bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Inhibitors of catechol‐O‐methyltransferase sensitize mice to pain
Authors: Kambur O , Talka R , Ansah OB , Kontinen VK , Pertovaara A , Kalso E , Männistö PT 
Published: August 2010

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSECatechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitors are used in Parkinson's disease in which pain is an important symptom. COMT polymorphisms modulate pain and opioid analgesia in humans. In rats, COMT inhibitors have been shown to be pro‐nociceptive in acute pain models, but also to attenuate allodynia and hyperalgesia in a model of diabetic neuropathy. Here, we have assessed the effects of acute and repeated administrations of COMT inhibitors on mechanical, thermal and carrageenan‐induced nociception in male mice.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHWe used single and repeated administration of a peripherally restricted, short‐acting (nitecapone) and also a centrally acting (3,5‐dinitrocatechol, OR‐486) COMT inhibitor. We also tested CGP 28014, an indirect inhibitor of COMT enzyme. Effects of OR‐486 on thermal nociception were also studied in COMT deficient mice. Effects on spinal pathways were assessed in rats given intrathecal nitecapone.KEY RESULTSAfter single administration, both nitecapone and OR‐486 reduced mechanical nociceptive thresholds and thermal nociceptive latencies (hot plate test) at 2 and 3 h, regardless of their brain penetration. These effects were still present after chronic treatment with COMT inhibitors for 5 days. Intraplantar injection of carrageenan reduced nociceptive latencies and both COMT inhibitors potentiated this reduction without modifying inflammation. CGP 28014 shortened paw flick latencies. OR‐486 did not modify hot plate times inComtgene deficient mice. Intrathecal nitecapone modified neither thermal nor mechanical nociception.CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONSPro‐nociceptive effects of COMT inhibitors were confirmed. The pro‐nociceptive effects were primarily mediated via mechanisms acting outside the brain and spinal cord. COMT protein was required for these actions.
WHAT IS EXPLOSION PROOF ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT?
Authors: Seaman E. F. 
Published: August 2010

SUMMARY.A summary of the facts which seem to be established by this discussion of the design of explosion‐proof electrical apparatus can be made as follows:

When it is possible, under any condition, to produce a spark or flame in or near explosive gases, an explosion hazard exists. No electrical apparatus which has yet been designed, therefore, is truly explosion‐proof.
“Explosion resistant” is suggested as being more accurate in the designation of electrical equipment which can be operated in the presence of explosive gases. As this term must always be defined, it serves a useful purpose in requiring definition. This would take the form of a statement of the limiting factors employed in its design.
It has been determined theoretically, and has been borne out by test and experience, that a pressure relief type of enclosure should always be used to house an electrical unit operating in the presence of explosive gases.
An airtight enclosure for electrical units operating in the vicinity of explosive gases should not be used, as, under certain conditions it can become a potential explosion hazard.
A pressure relief designed type, when assembled with all other recognized safety precautions, may properly be designated “Explosion Resistant, Degree A,” to denote that it is the best and safest available design.
A definite and unvarying procedure must be rigidly adhered to if any type of explosion proof electrical equipment is to be maintained in that classification after it has been placed in service. In outline form this procedure is:

The purchaser must specify the best design and materials and the highest quality of manufacture which it is practical to obtain.
The purchaser must have conducted rigid explosion tests on the finished product, and thereafter on each modification of design. On each unit he must require meticulous inspection.
The user must exercise the greatest care in the installation and operation of the unit. Continuous inspection and maintenance are necessary to insure that the explosion‐proof features remain unimpaired in service.
The user must not consider the unit safe in any gas concentration which is more explosive than that in which it was initially tested.
ON THE CALCULATION OF THE THERMODYNAMIC ICE POINT
Authors: POTTER J. H. 
Published: August 2010

SUMMARYThe computation of the ice point on the Kelvin Temperature scale is surveyed. The standard method of solving the equation of the constant pressure gas thermometer is reviewed.Consideration is given to an alternate procedure in which is formulated, facilitating the integration of that term. Certain advantages accrue to this method, principally the fact that the work of different observers may be compared on a more basic level.The ice point is computed for air at one atmosphere.
BOOK REVIEWS & NOTICES
Authors: Edmunds F. H. 
Published: August 2010

