Magnetic-field flux density and spectral characteristics of motor-driven personal appliances

Flux density and spectral measurements were carried out on magnetic fields generated by several types of motor-driven personal appliances used near the body. Among the units tested were several for which the average flux densities, as determined at the surfaces of the appliance, exceeded 0.4 mT. Time-rates-of-change (dB/dt) for several units exceeded 1000 T/s, and several units exhibited high-frequency components in the low-MHz range. Use of such appliances, although normally of short duration, can represent exposure to magnetic fields of relatively high flux density, which may also have high-frequency components. Compared to other household and commercial sources of magnetic fields, those generated by certain motor-driven personal appliances may represent a significant contribution to time-weighted average exposure and may represent an important source of local induced currents in the body. Furthermore, high-frequency transients that represent only a minor contribution to time-weighted average exposure may generate significant instantaneous induced currents. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

1 This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

     

Isozyme variation and species relationships in peanut and its wild relatives (Arachis L. — Leguminosae)

Summary Arachis hypogaea (peanut or groundnut) is an AABB allotetraploid whose precise ancestry is not yet clear. Its closest diploid relatives are the annual and perennial wild species included with it in the section Arachis. Variation in these species for 11 different enzymes was studied by starch-gel electrophoresis. Differences attributed to at least 13 genetic loci were found among eight enzymes, while three enzymes appeared uniform throughout the section. Values for Nei's genetic distance were calculated for all pairs of species and were used to estimate relationships. All diploid species, apart from two whose validity had previously been questioned, could be distinguished by their overall zymotypes, but few contained unique alleles. When species were grouped by their mean genetic distances, they formed two clusters, which agreed reasonably well with the division of the section into annual versus perennial species. The single B-genome species was an outlier within the annual group. A. hypogaea showed fixed heterozygosity at four loci (in ssp. hypogaea) or six loci (in ssp. fastigiata), which agrees with previous conclusions that the peanut is an allotetraploid. None of the diploids included in this survey could be conclusively identified as donors of either the A or the B genome to the tetraploids. The two subspecies of A. hypogaea differed consistently in two of the thirteen putative loci studied. This may call into question the simple hypothesis that A. hypogaea originated from just two diploid species.     

A new method of sequential sampling to obtain the population estimates with a fixed level of precision

A simple method of sequential sampling is developed which would make it automatically possible to secure, without excess sampling, a predetermined level of precision for a series of population estimates being required. It appears to have wide application to sampling field populations under various situations since it is simply based upon the relationship of variance to mean for which a comprehensive formula deduced for biological populations from the linearity in the regression of mean crowding on mean density could be adopted. Some problems that may arise in practical application of the method are also discussed.     

Yeasts and yeast-like fungi in tap water and groundwater,and their transmission to household appliances

In the present study we describe the occurrence of fungi in 100 tap water and 16 groundwater samples from Slovenia. We used culture-dependent and culture-independent techniques. 28 fungal species belonging to 16 genera were isolated with selected culturing conditions, targeting human opportunistic yeasts and yeast-like fungi. Of special concern was the detection of Aureobasidium melanogenum, Exophiala dermatitidis, Rhinocladiella similis, Candida parapsilosis and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa. The DGGE analysis of ITS1 rDNA revealed from 6 to 16 bands hypothetically corresponding to different taxa, while pyrosequencing showed the presence of Aspergillus and Exophiala. According to the statistic machine learning methodology, the profile of fungi in water is determined by the concentration of calcium and magnesium ions and the presence of nitrate. Exophiala spp., C. parapsilosis and R. mucilaginosa are known as dominant contaminants of household appliances. It appears that they are transferred with water to dishwashers and washing machines, where they subsequently proliferate.     

Heterocyst patterns without patterning proteins in cyanobacterial filaments

We have quantitatively modeled heterocyst differentiation after fixed nitrogen step-down in the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 without lateral inhibition due to the patterning proteins PatS or HetN. We use cell growth and division together with fixed-nitrogen dynamics and allow heterocysts to differentiate upon the local exhaustion of available fixed nitrogen. Slow transport of fixed nitrogen along a shared periplasmic space allows for fast growing cells to differentiate ahead of their neighbors. Cell-to-cell variability in growth rate determines the initial heterocyst pattern. Early release of fixed nitrogen from committed heterocysts allows a significant fraction of vegetative cells to be retained at later times. We recover the experimental heterocyst spacing distributions and cluster size distributions of Khudyakov and Golden [Khudyakov, I.Y., Golden, J.W., 2004. Different functions of HetR, a master regulator of heterocyst differentiation in Anabaena sp PCC 7120, can be separated by mutation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 101, 16040-16045].     

