exposes students to misinformation in the form of lures. The selection of lures can lead students to acquire false knowledge (Roediger & Marsh, 2005). The present research investigated whether feedback could be used to boost the positive effects and reduce the negative effects of multiple-choice testing. Subjects studied passages and then received a multiple-choice test with immediate feedback, delayed feedback, or no feedback. In comparison with the no-feedback condition, both immediate and delayed feedback increased the proportion of correct responses and reduced the proportion of intrusions (i.e., lure responses from the initial multiple-choice test) on a delayed cued recall test. Educators should provide feedback when using multiple-choice tests.

Accentuate the Positive: Positive Sentiments and Status in Task Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Bianchi, Alison J.; Lancianese, Donna A.

2007-01-01

We explore the capacity of positive sentiments, those enduring affective states one achieves when one likes another, to impact status structures. Do positive sentiments combine with existing aspects of interaction to create status hierarchies and potentially change the social order, or do they moderate the effects of extant structure by dampening…

A Potential Role for mu-Opioids in Mediating the Positive Effects of Gratitude.

Science.gov (United States)

Henning, Max; Fox, Glenn R; Kaplan, Jonas; Damasio, Hanna; Damasio, Antonio

2017-01-01

Gratitude is a complex emotional feeling associated with universally desirable positive effects in personal, social, and physiological domains. Why or how gratitude achieves these functional outcomes is not clear. Toward the goal of identifying its' underlying physiological processes, we recently investigated the neural correlates of gratitude. In our study, participants were exposed to gratitude-inducing stimuli, and rated each according to how much gratitude it provoked. As expected, self-reported gratitude intensity correlated with brain activity in distinct regions of the medial pre-frontal cortex associated with social reward and moral cognition. Here we draw from our data and existing literature to offer a theoretical foundation for the physiological correlates of gratitude. We propose that mu-opioid signaling (1) accompanies the mental experience of gratitude, and (2) may account for the positive effects of gratitude on social relationships, subjective wellbeing, and physiological health.

All-trans retinoic acid synergizes with FLT3 inhibition to eliminate FLT3/ITD+ leukemia stem cells in vitro and in vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Hayley S; Greenblatt, Sarah M; Shirley, Courtney M; Duffield, Amy S; Bruner, J Kyle; Li, Li; Nguyen, Bao; Jung, Eric; Aplan, Peter D; Ghiaur, Gabriel; Jones, Richard J; Small, Donald

2016-06-09

FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3)-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML) portends a poor prognosis, and ineffective targeting of the leukemic stem cell (LSC) population remains one of several obstacles in treating this disease. All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has been used in several clinical trials for the treatment of nonpromyelocytic AML with limited clinical activity observed. FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) used as monotherapy also achieve limited clinical responses and are thus far unable to affect cure rates in AML patients. We explored the efficacy of combining ATRA and FLT3 TKIs to eliminate FLT3/internal tandem duplication (ITD)(+) LSCs. Our studies reveal highly synergistic drug activity, preferentially inducing apoptosis in FLT3/ITD(+) cell lines and patient samples. Colony-forming unit assays further demonstrate decreased clonogenicity of FLT3/ITD(+) cells upon treatment with ATRA and TKI. Most importantly, the drug combination depletes FLT3/ITD(+) LSCs in a genetic mouse model of AML, and prolongs survival of leukemic mice. Furthermore, engraftment of primary FLT3/ITD(+) patient samples is reduced in mice following treatment with FLT3 TKI and ATRA in combination, with evidence of cellular differentiation occurring in vivo. Mechanistically, we provide evidence that the synergism of ATRA and FLT3 TKIs is at least in part due to the observation that FLT3 TKI treatment upregulates the antiapoptotic protein Bcl6, limiting the drug's apoptotic effect. However, cotreatment with ATRA reduces Bcl6 expression to baseline levels through suppression of interleukin-6 receptor signaling. These studies provide evidence of the potential of this drug combination to eliminate FLT3/ITD(+) LSCs and reduce the rate of relapse in AML patients with FLT3 mutations.