Book reviewed in this article:JET ENGINE MANUAL by R. Mangham and A. PeaceComments by VICE ADMIRAL HAROLD G. BOWENMARINE CARGO OPERATIONS By Captain Charles L. SauerbierATOMS and ENERGY by Professor H. S. W. MasseySAILING ALONE AROUND THE WORLD by Captain Joshua Slocum
ENGINEERING ABSTRACTS
Authors: SAWYER JOHN W. 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT“Combining Hydraulic Torque Converters with A‐C Motors”—Wayne Howard; Electrical Manufacturing, V. 59, n. 2, Feb. 1957, pp. 90–93, 330. Hydraulic torque converters coupled with a.c. motors enable designers to select speed‐torque characteristics to suit high inertia loads. The hydraulic torque converter eliminates the need for disconnect clutches and also simplifies the starting systems. It serves an additional role as an overload protection. For constant load or constant speed applications, the torque converter should not be used. Where heavy starting and wide variations in load demands are encountered the hydraulic torque converter can be used to advantage. Discussion includes torque converter principles, performance, applications and motor‐converter combinations.
Factors associated with nutritional risk in 75‐year‐old community living people
Authors: Söderhamn Ulrika , Christensson Lennart , Idvall Ewa , Johansson AnnaKarin , Bachrach‐Lindström Margareta 
Published: August 2010

söderhamn u., christensson l., idvall e., johansson a.k. & bachrach‐lindström m. (2012) Factors associated with nutritional risk in 75‐year‐old community living people. International Journal of Older People Nursing7, 3–10  doi: 10.1111/j.1748‐3743.2010.00242.xAim.  To identify risk factors for being at nutritional risk, by means of a nutritional screening, in a population based sample of 75‐year‐old people living in three county councils in Sweden.Background.  Undernutrition in older people is known to contribute to poor health. The instrument ‘Nutritional Form For the Elderly’ (NUFFE) helps to identify those at nutritional risk.Method.  The screening instrument ‘Nutritional Form For the Elderly’, background variables and health related questions were mail distributed. A total of 1461 persons (75 years old) were included in the study. Descriptive statistical methods were used in the analyses.Results.  One percent of the participants had high risk, 21.3% medium and 77.7% low risk for undernutrition. Medium or high risk was predicted by: living alone, receiving help and impaired perceived health. Low Body Mass Index was associated with low risk for undernutrition.Conclusion.  By using a simple nutritional screening instrument, significant risk factors were highlighted.Relevance to practice.  This instrument can identify older people at nutritional risk and is easy to use. Older people living alone have an increased risk of undernutrition. Body Mass Index (BMI) should be used with caution as one and only indicator of nutritional risk in older people.
Visualizing Thought
Authors: Tversky Barbara 
Published: August 2010

AbstractDepictive expressions of thought predate written language by thousands of years. They have evolved in communities through a kind of informal user testing that has refined them. Analyzing common visual communications reveals consistencies that illuminate how people think as well as guide design; the process can be brought into the laboratory and accelerated. Like language, visual communications abstract and schematize; unlike language, they use properties of the page (e.g., proximity and place: center, horizontal/up–down, vertical/left–right) and the marks on it (e.g., dots, lines, arrows, boxes, blobs, likenesses, symbols) to convey meanings. The visual expressions of these meanings (e.g., individual, category, order, relation, correspondence, continuum, hierarchy) have analogs in language, gesture, and especially in the patterns that are created when people design the world around them, arranging things into piles and rows and hierarchies and arrays, spatial‐abstraction‐action interconnections termedspractions. The designed world is a diagram.
Naïve Realism: Folk Fallacies in the Design and Use of Visual Displays
Authors: Smallman Harvey S. , Cook Maia B. 
Published: August 2010

