Inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase by cytosolic proteins - real or artifact

The inhibitory effect of FeSO4-dependent cytosolic protein on microsomal HMGCoA reductase is on the enzyme activity and not an artifact of loss of the product, mevalonate, through phosphorylation, unlike that of ATP.Mg effect.

High-Pressure Low-Temperature Locknut Cell For Both Electron-Paramagnetic-Res And Nmr-Studies To 10 Kilobars And 77-K

A locked high-pressure cell with working pressure range up to 10 kbars suitable for low-temperature studies to 77 K has been described. It can be used for both EPR and NMR studies of single crystals (and other solid samples). The high-pressure seal and all other aspects of the cell remain the same for either application. Only a change of the bottom plug is required for a switch from a nuclear-magnetic-resonance (NMR) to an electron-paramagnetic-resonance (EPR) experiment. Details of the procedure for the calibration of pressure inside the cell at various temperatures are discussed. The performance of the cell in EPR (Cr3+ion) and NMR (27Al nucleus) studies is reported.

Konstrukcija mnimosti : K poètike "Voskovoj persony" Ju. Tynjanova

The subject of this work is the poetics of «The Wax Effigy», a short novel or novella by Jurii Tynianov, Russian writer, literary critic, historian of literature and prominent literary theoretician. The plot structure of the novel is based upon a real event, the creation by Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli in 1725 of a wax sculpture of the first Russian emperor, Peter the Great. «Construction of the Sham» consists of three chapters, an introduction and a conclusion. Due to the fact that Tynianov was at the same time a prose writer and theoretician of literature it seemed important to consider the reception of his prose and his works on literary theory in relationship to each other. The introduction is devoted to this task. The first chapter is about the history of the creation of the novel and its reception. Tynianov stopped writing one short story in order to write the novel; these two works have some common traits. It seems almost obvious that his work on the first text was a real step toward the creation of the second. In the first story there is an opposition of dead/alive which is semantic prefiguring of a central motif in «The Wax Effigy». An analysis of the reception of the novel demonstrated that almost every critic writing about the novel has described it as nonsense. Critics considered Tynianov's work in terms of «devices» and «content» and could not understand how devices are related to the content of the novel: the novel was thought as a signifier without any signified. Implicitly, critics thought the signified of the novel as a traditional one of the historical novel, as the historiosophical «idea», embodied in the system of literary devices. In this case literature becomes something instrumental, a kind of expression of extraliterary content. In contradistinction to that Tynianov considered literary semantics as an effect of the literary structure. From his point of view the literary sense is immanent to the process of signification accomplished inside the literary text. The second chapter is devoted to a rhetorical analysis of the opposition dead/alive. Tynianov systematically compares both terms of the opposition. As a result of this strategy the wax effigy of the dead emperor becomes «as if» alive and the world of living people «as if» dead. The qualifier «as if» refers to the fact that Tynianov creates an ambiguous semantic system. This rhetoric is related to European Romanticism and his «fantastic literature» (Merimé, Hoffmann, Maupassant etc.). But Tynianov demonstrates a linguistic origin of the strange fantoms created by romantics; he demystifies these idols by parodying the fantastic literature, that is, showing «how it was done». At the same time, the opposition mentioned above refers to his idea of «incongruity» which plays a prominent role in Tynianov s theory but has never been conceptualised. The incongruity is a inner collision of the literary text; from Tynianov's point of view the meaning of the work of literature is always a dynamic collision of semantically heterogeneous elements struggling with each other. In «The Wax Effigy» Tynianov creates a metalevel of the work demonstrating the process of creation of the literary sense. The third chapter is a reconstruction of Tynianov's conception of the historical prose, specifically of the mechanisms by which historical facts are transformed into literary events. Tynianov thought that the task of the historical novelist is to depict his hero as an actor, to demonstrate that as a wearer of many masks he is a creator of appearances, ambiguities. Here, in the «figure of fiction» (Andrei Belyi), the very idea of the historical prose and rhetoric employed in «The Wax Effigy», history and literature meet each other. In his last theoretical work, «On parody» Tynianov writes about the so-called sham structure of parody. In his opinion every parody is a text about other texts and «serious» work which could be read at the same time as a text about «reality». This twofold structure of parody is that of «The Wax Effigy»: that text speaks about ambiguities of the history and about ambiguities of the literary sense, about social reality of the past and - about the working of the literature itself. «The Wax Effigy» is written as a autoreflective text, as an experiment in literary semantics, as a system of literary ambiguities - of hero, rhetoric and the text itself. The meaning of the novel is created not by the embodiment extraliterary idea, but by the process of signification accomplished inside the work of literature. In this sense Tynianov's novel is parody, a break with the tradition of the historical novel preceding «The Wax Effigy».

