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ABSTRACT: Thirty subjects (17 female) were exposed for five hours in a climate chamber at 22°C (71.6°F) to clean air at 5%, 15%, 25%, and 35% RH. A comparable group was similarly exposed to air polluted by carpet and linoleum to the 35% RH condition and to 18°C, 22°C, and 26°C (64.4°F, 71.6°F, and 78.8°F) at an absolute humidity equal to 15% RH at 22°C (71.6°F). They performed simulated office work to ensure that they kept their eyes open and reported sick building syndrome (SBS) symptom intensity on visual-analogue scales. Nine objective tests of eye, nose, and skin function were applied. Subjective discomfort, though significantly increased by low humidity, was slight even at 5% RH. More rapid blink rates were observed at 5% than at 35% RH (P < 0.05), and tear film quality as indicated by the Mucous Ferning Test deteriorated (P < 0.05) at low humidity (5%, 15%) and at the highest air temperature 18°C, 22°C > 26°C (78.8°F). Low humidity was found to have reduced the rate of performance of three office tasks by 3%–7%.
HVAC&R RESEARCH 01/2006; 12(2):201-213. · 0.68 Impact Factor
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Advances in Intelligent Computing, International Conference on Intelligent Computing, ICIC 2005, Hefei, China, August 23-26, 2005, Proceedings, Part I; 01/2005
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04/2002;
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ABSTRACT: We report the growth of NdFeAs(O1−xFx) single crystal with NaCl flux at ambient pressures. The typical sizes of these crystals are about 20–. Superconducting transition temperature for doping x=0.3 sample is about 50 K. For non-superconducting parent sample NdFeAsO a distinct kink at 150 K on resistivity curve is observed. X-ray diffraction with only peaks on selected crystals shows good crystallization of crystal NdFeAs(O1−xFx).
Journal of Crystal Growth.
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Peter J. Horan,
Kenneth D. Wild,
Wieslaw W. Kazmierski,
Ronald Ferguson,
Victor J. Hruby,
Steven J. Weber,
Thomas P. Davis, Lei Fang,
Richard J. Knapp,
Henry I. Yamamura,
Thomas H. Kramer,
Thomas F. Burks,
Wayne D. Bowen,
A.E. Takemori,
Frank Porreca
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ABSTRACT: This study tested the hypothesis that compounds which may bind simultaneously to δ and μ receptors may be more potent antinociceptive agents than would be predicted from their bindings affinities at individual μ and δ opioid receptors. D-Tca-Cys- Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2 ([D-Tca1]CTAP) where D-Ta is a cyclic D-trytophan analogue) was synthesized and evaluated in radioligand competition assays, opioid bioassays, and in an antinociceptive assay (the tail-flick test in mice). Additionally, the metabolic stability of [D-Tca1]CTAP was evaluated in striatal and cerebellar tissue slices. In the rat brain in vitro, [D-Tca1]CTAP competed weakly for sites labelled by [3H]D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Om-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2 ([3H]CTOP) (μ-ligand), and [3H][D-Pen2, pCl-Phe5]enkephalin (δ-ligand); [D-Pen2, D-Pen5]enkephalin (DPDPE) (δ-agonist) was 6.5-fold less and 230-fold more potent, respectively, against these ligands. Additionally, in mouse isolated vas deferens and guinea pig isolated ileum smooth muscle preparations, [D-Tca1]CTAP proved to be weak as either a δ(IC50 of approximately 2 μM) or μ (IC50 > 8 μM) receptor agonist. Surprisingly, however, i.c.v. [D-Tca1]CTAP produced antinociception with potency no similar to DPDPE. The antinociceptive actions of [D-Tca1]CTAP were apparently not due to a metabolite or the release of endogeneous opiods, as this compound proved stable in both striatal and cerebellar tissue slices and its antinociceptive actions were not enhance by the ‘enkephalinase’ inhibitor thiorphan. The suggestion that [D-Tca1]CTAP might be acting by binding simultaneously go μ and δ receptors to produced its antinociceptive effect is supported by the demonstrated antagonism resulting from μ receptor blockade with either β-funaltrexamine (β-FNA) or naloxonazine, or by δ receptor blockade by ICI 174,864 ([N,N-dially-Tyr1, Aib2,3,Leu5] enkephalin). Furthermore, the antinociceptive properties of [D-Tca1]CTAP were antagonized by (naltrindole-5′-isothiocyanate) (5′-NTII), an antagonist at the δ2 opioid receptor subtype, but not by the δ1 antagonist [D-Ala2, D-Leu5, Cys6]enkephalin (DALCE). Additionally, no antagonism was produced by nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI), a κ antagonist. From these data, [D-Tca1]CTAP appears to bind to μ, and 5′-NTII-sensitive δ2, opioid receptors, and may represent the first of a class of compounds which may act at an opioid recptor complex via ‘self-potentiation‘.
European Journal of Pharmacology.
