Accumulation of glycine in the fat body of the silkworm, bombyx mori L. [31]

INVESTIGATIONS of intestinal transport of amino-acids in the locust1,2 and silkworm3,4 have shown no evidence for active accumulation in a transport from the insect gut of amino-acids. When glycine-2-14C was administered in vivo to fifth instar larvae of the silkworm, 96 per cent of the radioactivity was incorporated into various tissues within 1 h whereas in vitro only 19 per cent of the activity was transported by the mid-gut of silkworm (unpublished work). These results suggested that continued absorption of glycine by the intestine could be aided by a facilitated diffusion mechanism in which amino-acids are rapidly removed from the site of absorption either by accumulation into other tissues or by degradation. Although the insect fat body has been assigned both accumulatory and dissimilatory roles5, the mechanism of accumulation of amino-acids has not been investigated. Our present experiments show that the silkworm fat body possesses an efficient mechanism for accumulating glycine and that both the accumulation and the release of glycine are metabolically controlled.

Interrelations of soil micro-orgamisms and mulberry I.Phytohormone production by soil and rhizosphere bacteria and their effect on plant growth

Bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere of mulberry (Morus indica) as well as from control soil were tested for their effects on the growth of mulberry seedlings and for phytohormone production. About 12.8 per cent of the rhizosphere and 9.7 per cent of the soil isolates produced phytohormones in cultures. Rhizosphere isolates were more active in hormone synthesis than their soil counterparts. Soaking mulberry stem cuttings in culture filtrates of phytohormone synthesisers hastened their rooting. Culture filtrates of many isolates — hormone producers or not — stimulated or inhibited the growth of shoot and/or root of plants. Many cultures could also inhibit the germination of mulberry seeds.

Drop formation studies in liquid—liquid systems

Benzene drops were formed in continuous media of water and glycerine of varying physical properties. The effect on drop volumes of variables like volumetric flow-rate, interfacial tension, continuous phase viscosity and capillary diameter was studied. An equation has been developed, based on a two stage drop formation mechanism, which predicts drop volumes within an average error of 7 per cent for the range of physical properties employed in this investigation.

Heat transfer to newtonian fluids in coiled pipes in laminar flow

Data on pressure drop and heat transfer to aqueous solutions of glycerol flowing in different types of coiled pipes are presented for laminar flow in the range of NRe from 80 to 6000. An empirical correlation is set up which can account the present data as well as the data available in literature within ±10 per cent deviation. Conventional momentum and heat transfer analogy equation is used to analyse the present data.

Lipid composition of the silkworm Bombyx mori L

The constituents of silkworm fat were studied in detail. An unsaturated fat with a high concentration of phospholipid was generally observed. Its iodine value increased during metamorphosis. The free fatty acid concentration likewise increased from the spinning larvae to the moth stage. Analyses of silkworm organs revealed that the fat body had the most fat and the least free fatty acids, whereas haemolymph contained the least fat. Silk glands contained the maximum phospholipid percentage. Stearic acid predominated in those tissues that had a high percentage of phospholipid. Stearic acid was the predominant saturated fatty acid in both the phospholipids and lecithin, and it accounted for 35–50 per cent of the free fatty acids of all the tissues. Q10 was the ubiquinone present; also found were ubichromenol and tocopherol. Results show that silkworm sterol may be cholesterol. Intestines contained the maximum quantities of sterol, ubiquinone, ubichromenol, and tocopherol. The composition of silkworm phospholipids varies considerably from those of other insects, but lecithin is comparable in its composition with lecithins of other animals. The phospholipids had with them a highly complexed protein along with a polysaccharide. In experiments with snake venoms unsaturated fatty acids were found to be predominantly released from silkworm lecithin.

Fra jungledyr og cykelmyg til frysepunkt og længsel efter kærlighed Et strejftog gennem dansk litteratur på finsk efter 1945

Abstract (A journey through Danish literature translated into Finnish after 1945): Nearly 80 per cent of all literary translations from Danish into Finnish are done after the Second World War. These translations are obviously only a small selection of the Danish national literature, but nevertheless capture important trends and currents in it. Based on a selection of translated works, the article allows a broad introduction to Danish literature available in Finnish. It focuses on children's and youth literature, feminist literature and realistic, magic and civilization critical novels.

