Differences in cytocompatibility,dynamics of the oxide layers’ formation,and nickel release between superelastic and thermo-activated nickel–titanium archwires

Superelastic (SE) and thermo-activated (TA) nickel–titanium (NiTi) archwires are used in everyday orthodontic practice, based on their acceptable biocompatibility and well-defined shape memory properties. However, the differences in their surface microstructure and cytotoxicity have not been clearly defined, and the standard cytotoxicity tests are too robust to detect small differences in the cytotoxicity of these alloys, all of which can lead to unexpected adverse reactions in some patients. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that the differences in manufacture and microstructure of commercially available SE and TA archwires may influence their biocompatibility. The archwires were studied as-received and after conditioning for 24 h or 35 days in a cell culture medium under static conditions. All of the tested archwires, including their conditioned medium (CM), were non-cytotoxic for L929 cells, but Rematitan SE (both as received and conditioned) induced the apoptosis of rat thymocytes in a direct contact. In contrast, TruFlex SE and Equire TA increased the proliferation of thymocytes. The cytotoxic effect of Rematitan SE correlated with the higher release of Ni ions in CM, higher concentration of surface Ni and an increased oxygen layer thickness after the conditioning. In conclusion, the apoptosis assay on rat thymocytes, in contrast to the less sensitive standard assay on L929 cells, revealed that Rematitan SE was less cytocompatible compared to other archwires and the effect was most probably associated with a higher exposition of the cells to Ni on the surface of the archwire, due to the formation of unstable oxide layer.     

Visualizing and fuzzy filtering for discovering temporal trajectories of association rules

We propose a user-centric rule filtering method that allows to identify association rules that exhibit a certain user-specified temporal behavior with respect to rule evaluation measures. The method can considerably reduce the number of association rules that have to be assessed manually after a rule induction. This is especially necessary if the rule set contains many rules as it is the case for the task of finding rare patterns inside the data. For the proposed method, we will reuse former work on the visualization of association rules [M. Steinbrecher, R. Kruse, Visualization of possibilistic potentials, in: Foundations of Fuzzy Logic and Soft Computing, in: Lecture Notes in Comput. Sci., vol. 4529, Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg, 2007, pp. 295–303] and use an extension of it to motivate and assess the presented filtering technique. We put the focus on rules that are induced from a data set that contains a temporal variable and build our approach on the requirement that temporally ordered sets of association rules are available, i.e., one set for every time frame. To illustrate this, we propose an ad-hoc learning method along the way. The actual rule filtering is accomplished by means of fuzzy concepts. These concepts use linguistic variables to partition rule-related domains of interest, such as the confidence change rate. The original rule sets are then matched against these user concepts and result in only those rules that match the respective concepts to a predefined extent. We provide empirical evidence by applying the proposed methods to hand-crafted as well as real-world data sets and critically discuss the current state and further prospects.     

团分划问题的固定参数算法研究

图论中的团分划问题属于NP-完全问题,难以在多项式时间内解决。为此,对团分划问题的固定参数算法进行研究,提出一个针对K4-free图的新归约法则,结合深度限制搜索树技术对K4-free图中的团分划固定参数可解类算法做出改进。实验结果表明,与原算法相比,在稀疏图的情况下改进算法效率提高了30%。     

Beziehungen zwischen Struktur und Geschmack bei Aminos?uren mit cyclischen Seitenketten

Zusammenfassung 1-Aminocycloalkan-l-carbonsäuren mit Ringgrößen von 4–11 (ohne 10) wurden synthetisiert und auf ihre Geschmackseigenschaften untersucht. Süßer Geschmack tritt vom 4-Ring bis zum 8-Ring auf, beim 6-Ring ist der Schwellenwert minimal (c _Ssü=1–3 mmol/l). Bitter sind die Verbindungen vom 5-Ring bis zum 9-Ring, das Minimum des Schwellenwertes liegt beim 8-Ring (c _sbi=2–5 mmol/l). Die größeren Ringe sind bis zu Konzentrationen von 20 mmol/l ohne Geschmack. Beim 6-Ring löscht eine 2-Methylgruppe jeden Geschmackseindruck, während die 3- und 4-Methylverbindungen süß und bitter sind. Die 4-Äthylverbindung ist bitter aber nicht süß, die 4-tert.-Butylverbindung ist ohne Geschmack. 1-Aminonorbornan-1-carbonsäure ist süß (c _Ssü 50 mmol/l) und bitter (c _sbi=5–7mmo1/1), wobei der Schwellenwert für bitter fast eine Zehnerpotenz kleiner ist. tert.-Leucin ist ohne Geschmack. Die Ergebnisse werden im Zusammenhang mit früheren Untersuchungen an offenkettigen Aminosäuren diskutiert und in Modelle über sterische Voraussetzungen für Geschmack eingeordnet.

