Organizational factors in the effect of irrelevant speech: the role of spatial location and timing.

Typically, hearing a repeated syllable produces minimal disruption of serial recall of visual lists, but a sequence of different syllables impairs performance markedly. Two conditions for presenting an identical sequence of three syllables are compared: one, in which, by means of stereophony, each syllable is assigned to the left, center, or right auditory locus (three streams not changing in state), and another, in which the same syllable sequence occurs in one location only (one stream with changing state). Disruption was significantly less in the stereophonic than in the monophonic condition.

Shyness and self-esteem in middle childhood.

The relationship between shyness and self-esteem was assessed for two samples of children aged 9 to 12 years. Shyness was measured by a new self-report questionnaire based on an elicitation of children's conceptions of shyness. Shyness was significantly correlated with measures of global self-esteem, with external locus of control and with perceived competence across different domains of the self.

The influence of regional deposition on the pharmacokinetics of pulmonary-delivered human growth hormone in rabbits.

The pulmonary deposition and pharmacokinetics of human growth hormone (hGH), administered by aerosol and instillate, in formulations containing 99mTc-DTPA (for gamma scintigraphic imaging) have been studied in five male New Zealand White rabbits. Gamma scintigraphy indicated that the peripheral:central deposition tended to be greater for aerosol (1.54) than for instillate (0.

The ability of membrane potential dyes and calcafluor white to distinguish between viable and non-viable bacteria.

Various dyes were assessed for their ability to discriminate between viable and non-viable bacteria. Two methods of killing were employed: by heat treatment or by gramicidin treatment. Staining was carried out in two ways; by staining directly in the medium or by washing cells prior to staining in buffer.

Caesium accumulation by microorganisms: uptake mechanisms, cation competition, compartmentalization and toxicity.

The continued release of caesium radioisotopes into the environment has led to a resurgence of interest in microbe-Cs interactions. Caesium exists almost exclusively as the monovalent cation Cs+ in the natural environment. Although Cs+ is a weak Lewis acid that exhibits a low tendency to form complexes with ligands, its chemical similarity to the biologically essential alkali cation K+ facilitates high levels of metabolism-dependent intracellular accumulation.

Stimulus salience and negative patterning.

Rats in Experiment 1 received a negative patterning discrimination in which food was delivered after either of two auditory stimuli when they were presented individually, but not when they were presented in compound. The stimuli were of different intensity. The discrimination between the compound and the stimulus of lower intensity was acquired more readily than was the discrimination between the compound and the more intense stimulus.

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae deletion of phosphoglucose isomerase can be suppressed by increased activities of enzymes of the hexose monophosphate pathway.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants defective in the structural gene PGI1 lack phosphoglucose isomerase and hence cannot grow on glucose. Spontaneous mutants were isolated by selecting for the regained ability to grow on YEPD (yeast extract/peptone/glucose). Three complementation groups called spg29-31 (suppressor of pgi1 delta) were identified.

The independent gene amplification of electrophoretically indistinguishable B esterases from the insecticide-resistant mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus.

Resistance to organophosphates in Culex mosquitoes is typically associated with increased activity of non-specific esterases. The commonest phenotype involves two elevated esterases, A2 and B2, while some strains have elevation of esterase B1 alone. Overexpression of the two B esterase electromorphs is due to gene amplification.

A comparison of personal response services in Canada and the UK.

Personal response services operating over public telephone networks are now widespread in Western Europe and North America. They serve the needs of a million people in the UK and a further two to three million elsewhere. While most clients are elderly, the scope of such services is extending to people with support needs of all ages, especially where there are medical risks or a likelihood of falls.

Mitogenic effects and nuclear localisation of procorticotrophin-releasing hormone expressed within stably transfected fibroblast cells (CHO-K1).

To investigate the intracellular localisation and biological activity of procorticotrophin-releasing hormone (proCRH), we have established stably transfected CHO-K1 cells expressing the rat pre-proCRH cDNA. Using immunoblot analysis of cell lysates of transfected CHO-K1 cells, we detected a major CRH immunoreactive band with an apparent molecular weight of approximately 19 kDa. This 19 kDa band could account for full length proCRH molecule which has not undergone post-translational modifications.