Free convection heat transfer in vertical annuli

Free convection heat transfer in vertical concentric, cylindrical annuli is investigated analytically and experimentally. The approximate double boundary layer model used by Emery and Chu for the case of vertical parallel plates is extended to the present case in obtaining heat transfer correlations in laminar free convection. Different correlations for the inner cylinder depending on the radius to the length ratio of the inner cylinder and the Rayleigh number, were used in the derivation of correlations for the annuli. The results for the case of short cylinders inside tubes are in agreement (within about 10 per cent) with the existing correlations. For other cases, namely long cylinders in annuli and wires in annuli, experiments conducted show the agreement of the analysis with experiments.

Encouragement and discouragement : Essays on taxation and government expenditure

This thesis consists of an introduction to a topic of optimal use of taxes and government expenditure and three chapters analysing these themes more in depth. Chapter 2 analyses to what extent a given amount of subsidies affects the labour supply of parents. Municipal supplement to the Finnish home care allowance provides exogenous variation to labour supply decision of a parent. This kind of subsidy that is tied to staying at home instead of working is found to have fairly large effect on labour supply decisions of parents. Chapter 3 studies theoretically when it is optimal to provide publicly private goods. In the set up of the model government sets income taxes optimally and provides a private good, if it is beneficial to do so. The analysis results in an optimal provision rule according to which the good should be provided when it lowers the participation threshold into labour force. Chapter 4 investigates what happened to prices and demand when hairdressers value added tax was cut in Finland from 22 per cent to 8 per cent. The pass-through to prices was about half of the full pass-through and no clear indication of increased demand for the services or better employment situation in the sector is found.

Effect of vibration on heat transfer from a horizontal cylinder to a normal air stream

The effect of vibration on heat transfer from a horizontal copper cylinder, 0.344 in. in diameter and 6 in. long, was investigated. The cylinder was placed normal to an air stream and was sinusoidally vibrated in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the air stream. The flow velocity varied from 19 ft/s to 92 ft/s; the double amplitude of vibration from 0.75 cm to 3.2 cm, and the frequency of vibration from 200 to 2800 cycles/min. A transient technique was used to determine the heat transfer coefficients. The experimental data in the absence of vibration is expressed by NNu = 0.226 NRe0.6 in the range 2500 < NRe < 15 000. By imposing vibrational velocities as high as 20 per cent of the flow velocity, no appreciable change in the heat transfer coefficient was observed. An analysis using the resultant of the vibration and the flow velocity explains the observed phenomenon.

Key Factors Influencing Economic Relationships and Communication in Finnish Food Chains