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Relationsships between structure and taste in amino acids with cyclic side chains

Summary 1-Aminocycloalkane-1-carboxylic acids with ring sizes of 4–11 (excluding 10) were synthesized and tested for their taste properties. The compounds with 4- to 8-membered rings are sweet, with threshold values going through a minimum for the 6-membered ring (c _tsw = l-3 mM/l). The compounds with 5- to 9-membered rings are bitter. Here the threshold value reaches a minimum for the 8-membered ring (c _tbi=2–5 mM/l). The larger rings are without taste up to concentrations of 20 mmol/l. With the 6-membered ring a 2-methyl group abolishes any taste impression, whereas the 3- and 4-methyl compounds are sweet and bitter. The 4-ethyl compound is bitter but not sweet, the 4-tert.-butyl compound has no taste. 1-Aminonorbornane-l-carboxylic acid is sweet (c _tsw 50mM/l) and bitter (c _tbi= 5–7 mM/l), withc _tbi being significantly smaller thanc _tsw. tert-Leucine is without taste. The results are discussed in relation to previous investigations into steric prerequisites for taste in the amino acid series.

     

Observation of a half-quantum-flux periodicity pattern in an rf SQUID with small critical currents

We have found experimentally that rf SQUID's working in a nonhysteretic mode with small critical currents give exactly at resonance and at very low rf bias a triangular pattern with a period equal to half of one elementary quantum of magnetic flux. We discuss a possible explanation of this peculiar result.     

Stress Generation, Avoidance Coping, and Depressive Symptoms: A 10-Year Model.

This study examined (a) the role of avoidance coping in prospectively generating both chronic and acute life stressors and (b) the stress-generating role of avoidance coping as a prospective link to future depressive symptoms. Participants were 1,211 late-middle-aged individuals (500 women and 711 men) assessed 3 times over a 10-year period. As predicted, baseline avoidance coping was prospectively associated with both more chronic and more acute life stressors 4 years later. Furthermore, as predicted, these intervening life stressors linked baseline avoidance coping and depressive symptoms 10 years later, controlling for the influence of initial depressive symptoms. These findings broaden knowledge about the stress-generation process and elucidate a key mechanism through which avoidance coping is linked to depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unipolar Depression, Life Context Vulnerabilities, and Drinking to Cope.

This study followed baseline samples of 424 unipolar depressed patients and 424 community controls across 10 years to investigate the association between depression and alcohol-related coping and to examine how life context vulnerabilities underlie the risk for depressed individuals to rely on drinking to cope. Findings supported all hypotheses. Depressed patients engaged in more drinking to cope than did community controls. Within individuals, more negative life events and less family support were associated with more drinking to cope across the 4 observations. Depressed patients experienced more negative life events and less family support than did community controls. These underlying life context vulnerabilities explained the relationship between depressed patient status and drinking to cope. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short communication: Repeatability of intravenous glucose tolerance test traits in young Holstein-Friesian cattle

Few studies have compared individual variability of an intravenous glucose tolerance test (ivGTT) obtained daily in young cattle. The objective of this study was to evaluate the repeatability of glucose traits and insulin responses derived from ivGTT during 3 consecutive days in Holstein-Friesian cattle (bulls: n = 4, steers: n = 3, heifers: n = 3). Blood collections were performed from min 0 (basal concentrations) to min 63 (last measurement). Additional estimates included maximal concentration for glucose and insulin, glucose half-life time (GHLT), and glucose and insulin area under the curve. Glucose traits showed higher repeatability when compared with insulin responses. On average, the glucose trait and insulin response with the lowest coefficient of variation was GHLT (0.7%) and insulin area under the curve (21.3%), respectively. In addition, a general linear model with repeated measures was used to test for significant differences in glucose and insulin concentrations over time at different trial days. Both glucose and insulin concentrations were influenced by time point but not by trial day or time point × trial day. The results from this study showed that individual insulin responses were more variable than glucose traits. The high repeatability of GHLT evidenced the strict regulatory glucose disposal mechanisms occurring in young Holstein-Friesian cattle, whereas insulin responses showed high variability despite controlled management and nutritional practices.     

Discovery of the Tiancilactone Antibiotics by Genome Mining of Atypical Bacterial Type II Diterpene Synthases

Although genome mining has advanced the identification, discovery, and study of microbial natural products, the discovery of bacterial diterpenoids continues to lag behind. Herein, we report the identification of 66 putative producers of novel bacterial diterpenoids, and the discovery of the tiancilactone (TNL) family of antibiotics, by genome mining of type II diterpene synthases that do not possess the canonical DXDD motif. The TNLs, which are broad‐spectrum antibiotics with moderate activities, are produced by both Streptomyces sp. CB03234 and Streptomyces sp. CB03238 and feature a highly functionalized diterpenoid skeleton that is further decorated with chloroanthranilate and γ‐butyrolactone moieties. Genetic manipulation of the tnl gene cluster resulted in TNL congeners, which provided insights into their biosynthesis and structure–activity relationships. This work highlights the biosynthetic potential that bacteria possess to produce diterpenoids and should inspire continued efforts to discover terpenoid natural products from bacteria.