AbstractOften implicit in visual display design and development is a gold standard of photorealism. By approximating direct perception, photorealism appeals to users and designers by being both attractive and apparently effortless. The vexing result from numerous performance evaluations, though, is that increasing realism often impairs performance. Smallman and St. John (2005) labeled misplaced faith in realistic information display Naïve Realism and theorized it resulted from a triplet of folk fallacies about perception. Here, we illustrate issues associated with the wider trend towards realism by focusing on a specific current trend for high‐fidelity perspective view (3D) geospatial displays. In two experiments, we validated Naïve Realism for different terrain understanding tasks, explored whether certain individuals are particularly prone to Naïve Realism, and determined the ability of task feedback to mitigate Naïve Realism. Performance was measured for laying and judging a concealed route across realistic terrain shown in different display formats. Task feedback was either implicit, in Experiment 1, or explicit in Experiment 2. Prospective and retrospective intuitions about the best display formats for the tasks were recorded and then related to task performance and participant spatial ability. Participants generally intuited they would perform tasks better with more realism than they actually required. For example, counter to intuitions, lowering fidelity of the terrain display revealed the gross scene layout needed to lay a well‐concealed route. Individuals of high spatial ability calibrated their intuitions with only implicit task feedback, whereas those of low spatial ability required salient, explicit feedback to calibrate their intuitions about display realism. Results are discussed in the wider context of applying perceptual science to display design, and combating folk fallacies.
Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Reveals Tight Links between Viruses and Microbes in the Bathypelagic Zone of the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Winter Christian , Weinbauer Markus G. 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT

The study site located in the Mediterranean Sea was visited eight times in 2005 and 2006 to collect samples from the epipelagic (5 m), mesopelagic (200 m, 600 m), and bathypelagic (1,000 m, 2,000 m) zones. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA PCR (RAPD-PCR) analysis was used to obtain fingerprints from microbial and viral size fractions using two different primers each. Depending on the primer used, the number of bands in the water column varied between 12 to 24 and 6 to 19 for the microbial size fraction and between 16 to 26 and 8 to 22 for the viral size fraction. The majority of sequences from the microbial fraction was related to
Alphaproteobacteria
,
Cyanobacteria
,
Gammaproteobacteria
,
Firmicutes
, and
Eukaryota
. Only 9% of sequences obtained from the viral fraction were of identifiable viral origin; however, 76% of sequences had no close relatives in the nr database of GenBank. Only 20.1% of complete phage genomes tested
in silico
resulted in potential RAPD-PCR products, and only 12% of these were targeted by both primers. Also,
in silico
analysis indicated that RAPD-PCR profiles obtained by the two different primers are largely representative of two different subsets of the viral community. Also, correlation analyses and Mantel tests indicate that the links between changes in the microbial and viral community were strongest in the bathypelagic. Thus, these results suggest a strong codevelopment of virus and host communities in deep waters. The data also indicate that virus communities in the bathypelagic zone can exhibit substantial temporal dynamics.
Characterization of
Thermobifida fusca
Cutinase-Carbohydrate-Binding Module Fusion Proteins and Their Potential Application in Bioscouring
Authors: Zhang Yao , Chen Sheng , Xu Meng , Cavoco-Paulo Artur , Wu Jing , Chen Jian 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT

Cutinase from
Thermobifida fusca
is thermally stable and has potential application in the bioscouring of cotton in the textile industry. In the present study, the carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) from
T. fusca
cellulase Cel6A (CBM
Cel6A
) and
Cellulomonas fimi
cellulase CenA (CBM
CenA
) were fused, separately, to the carboxyl terminus of
T. fusca
cutinase. Both fusion enzymes, cutinase-CBM
Cel6A
and cutinase-CBM
CenA
, were expressed in
Escherichia coli
and purified to homogeneity. Enzyme characterization showed that both displayed similar catalytic properties and pH stabilities in response to
T. fusca
cutinase. In addition, both fusion proteins displayed an activity half-life of 53 h at their optimal temperature of 50°C. Compared to
T. fusca
cutinase, in the absence of pectinase, the binding activity on cotton fiber was enhanced by 2% for cutinase-CBM
Cel6A
and by 28% for cutinase-CBM
CenA
, whereas in the presence of pectinase, the binding activity was enhanced by 40% for the former and 45% for the latter. Notably, a dramatic increase of up to 3-fold was observed in the amount of released fatty acids from cotton fiber by both cutinase-CBM fusion proteins when acting in concert with pectinase. This is the first report of improving the scouring efficiency of cutinase by fusing it with CBM. The improvement in activity and the strong synergistic effect between the fusion proteins and pectinase suggest that they may have better applications in textile bioscouring than the native cutinase.
Curli Produced by
Escherichia coli
PHL628 Provide Protection from Hg(II)
Authors: Hidalgo Gabriela , Chen Xincai , Hay Anthony G. , Lion Leonard W. 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT