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Kaili Liu,
Sheng Xu,
Wei Xuan,
Tengfang Ling,
Zeyu Cao,
Benkai Huang,
Yonggang Sun, Lei Fang,
Zhaoyang Liu,
Nan Zhao,
Wenbiao Shen
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ABSTRACT: Although carbon monoxide (CO) has always been regarded as a toxic gas, recent reports suggested that it is one of the products of heme oxygenase (HO; EC 1.14.99.3) catalysis in animals, and could confer beneficial cytoprotection against oxidative damage. Here, we investigated the effects of exogenous putative CO donor hematin and CO aqueous solution on rice seed germination under 100 mM NaCl salt stress. Both hematin and CO aqueous solution dose-dependently attenuated the inhibition of seed germination and seedling growth caused by salinity. Moreover, 1.0 μM hematin and 5% CO-saturated aqueous solution activated amylase activity, thus accelerating the formation of reducing sugar and total soluble sugar. Furthermore, hematin and CO aqueous solution induced catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, thus resulting in the alleviation of oxidative damage, as indicated by the decrease of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) content. Such above CO-induced effects were also confirmed by using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, including the up-regulation of expression patterns of α-amylase, CAT and Cu/Zn-SOD genes. Also, the similar function of hematin might contribute to endogenous HO-derived CO, since addition of the CO-specific synthetic inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin IX (ZnPPIX) and CO scavenger hemoglobin (Hb) reversed above effects. Meanwhile, further results also proved that treatment with hematin for 36 h could result in the potent induction of HO-1 transcript, HO activity and CO content in the germinating seeds. Collectively, these results indicated that CO performed an advantageous effect on attenuation of inhibition of seed germination and seedling growth induced by salt stress, and alleviated oxidative damage via activating anti-oxidant enzymes.
Plant Science.
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ABSTRACT: To investigate the role of the carboxyl group in deltorphin molecules, we have synthesized three new analogues in which the acidic amino acid residues in position 4 of the deltorphins were replaced by non-acidic but hydrophilic amino acids residues. The three analogues, [Ser4]-, [Gln4]-, and [Cys4]-deltorphin, all are as potent or more potent than either deltorphin I or II at delta opioid receptors and possess good delta selectivities. The excellent correlation between their in vitro delta receptor potencies and their intrathecal antinociception activity forms a strong argument for involvement of those receptors in spinal nociceptive modulation in the rats.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.
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ABSTRACT: BW 373U86 is a novel, non-peptidic δ-opioid receptor ligand with agonist properties in mouse brain and in the mouse isolated vas deferens. The sensitivity of BW 373U86, and of the peptidic δ-opioid agonists [d-Pen2, D-Pen5]enkephalin (DPDPE) and [d-Ala2,Glu4]deltorphin, to regulation by guanine nucleotides and sodium was evaluated in competition studies against the 5 selective radioligand [3H]naltrindole. The IC50 values for DPDPE and [d-Ala2,Glu4]deltorphin were significantly increased in brain and mouse vas deferens in the presence of Gpp(NH)p and NaCl. In contrast, the IC50 values for BW 373U86 were not altered in the presence of Gpp(NH)p and NaCl in either tissue. The data indicate that the agonist properties of BW 373U86 may not be affected by the supposed uncoupling of the α-subunit of the G-protein from a receptor thought to be G-protein linked.
European Journal of Pharmacology: Molecular Pharmacology.
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ABSTRACT: In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), sensors’ locations play a critical role in many applications. Having a GPS receiver on every sensor node is costly. In the past, a number of location discovery (localization) schemes have been proposed. Most of these schemes share a common feature: they use some special nodes, called beacon nodes, which are assumed to know their own locations (e.g., through GPS receivers or manual configuration). Other sensors discover their locations based on the reference information provided by these beacon nodes. Most of the beacon-based localization schemes assume a benign environment, where all beacon nodes are supposed to provide correct reference information. However, when the sensor networks are deployed in a hostile environment, where beacon nodes can be compromised, such an assumption does not hold anymore. In this paper, we propose a general scheme to detect localization anomalies that are caused by adversaries. Our scheme is independent from the localization schemes. We formulate the problem as an anomaly intrusion detection problem, and we propose a number of ways to detect localization anomalies. We have conducted simulations to evaluate the performance of our scheme, including the false positive rates, the detection rates, and the resilience to node compromises.
Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing.
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ABSTRACT: The experiment presented in this report was performed in a simulated aircraft cabin to evaluate the air cleaning effects of two air purification devices that used photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) technology. Objective physical, chemical and physiological measurements and subjective human assessments were used for the evaluation. Comparisons were made between conditions with and without the PCO units installed in the re-circulated air system. Four groups of 17 subjects were exposed for 7 h to each test condition. Chemical analysis indicates that ethanol, isoprene and toluene were decomposed by oxidation in the PCO units tested. However, some intermediate products, such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, were detected. Physiological measurements did not show any significant effects of the two PCO units except that skin dryness was reduced by operating PCO unit 2. Both positive and negative effects of using PCO units on subjective assessments were observed after the first 3 1/4 hours of exposure. After 6 h of exposure, a positive effect of using either PCO unit on symptoms of dizziness and claustrophobia was observed.
Building and Environment.