Method of improving heterogeneous oil reservoir polymer flooding effect by positively-charged gel profile control

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Ling; Xia, Huifen

2018-01-01

The project of polymer flooding has achieved great success in Daqing oilfield, and the main oil reservoir recovery can be improved by more than 15%. But, for some strong oil reservoir heterogeneity carrying out polymer flooding, polymer solution will be inefficient and invalid loop problem in the high permeability layer, then cause the larger polymer volume, and a significant reduction in the polymer flooding efficiency. Aiming at this problem, it is studied the method that improves heterogeneous oil reservoir polymer flooding effect by positively-charged gel profile control. The research results show that the polymer physical and chemical reaction of positively-charged gel with the residual polymer in high permeability layer can generate three-dimensional network of polymer, plugging high permeable layer, and increase injection pressure gradient, then improve the effect of polymer flooding development. Under the condition of the same dosage, positively-charged gel profile control can improve the polymer flooding recovery factor by 2.3∼3.8 percentage points. Under the condition of the same polymer flooding recovery factor increase value, after positively-charged gel profile control, it can reduce the polymer volume by 50 %. Applying mechanism of positively-charged gel profile control technology is feasible, cost savings, simple construction, and no environmental pollution, therefore has good application prospect.

Sleep position trainer versus tennis ball technique in positional obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eijsvogel, Michiel M.; Ubbink, Rinse; Dekker, Janita; Oppersma, Eline; de Jongh, Frans H.; van der Palen, Job; Brusse-Keizer, Marjolein G.

2015-01-01

Positional therapy (PT) is an effective therapy in positional obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (POSAS) when used, but the compliance of PT is low. The objective of this study was to investigate whether a new kind of PT is effective and can improve compliance. 29 patients were treated with the Sleep

Effect of a web-based positive psychology intervention on prenatal well-being : A case series study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Corno, Giulia; Etchemendy, Ernestina; Espinoza, Macarena; Herrero, Rocío; Molinari, Guadelupe; Carrillo, Alba; Drossaert, Constance; Baños, Rosa Maria

Background Detrimental effects of women’s negative feelings during pregnancy have been extensively examined and documented, but research on the influence of positive feelings and protective factors on their prenatal mental health is scarce. Evidence from the positive psychology field has shown that

The effect of altered road markings on speed and lateral position : a meta-analysis.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Davidse, R.J. Driel, C.J.G. van & Goldenbeld, C.

2004-01-01

This report describes the results of a meta-analysis of a number of small-scale studies into the effects of changed road markings on the speed and lateral position of motor vehicles. It was examined whether predictions can be made about the general effects of altered road markings. Several kinds of

Selective extraction of trivalent actinides with hard-soft mixed donor ligands: role of intra-ligand synergism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghanty, Tapan K.

2016-01-01

In recent years, considerable attention has been given to understand the coordination chemistry of trivalent lanthanide (Ln) and actinide (An) with various ligands because of its close link with the nuclear waste management processes. It is well known that lanthanide-actinide separation is a challenging and difficult task because of very similar chemical properties of these two series of ions, which are associated with similar ionic radii and coordination numbers. Recently, we have introduced a new concept, 'intra-ligand synergism', where hard donor atom, such as, oxygen preferentially binds to trivalent actinides (An(III)) as compared to the valence iso-electronic trivalent lanthanides (Ln(III)) in presence of another soft donor centre. In the present work, the conventional concept of selective complexation of actinides with soft donor ligands (either S or N donor) has been modified through exploiting this concept, and thereby the higher selectivity of 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylamide (PDAM) based ligands, namely PDAM and its isobutyl and decyl derivatives towards Am(III) ion has been predicted theoretically through density functional calculations. Subsequently, several such amide derivatives have been synthesized to optimize the solubility of the ligands in organic phase. Finally, solvent extraction experiments have been carried out to validate the theoretical prediction on the selectivity of oxygen donor ligands towards Am(III) as compared to Eu(III), and a maximum separation factor of about 51 has been achieved experimentally using 2,9-bis(N-decylaminocarbonyl)-1,10-phenanthroline ligand. The separation factor is increased with the decrease in pH, which is very interesting since extraction of the Am 3+ ion is considered to be important under highly acidic conditions from the nuclear waste management point of view. (author)

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