Effects of Low Dose Irradiation on the K-Value and Hypoxanthine Concentration of Fish Fillets

Fillets of five fish species were irradiated at 0, 1 and 3kGy to investigate whether the K-value test of freshness can be applied to irradiated fish. Following irradiation, the fillets were stored on ice and sampled regularly for K-value analysis. Hypoxanthine (Hx) and total nucleotide content were also determined on fillets of two species. K-values of irradiated fillets were generally lower than those of unirradiated controls. Hypoxanthine levels paralleled the K-value changes. These results indicated that quality standards based on K-values or Hx levels that have been set for unirradiated species cannot be directly applied to fish that has been irradiated. Total nucleotide content did not appear to be affected by irradiation.

Spool valve mechanism used in a 20 K Gifford-McMahon cycle cryorefrigerator and its effect on the P-V diagram

The design and fabrication of a spool valve for a two-stage Gifford-McMahon cycle cryorefrigerator is described. The effect of this valve on the P-V diagram and practical methods of reducing the P-V degradation are also discussed.

Olen maa johon tahdot : Timo K. Mukan maailmankuvan poetiikkaa

The dissertation deals with the prose texts of the Finnish writer Timo K. Mukka, renowned for his depictions of his native Lapland. This research concerns the creation of world view in Mukka s prose, which is approached by studying what Mikhail Bakhtin calls generic change. Such genre change is the most characteristic feature of Mukka s prose. His prose is permeated with two genres in particular and changes between them: the ballad-like, archaistic and romantic prose-poem style and naturalistic, even grotesque expressions. In addition, these genres are associated with sublime and grotesque styles so that generic change tends to involve also stylistic changes in Mukka s prose. This study probes the tension-filled interrelationships between the ballad and naturalistic prose by examining the discourse of Mukka s characters. It is shown that these characters invariably find themselves in what Bakhtin calls the chronotope of the threshold; that is, the plots of Mukka s novels and short stories depict situations in which the characters are faced with decisions and deeds that will profoundly impact their lives. The discourse of the threshold affects the characters speech by filling it with dialogical dimensions. This makes their communication ethically loaded and polyphonic. This study is based on Mikhail Bakhtin s theory of the novel and international Bakhtin s studies. I also take into consideration the theoretical developments of Bakhtin s work; for example, the concept of ressentiment, adapted from the Bakhtin scholar Michel André Bernstein, plays an important role. In order to explicate on the psychology of Mukka s characters such as melancholy, abjection, sadism, and taboo I use the concepts familiar from Freudian psychoanalysis. The corpus of my research consists of the following texts: the long prose texts Maa on syntinen laulu. Balladi (1964), Tabu (1965), Täältä jostakin. Romaani (1965), Laulu Sipirjan lapsista. Romaani (1966), Ja kesän heinä kuolee. Kertomus sairaudesta (1968) ja Kyyhky ja unikko (1970) and the short story collections Koiran kuolema (1967) ja Lumen pelko (1970), and with Tabu published short story Sankarihymni , the short story Katkelma laajemmasta laulelmasta from the collection Rakastaa: Kaksitoista novellia rakkaudesta (1965) and also the short stories which were published in various Finnish journals: Yöt (1965), Liisa (1967), Tyttö (1967) ja Näin hetki sitten ketun (1970). I pay particular attention to the novel Maa on syntinen laulu, because it expresses the generic change characteristic of Mukka s world view in a specifically clear and lively way. The dissertation is in Finnish. Key words: Timo K. Mukka, world view, genre change, ballad, naturalism, grotesque realism, Mikhail Bakhtin, dialogism, polyphony, chronotope, sublime, grotesque, ressentiment, Sigmund Freud, melancholy, taboo, abject, sadism, reduced laughter, modern parody.

Two stage Gifford-McMahon cycle cryorefrigerator operating at 20 K

A two stage Gifford-McMahon cycle cryorefrigerator operating at 20 K is described. This refrigerator uses a very simple ‘spool valve’ and a modified indigenous compressor to compress helium gas. This cryorefrigerator reaches a lowest temperature of 15.5 K; it takes ≈ 50 min to reach 20 K and the cooling capacity is ≈ 2.5 W at 25 K. The cool-down characteristics and load characteristics are presented in graphical form. The effect of changing the operating pressure ratio and the second stage regenerator matrix size are also reported. Pressure-volume (P-V) diagrams obtained at various temperatures indicate that P-V losses form the major fraction of the total losses and this becomes more pronounced as the temperature is decreased. A heat balance analysis shows the relative magnitudes of various losses.

Chemical synthesis and structure elucidation of bovine K-casein (1-44)

The caseins (αs1, αs2, β, and κ) are phosphoproteins present in bovine milk that have been studied for over a century and whose structures remain obscure. Here we describe the chemical synthesis and structure elucidation of the N-terminal segment (1–44) of bovine κ-casein, the protein which maintains the micellar structure of the caseins. κ-Casein (1–44) was synthesised by highly optimised Boc solid-phase peptide chemistry and characterised by mass spectrometry. Structure elucidation was carried out by circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. CD analysis demonstrated that the segment was ill defined in aqueous medium but in 30% trifluoroethanol it exhibited considerable helical structure. Further, NMR analysis showed the presence of a helical segment containing 26 residues which extends from Pro8 to Arg34. This is the first report which demonstrates extensive secondary structure within the casein class of proteins.