Damage to red blood cells induced by acoustic cavitation.

This experimental study has revealed damage to red blood cells that is quantitatively related to the acoustic pressure during irradiation with 0.75-MHz continuous-wave ultrasound, using a range of intensities comparable to those employed by ultrasonic physiotherapy equipment (0.25 to 7 W cm-2 spatial average temporal average).

Rhinitis as a mechanism of respiratory defense.

The incidence of rhinitis is on the increase, especially in towns and cities with high levels of pollution from motor traffic and industry. There is a growing body of evidence which links this increased incidence of rhinitis to chronic nasal irritation from industrial pollution. Studies on the mechanisms of nasal inflammation and the nasal immune response are now providing insights into the etiology of rhinitis.

Correcting lens system for perimetry.

A lens system to correct for both refractive error and perimeter test distance is frequently needed for accurate perimetry. Patients often lack appropriate near vision corrections and full aperture trial case lenses, when they are available, barely cover the central 30 degrees and hence frequently produce lens rim artefacts. A special system of correction lenses has been developed for perimetry which overcomes these problems.

Does solute stereochemistry influence percutaneous penetration?

The stratum corneum, the rate-limiting barrier to percutaneous penetration, is made up of several components, principally keratin and ceramides. These are potential sources of chiral discrimination that could result in differential diffusion rates, dependent upon the stereochemistry of the solute. Although binding to keratin can occur it is not a stereoselective process [percent binding to solubilised epidermal keratin: (R)-propranolol 7.

Purification and characterization of the short-chain alkylsulphatase of coryneform B1a.

Using a combination of streptomycin sulphate precipitation, and DEAE-cellulose and butyl-agarose chromatography, an alkylsulphatase active towards short-chain alkyl sulphates has been purified approx. 70-fold from extracts of coryneform B1a grown on butyl-1-sulphate. The enzyme protein is dimeric with a subunit molecular mass of 77.

Alternative pathways for phosphatidylcholine synthesis in olive (Olea europaea L.) callus cultures.

Olive (Olea europaea L.) callus cultures were incubated with [2-14C]ethanolamine and [Me-14C]choline in order to study phospholipid synthesis. Radioactivity from [Me-14C]choline was shown to be incorporated into the phosphatidylcholine via the CDP-base pathway.

Determination of pathways for sodium movement across corneal endothelial cell derived plasma membrane vesicles.

A bovine corneal endothelial cell plasma membrane vesicle preparation was used to investigate passive Na+ transport across the plasma membrane of these cells. Sodium accumulation rate into the vesicle was not dependent on the presence of HCO3- or a HCO3- gradient, but was stimulated by a trans-vesicle pH gradient. Amiloride, furosemide and DIDS all reduced the rate of Na+ accumulation.

Adaptation to second-order motion results in a motion aftereffect for directionally-ambiguous test stimuli.

The magnitude of the motion aftereffect (MAE) obtained following adaptation to first- or second-order motion was measured in two experiments using a nulling method. The second-order motion adaptation stimulus was composed of contrast-modulated noise produced by multiplying two-dimensional random noise by a drifting, 1 c/deg, vertical sine grating. The first-order motion adaptation stimulus was composed of luminance-modulated noise produced by adding, rather than multiplying, the sine grating and noise field.

Temporal beats in the human visual system.

The human visual system is generally assumed to comprise multiple independent channels tuned to limited ranges of spatial and temporal frequency. However, it is known that spatial beats effectively mask a sinusoidal grating whose spatial frequency coincides with the beat frequency of the mask, even though no Fourier energy exists in the mask at that frequency. We investigated whether analogous masking effects occur in the temporal domain and whether adaptation to either spatial or temporal beats results in threshold elevation.

Hypothermic preservation of hepatocytes on gelatin gels.

Hypothermic preservation of hepatocytes on gelatin gels allows hepatocytes to be stored for at least 9 days. The procedure is easy, inexpensive and does not require specialised equipment. The cells retain their morphology and are released as separate spherical entities by dissolving the gelatin layer at 37 degrees.