Fixed behaviours and migration in parasitic flatworms

This paper considers how fixed behaviours may play a role in post-larval migrations of Entobdella soleae. A general argument is that a shift away from the paradigm of orientation is required to elucidate the mechanisms that parasites use to navigate on the surface of their hosts. Some migrations may rely on fixed behaviours (genetically programmed stereotyped behaviours) that often evolve under predictable environmental conditions with reliable signals. In turbulent and stochastic free-living environments, homeostatic hosts present very predictable topological substrates and physico-chemical characteristics to their parasites. Over the course of evolution on these predictable host substrates, adaptive behaviours in the parasites can become fixed. Examples of endoparasite migration behaviour, particularly that of the common liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, will be used to develop an approach based on the perceptual worlds of migrating parasites. An important conclusion is that multi-disciplinary approaches, firmly rooted in an understanding of each parasite's natural history, are requisite to successful interpretation of migration behaviours on the host.     

粘接性牙周夹板固定修复在慢性牙周炎患者的临床应用

目的:观察粘接性牙周夹板固定修复治疗慢性牙周炎的临床效果。方法:选择25例(93颗松动患牙)慢性牙周炎患者,记录牙周治疗前、采用粘接性牙周夹板固定修复后即刻、3、6及12个月的牙周状况,包括菌斑指数(PLI)、探针深度(PD)、牙龈出血指数(BOP)、牙龈指数(GI)和附着丧失(AL)的变化;检测牙龈龈沟液中卟啉单胞菌、血链球菌数量的变化;评估患者行固定夹板修复后对美观、舒适、咀嚼、发音等方面的满意度。结果:经牙周夹板固定修复后,各阶段的PLI、PD、GI和AL的指标值与治疗前相比差异均有统计学意义(P0.05),但固定后各阶段之间的牙周临床指标差异无统计学意义(P0.05);牙龈卟啉单胞菌和血链球菌数的数量在固定后各阶段较治疗前均显著减少(P0.05),但固定期间各阶段比较差异不明显(P0.05);固定修复后,各阶段患者的满意度均较高。结论:慢性牙周炎患者经完善的牙周基础治疗后,应用粘接性牙周夹板固定修复,能够有效固定患者松动患牙,恢复其咀嚼功能,有效地控制慢性牙周炎的发展。     

Income deprivation and mental well-being: The role of non-cognitive skills

We show that the positive relation between income deprivation and mental health is affected by an individual's non-cognitive skills. Income deprivation is operationalized as the Yitzhaki index, i.e., as a function of the sum of income differences between an individual and others in her reference group who are more affluent. Non-cognitive skills are extracted from a Locus of Control questionnaire and the Big Five Inventory, a self-report measurement of an individual in regard to five aspects of personality: conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness and open-mindedness. The results, based on the 2002–2010 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel dataset (SOEP), show that deprivation is negative and significantly related with mental health. However, neurotic individuals are more deprivation-sensitive than are others. Compared to the mean effect, a one standard deviation rise in neuroticism is associated with a deprivation effect that is 36.6% and 51.9% larger among men and women, respectively. Although to a lesser extent, extraverted men and conscientious women are also found to be more deprivation-sensitive than are others, the corresponding figures being 31.1% and 45.9%, respectively. These findings suggest that personality differences should be taken into account in the design of policies, practices and initiatives aimed at alleviating the well-being costs of income deprivation.     

Separation of fructooligosaccharides using zeolite fixed bed columns

Recent studies have shown that the chromatographic separation of mixtures of monosaccharides and disaccharides may be improved by employing Y zeolites, a procedure which holds promise in the separation of oligosaccharides. In the present study, a column packed with zeolite was employed to study the separation of fructooligosaccharides (FOS). FOS were produced by an enzyme isolated from Rhodotorula sp., which produces GF₂ (kestose), GF₃ (nystose) and GF₄ (frutofuranosyl nystose). The identification and quantification of the sugars were carried out by ion exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). The separation of fructooligosaccharides was carried out using a fixed bed column packed with Ba²⁺-exchange Y zeolites. The effects of temperature (40–50 °C), injected volume per bed volume (2.55–7.64%), superficial velocity (0.1–0.15 cm min⁻¹) and eluent composition (40–60% ethanol) were investigated using a fractionary factorial design with separation efficiency as the response. The results showed that the most favorable conditions for the separation of the oligosaccharide–glucose mixture were 60% ethanol as eluent, temperature of 50 °C, superficial velocity of 0.1 cm min⁻¹ and 2.55% injection volume per bed volume of injection mixture, using two columns in series. The values for separation efficiency were 0.60 for oligosaccharide–glucose, 1.00 for oligosaccharide–fructose, 0.22 for oligosaccharide–sucrose, 0.43 for glucose–fructose, 0.82 for glucose–sucrose and 1.23 for fructose–sucrose.