The aim of this report is to discuss the role of the relationship type and communication in two Finnish food chains, namely the pig meat-to-sausage (pig meat chain) and the cereal-to-rye bread (rye chain) chains. Furthermore, the objective is to examine those factors influencing the choice of a relationship type and the sustainability of a business relationship. Altogether 1808 questionnaires were sent to producers, processors and retailers operating in these two chains of which 224 usable questionnaires were returned (the response rate being 12.4%). The great majority of the respondents (98.7%) were small businesses employing less than 50 people. Almost 70 per cent of the respondents were farmers. In both chains, formal contracts were stated to be the most important relationship type used with business partners. Although for many businesses written contracts are a common business practice, the essential role of the contracts was the security they provide regarding the demand/supply and quality issues. Relative to the choice of the relationship types, the main difference between the two chains emerged especially with the prevalence of spot markets and financial participation arrangements. The usage of spot markets was significantly more common in the rye chain when compared to the pig meat chain, while, on the other hand, financial participation arrangements were much more common among the businesses in the pig meat chain than in the rye chain. Furthermore, the analysis showed that most of the businesses in the pig meat chain claimed not to be free to choose the relationship type they use. Especially membership in a co-operative and practices of a business partner were mentioned as the reasons limiting this freedom of choice. The main business relations in both chains were described as having a long-term orientation and being based on formal written contracts. Typical for the main business relationships was also that they are not based on the existence of the key persons only; the relationship would remain even if the key people left the business. The quality of these relationships was satisfactory in both chains and across all the stakeholder groups, though the downstream processors and the retailers had a slightly more positive view on their main business partners than the farmers and the upstream processors. The businesses operating in the pig meat chain seemed also to be more dependent on their main business relations when compared to the businesses in the rye chain. Although the communication means were rather similar in both chains (the phone being the most important), there was some variation between the chains concerning the communication frequency necessary to maintain the relationship with the main business partner. In short, the businesses in the pig meat chain seemed to appreciate more frequent communication with their main business partners when compared to the businesses in the rye chain. Personal meetings with the main business partners were quite rare in both chains. All the respondent groups were, however, fairly satisfied with the communication frequency and information quality between them and the main business partner. The business cultures could be argued to be rather hegemonic among the businesses both in the pig meat and rye chains. Avoidance of uncertainty, appreciation of long-term orientation and independence were considered important factors in the business cultures. Furthermore, trust, commitment and satisfaction in business partners were thought to be essential elements of business operations in all the respondent groups. In order to investigate which factors have an effect on the choice of a relationship type, several hypotheses were tested by using binary and multinomial logit analyses. According to these analyses it could be argued that avoidance of uncertainty and risk has a certain effect on the relationship type chosen, i.e. the willingness to avoid uncertainty increases the probability to choose stable relationships, like repeated market transactions and formal written contracts, but not necessary those, which require high financial commitment (like financial participation arrangements). The probability of engaging in financial participation arrangements seemed to increase with long-term orientation. The hypotheses concerning the sustainability of the economic relations were tested by using structural equation model (SEM). In the model, five variables were found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on the sustainable economic relationship construct. Ordered relative to their importance, those factors are: (i) communication quality, (ii) personal bonds, (iii) equal power distribution, (iv) local embeddedness and (v) competition.

Consequences of Vertebral Fractures

Vertebral fractures occur due to forces applied to spinal structures. When the bone tissue is weakened, vertebral fractures can result from a minor trauma. Adult vertebral fractures are commonly considered to be an indication for osteoporosis. In children osteoporosis is a rare condition, and pediatric vertebral fractures are usually clearly trauma-related. The aims of this dissertation are to produce knowledge of the epidemiology of osteoporotic vertebral fractures and to analyse their association with total and cause-specific mortality, to find indicators with which to identify individuals who are at great risk of subsequent fractures, to study the incidence of pediatric vertebral fractures and need for their operative treatment and hospital care. The Mobile-Clinic and Mini-Finland Health surveys of the adult population were used as materials in this research. Record linkages to the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register and the Official Cause of Death register were used to study mortality and hospitalization in the same population group. These registers were also used to evaluate epidemiology, mortality, hospitalization and the need for operative management of pediatric vertebral fracture patients. The main findings and conclusions of the present dissertation are: 1. The presence of a thoracic vertebral fracture in adults is a significant predictor of cancer and respiratory mortality. In women, but not in men, vertebral fractures strongly predict mortality due to injuries. Most of these deaths in the study group were hip fracture related. 2. Severe thoracic vertebral fracture in adults was a strong predictor of a subsequent hip fracture, whereas mild or moderate fractures and the number of compressed vertebrae were much weaker predictors, 3. Pediatric spinal fractures were rare: The incidence was 66 per one million children per year. In younger children cervical spine was most often affected, whereas in older children fractures of the thoracic and lumbar spine were more common. Maturation of spinal structures seems to play a major role in the typical injury patterns in children. Thirty per cent of pediatric spinal fractures required surgical treatment. The current study focuses on consequences of vertebral fractures in general, without evaluating further the causation of the studied phenomena. Further studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms of association between vertebral fractures and specific causes of mortality. A severe vertebral fracture appears to indicate a substantial risk of a subsequent hip fracture. If such a fracture is identified from a chest radiograph, urgent clinical evaluation, treatment of osteoporosis and protective measures against falls are recommended.