Energy-dependence of nitrate reductase induction in Candida-Utilis

The requirement of a suitable energy source during the induced synthesis of nitrate reductase in Image was investigated. The levels of nitrate reductase induced were shown to be energy-dependent, and to vary in response to the type of carbon source provided. Glycerol, fructose, ethanol, glucose, and sucrose served as efficient energy sources. Growth rate of the yeast and the induced level of nitrate reductase were dependent on the ratio of carbon to nitrogen in the induction medium, and ratio of 2 being optimal. Induction of nitrate reductase was inhibited by uncouplers, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), dicumarol and carbonyl cyanide Candida-Utilis -trifluoromethoxy phenyl hydrazone (CCCP), and by cyanide and azide, indicating an absolute energy-dependency. The facilitation of induction of a high level of nitrate reductase by exogenously added ATP as sole source of energy confirmed the obligate requirement of ATP for the synthesis of nitrate reductase in Candida-Utilis.

Adriamycin treatment increases 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase and isoprene biosynthesis in the rat liver

Treatment of rats with Adriamycin caused an increase in the incorporation into hepatic cholesterol of [1-14C] acetate, but not of [2-14C] mevalonate. The step affected was found to be 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase whose activity in the liver microsomes increased in Adriamycin-treated animals, but was inhibited when the drug was added in the assay medium. Also, the concentration of ubiquinone in the liver and of cholesterol in the plasma increased.

Comparative immunogenicity of M. hyopneumoniae NrdF encoded in different expression systems delivered orally via attenuated S. typhimurium aroA in mice.

The Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae ribonucleotide reductase R2 subunit (NrdF) gene fragment was cloned into eukaryotic and prokaryotic expression vectors and its immunogenicity evaluated in mice immunized orally with attenuated Salmonella typhimurium aroA CS332 harboring either of the recombinant expression plasmids. We found that NrdF is highly conserved among M. hyopneumoniae strains. The immunogenicity of NrdF was examined by analyzing antibody responses in sera and lung washes, and the cell-mediated immune (CMI) response was assessed by determining the INF-[gamma] level produced by splenocytes upon in vitro stimulation with NrdF antigen. S. typhimurium expressing NrdF encoded by the prokaryotic expression plasmid (pTrcNrdF) failed to elicit an NrdF-specific serum or secretory antibody response, and IFN-[gamma] was not produced. Similarly, S. typhimurium carrying the eukaryotic recombinant plasmid encoding NrdF (pcNrdF) did not induce a serum or secretory antibody response, but did elicit significant NrdF-specific IFN-[gamma] production, indicating induction of a CMI response. However, analysis of immune responses against the live vector S. typhimurium aroA CS332 showed a serum IgG response but no mucosal IgA response in spite of its efficient invasiveness in vitro. In the present study we show that the DNA vaccine encoding the M. hyopneumoniae antigen delivered orally via a live attenuated S. typhimurium aroA can induce a cell-mediated immune response. We also indicate that different live bacterial vaccine carriers may have an influence on the type of the immune response induced.

Determination of the thermodynamic properties of xMgO + (1 x)MnO (s, sln) from a solid-electrolyte galvanic cell in the temperature range 1163 to 1318 K

The thermodynamic activities of MgO in the NaCl-type solid solutions which can exist in xMgO + (1 x)MnO have been determined in the temperature range 1163 to 1318 K from a solid-state galvanic cell incorporating MgF2 as the solid electrolyte. The activities of MnO have been calculated by a graphical Gibbs-Duhem integration method. The activities of both the components exhibit positive deviations from ideality over the entire composition range. The excess molar enthalpies are found to be positive. Further, xMgO + (1 - x)MnO does not conform to regular-solution behaviour. The origin of the excess thermodynamic properties is discussed in relation to the cationic size disparity and the crystal-field effects.

Curing Reactions in Elastomers. 11. Carboxy- Terminated Polybutadiene

Attempts have been made to understand the curing reactions in carboxy-terminated polybutadiene (CTPB), which happens to be the most practical binder in advanced solid composite propellants. The curing of CTPB has been studied for different ratios of curing agents (MAPO and Epoxide) by gel content, molecular weight, crosslink density, and penetration temperature measurements, and the optimum composition of curators for effective curing of CTPB has been determined. Activation energy calculations on the curing of CTPB with 9.5% epoxide and 0.5% MAPO in the temperature range 75100°C gave 14.1 kcal/mol for which a diffusion-controlled or acid-catalyzed epoxide ring opening mechanism has been suggested for the curing process in CTPB.

K-12 transitions: Approaches and lessons learned

More than 140 countries offer what has become the international norm for preteritiary education, namely a kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) system. Why kindergarten? Because, research attests to the long-term learning and social benefits of school readiness programs. Why 12 grades? Because experience in many countries shows that a K-12 system of schooling is the minimum necessary to acquire the knowledge and expertise for university education, employment training, or decent work.