The role of curli, amyloid extracellular fibers, in the tolerance of
Escherichia coli
PHL628 to Hg(II) was examined. Our findings indicate that by sorbing Hg(II) extracellularly, curli protect the cells. To our knowledge, this is the first time a protective role of curli against toxic metals has been demonstrated.
Prm1 Targeting to Contact Sites Enhances Fusion during Mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Olmo Valerie N. , Grote Eric 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT

Prm1 is a pheromone-regulated membrane glycoprotein involved in the plasma membrane fusion event of
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
mating. Although this function suggests that Prm1 should act at contact sites in pairs of mating yeast cells where plasma membrane fusion occurs, only a small percentage of the total Prm1 was actually detected on the plasma membrane. We therefore investigated the intracellular transport of Prm1 and how this transport contributes to cell fusion. Two Prm1 chimeras that were sorted away from the contact site had reduced fusion activity, indicating that Prm1 indeed functions at contact sites. However, most Prm1 is located in endosomes and other cytoplasmic organelles and is targeted to vacuoles for degradation. Mutations in a putative endocytosis signal in a cytoplasmic loop partially stabilized the Prm1 protein and caused it to accumulate on the plasma membrane, but this endocytosis mutant actually had reduced mating activity. When Prm1 was expressed from a galactose-regulated promoter and its synthesis was repressed at the start of mating, vanishingly small amounts of Prm1 protein remained at the time when the plasma membranes came into contact. Nevertheless, this stable pool of Prm1 was retained at polarized sites on the plasma membrane and was sufficient to promote plasma membrane fusion. Thus, the amount of Prm1 expressed in mating yeast is far in excess of the amount required to facilitate fusion.
The bZIP Transcription Factor MeaB Mediates Nitrogen Metabolite Repression at Specific Loci
Authors: Wagner Dominik , Schmeinck Anne , Mos Magdalena , Morozov Igor Y. , Caddick Mark X. , Tudzynski Bettina 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACTInFusarium fujikuroi, bikaverin (BIK) biosynthesis is subject to repression by nitrogen. Unlike most genes subject to nitrogen metabolite repression, it has been shown that transcription ofbikbiosynthetic genes is not AreA dependent. Searching for additional transcription factors that may be involved in nitrogen regulation, we cloned and characterized the orthologue ofAspergillus nidulansmeaB, which encodes a bZIP transcription factor. Two transcripts are derived fromF. fujikuroimeaB: the large transcript (meaBL) predominates under nitrogen-sufficient conditions and the smaller transcript (meaBS) under nitrogen limitation, in an AreA-dependent manner. MeaB is specifically translocated to the nucleus under nitrogen-sufficient conditions in bothF. fujikuroiandA. nidulans. Deletion ofmeaBresulted in partial upregulation of several nitrogen-regulated genes, but only in the ΔmeaBΔareAdouble mutant were the bikaverin genes significantly upregulated in the presence of glutamine. These data demonstrate that MeaB and AreA coordinately mediate nitrogen metabolite repression and, importantly, that independently of AreA, MeaB can mediate nitrogen metabolite repression at specific loci inF. fujikuroi.
Roles of Multiple Acetoacetyl Coenzyme A Reductases in Polyhydroxybutyrate Biosynthesis in
Ralstonia eutropha
H16
Authors: Budde Charles F. , Mahan Alison E. , Lu Jingnan , Rha ChoKyun , Sinskey Anthony J. 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT

The bacterium
Ralstonia eutropha
H16 synthesizes polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) through reactions catalyzed by a β-ketothiolase (PhaA), an acetoacetyl-CoA reductase (PhaB), and a polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase (PhaC). An operon of three genes encoding these enzymatic steps was discovered in
R. eutropha
and has been well studied. Sequencing and analysis of the
R. eutropha
genome revealed putative isologs for each of the PHB biosynthetic genes, many of which had never been characterized. In addition to the previously identified
phaB1
gene, the genome contains the isologs
phaB2
and
phaB3
as well as 15 other potential acetoacetyl-CoA reductases. We have investigated the roles of the three
phaB
isologs by deleting them from the genome individually and in combination. It was discovered that the gene products of both
phaB1
and
phaB3
contribute to PHB biosynthesis in fructose minimal medium but that in plant oil minimal medium and rich medium,
phaB3
seems to be unexpressed. This raises interesting questions concerning the regulation of
phaB3
expression. Deletion of the gene
phaB2
did not result in an observable phenotype under the conditions tested, although this gene does encode an active reductase. Addition of the individual reductase genes to the genome of the Δ
phaB1
Δ
phaB2
Δ
phaB3
strain restored PHB production, and in the course of our complementation experiments, we serendipitously created a PHB-hyperproducing mutant. Measurement of the PhaB and PhaA activities of the mutant strains indicated that the thiolase reaction is the limiting step in PHB biosynthesis in
R. eutropha
H16 during nitrogen-limited growth on fructose.
Molecular Basis of Vancomycin Dependence in VanA-Type
Staphylococcus aureus
VRSA-9
Authors: Meziane-Cherif Djalal , Saul Frederick A. , Moubareck Carole , Weber Patrick , Haouz Ahmed , Courvalin Patrice , Périchon Bruno 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT

The vancomycin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
VRSA-9 clinical isolate was partially dependent on glycopeptide for growth. The responsible
vanA
operon had the same organization as that of Tn
1546
and was located on a plasmid. The chromosomal
d
-Ala:
d
-Ala ligase (
ddl
) gene had two point mutations that led to Q260K and A283E substitutions, resulting in a 200-fold decrease in enzymatic activity compared to that of the wild-type strain VRSA-6. To gain insight into the mechanism of enzyme impairment, we determined the crystal structure of VRSA-9 Ddl and showed that the A283E mutation induces new ion pair/hydrogen bond interactions, leading to an asymmetric rearrangement of side chains in the dimer interface. The Q260K substitution is located in an exposed external loop and did not induce any significant conformational change. The VRSA-9 strain was susceptible to oxacillin due to synthesis of pentadepsipeptide precursors ending in
d
-alanyl-
d
-lactate which are not substrates for the β-lactam-resistant penicillin binding protein PBP2′. Comparison with the partially vancomycin-dependent VRSA-7, whose Ddl is 5-fold less efficient than that of VRSA-9, indicated that the levels of vancomycin dependence and susceptibility to β-lactams correlate with the degree of Ddl impairment. Ddl drug targeting could therefore be an effective strategy against vancomycin-resistant
S. aureus
.
Genome Sequence of the Solvent-Producing Bacterium
Clostridium carboxidivorans
Strain P7
T
Authors: Paul Debarati , Austin Frank W. , Arick Tony , Bridges Susan M. , Burgess Shane C. , Dandass Yoginder S. , Lawrence Mark L. 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT

Clostridium carboxidivorans
strain P7
T
is a strictly anaerobic acetogenic bacterium that produces acetate, ethanol, butanol, and butyrate. The
C. carboxidivorans
genome contains all the genes for the carbonyl branch of the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway for CO
2
fixation, and it encodes enzymes for conversion of acetyl coenzyme A into butanol and butyrate.
Complete Genome Sequence of
Staphylococcus aureus
Strain JKD6159, a Unique Australian Clone of ST93-IV Community Methicillin-Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Chua Kyra , Seemann Torsten , Harrison Paul F. , Davies John K. , Coutts Scott J. , Chen Honglei , Haring Volker , Moore Robert , Howden Benjamin P. , Stinear Timothy P. 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT

Community methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(cMRSA) is an emerging issue that has resulted in multiple worldwide epidemics. We report the first complete genome sequence of an ST93-MRSA-IV clinical isolate that caused severe invasive infection and a familial outbreak of skin infection. This isolate is a representative of the most common Australian clone of cMRSA that is more distantly related to the previously sequenced genomes of
S. aureus.