Association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene polymorphisms & colorectal cancer in India

Background & objectives: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a critical enzyme in folate metabolism and involved in DNA synthesis, DNA repair and DNA methylation. The two common functional polymorphisms of MTHFR, 677C -> T and 1298 A -> C have shown to impact several diseases including cancer. This case-control study was undertaken to analyse the association of the MTHFR gene polymorphisms 677 C -> T and 1298 A -> C and risk of colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods: One hundred patients with a confirmed histopathologic diagnosis of CRC and 86 age and gender matched controls with no history of cancer were taken for this study. DNA was isolated from peripheral blood samples and the genotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP. The risk association was estimated by compounding odds ratio (OR) with 95 per cent confidence interval (CI). Results: Genotype frequency of MTHFR 677 CC, CT and TT were 76.7, 22.1 and 1.16 per cent in controls, and 74,25 and 1.0 per cent among patients. The 'T' allele frequency was 12.21 and 13.5 per cent in controls and patients respectively. The genotype frequency of MTHFR 1298 AA, AC, and CC were 25.6, 58.1 and 16.3 per cent for controls and 22, 70 and 8 per cent for patents respectively. The 'C' allele frequency for 1298 A -> C was 43.0 and 45.3 per cent respectively for controls and patients. The OR for 677 CT was 1.18 (95% CI 0.59-2.32, P = 0.642), OR for 1298 AC was 1.68 (95% CI 0.92-3.08, P = 0.092) and OR for 1298 CC was 0.45(95% CI 0.18-1.12, P = 0.081). The OR for the combined heterozygous state (677 CT and 1298 AC) was 1.18(95% CI 0.52-2.64, P =0.697).Interpretation & conclusion: The frequency of the MTHFR 677 TT genotype is rare as compared to 1298 CC genotype in the population studied. There was no association between 677 C -> T and 1298 A -> C polymorphisms and risk of CRC either individually or in combination. The homozygous state for 1298 A -> C polymorphism appears to slightly lower risk of CRC. This needs to be confirmed with a larger sample size.

Analysis of network architectures for zigbee sensor clusters

We provide a comparative performance analysis of network architectures for beacon enabled Zigbee sensor clusters using the CSMA/CA MAC defined in the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, and organised as (i) a star topology, and (ii) a two-hop topology. We provide analytical models for obtaining performance measures such as mean network delay, and mean node lifetime. We find that the star topology is substantially superior both in delay performance and lifetime performance than the two-hop topology.

Utilization bounds for RM scheduling on uniform multiprocessors

Utilization bounds for Earliest Deadline First(EDF) and Rate Monotonic(RM) scheduling are known and well understood for uniprocessor systems. In this paper, we derive limits on similar bounds for the multiprocessor case, when the individual processors need not be identical. Tasks are partitioned among the processors and RM scheduling is assumed to be the policy used in individual processors. A minimum limit on the bounds for a 'greedy' class of algorithms is given and proved, since the actual value of the bound depends on the algorithm that allocates the tasks. We also derive the utilization bound of an algorithm which allocates tasks in decreasing order of utilization factors. Knowledge of such bounds allows us to carry out very fast schedulability tests although we are constrained by the fact that the tests are sufficient but not necessary to ensure schedulability.

Construction and use of linear regression models for processor performance analysis

Processor architects have a challenging task of evaluating a large design space consisting of several interacting parameters and optimizations. In order to assist architects in making crucial design decisions, we build linear regression models that relate Processor performance to micro-architecture parameters, using simulation based experiments. We obtain good approximate models using an iterative process in which Akaike's information criteria is used to extract a good linear model from a small set of simulations, and limited further simulation is guided by the model using D-optimal experimental designs. The iterative process is repeated until desired error bounds are achieved. We used this procedure to establish the relationship of the CPI performance response to 26 key micro-architectural parameters using a detailed cycle-by-cycle superscalar processor simulator The resulting models provide a significance ordering on all micro-architectural parameters and their interactions, and explain the performance variations of micro-architectural techniques.