פרסומים

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of saliva in the oxidation process under the acidic condition of the stomach. Saliva specimens played varied roles in the lipid peroxidation process of heated muscle tissue in simulated gastric fluid: pro-oxidant effects, no effects, and antioxidant effects. To elucidate these differences, selected saliva components were examined. The pseudoperoxidase activity of lactoperoxidase increased lipid peroxidation, while thiocyanate and nitrite-reduced lipid peroxidation. The effect of a saliva specimen on lipid peroxidation was correlated with the concentration of nitrite in the specimen, but not with that of other saliva components. The inhibitory effect of nitrite may be due to its conversion to NO. Elucidation of the antioxidant effect of saliva on co-oxidation of d-alpha-tocopherol in gastric fluid, demonstrated that saliva alone cannot protect d-alpha-tocopherol from co-oxidation, although it partially protected against lipid peroxidation. The presence of red wine polyphenols in stomach medium totally inhibits food lipid peroxidation and d-alpha-tocopherol co-oxidation.

What do teachers (pre-service teachers as well as in-service teachers) need to know in order to be able to implement argumentation processes proficiently in their classrooms? What implications does that body of knowledge have for teacher education (TE) and professional development (PD) programs? Let us take a look at the reflections of a teacher who had taught (what she considered to be) a successful argumentation lesson in a ninth grade biology class. The teacher provided guidance to a group of four students who engaged in an argumentation activity about moral dilemmas in human genetics (Zohar & Nemet, 2000). A typical problem with students’ initial reasoning in this unit is that they tend to form unwarranted opinions, ignoring alternative points of view. When they do justify their opinions, they tend to avoid cardinal justifications that involve the ethical sides of the issue, and thus to circumvent the focus of the dilemma. In her analysis of part of a lesson in which she provided guidance to her students, the teacher reported that before her intervention, students expressed their opinions in a loud voice, did not justify their opinions and did not listen to each other. A dramatic change took place following her intervention: students started to phrase the dilemma in terms of principled bio-ethical considerations, justify their opinions, refute each other’s arguments, and explain why other people’s opinions may be wrong. The guidance that has been successful in bringing about such a high-level discussion may seem an easy thing to do. Therefore, we should pay attention to the teacher’s report of what she had felt during the process of guiding her students (Zohar, 2004a, p. 146)

The media salience trends of 40 events in the UK between 1984 and 2003 were examined to determine the validity of allegations regarding the agenda-setting effect of appointing public inquiries. Results show that, contrary to the 'long grass' argument, the attenuation in media salience following the appointment of a public inquiry is not different from that of non-inquired events. The findings are analysed and an alternative explanation is suggested for the prevalence of the 'long grass' argument. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long chain alkanethiols self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed on Au microelectrodes showed higher sensitivity towards defects than the same monolayers on macroelectrodes. The anal. of cyclic voltammetry and electrochem. impedance spectroscopy (EIS) expts. performed on covered microelectrodes were consistent with the formation of pinholes of about 10 nm in diam. Moreover, the EIS data exhibited a specific behavior that was interpreted invoking the short circuiting of the pinholes impedance by the surrounding surface of the microelectrode in the high frequency domain, whereas in the low frequencies, the surface covered by the SAM was assume to act as an insulator. [on SciFinder(R)]

A novel fluorine-18 labeled amine fluorocyanoborane derivative was synthesized from the bromo-derivative precursor in 22% radiochemical yield. The [18F] labeling was accomplished by a semiautomatic method that is based on the synthesis of Ag 18F from Ag2CO3 and H 18F in a platinum dish followed by sonication of the bromo-precursor with Ag 18F in dry benzene to produce [18F] labeled amine fluorocyanoborane which was used with no further purification. A total of 50 microCi of the [18F] labeled amine fluorocyanoborane was injected into normal, female Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 g) via the tail vein and monitored by Positron emission tomography (PET)/CT to detect its biodistribution in the rat body. The images showed an uptake of this compound in the bones of rats.

Analyzing the propagation dynamics of a light beam of arbitrary linear input polarization in an electro-activated photorefractive soliton we are able to experimentally find the conditions that separate its linear polarization components, mapping them into spatially distinct regions at the crystal output. Extending experiments to the switching scheme based on two oppositely biased solitons, we are able to transform this spatial separation into a separation of two distinct guided modes. The result is a miniaturized electro-optic polarization separator. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

The problem of extracting as much information as possible from a sequence of observations of a stationary stochastic process X0,X1, ¦,Xn has been considered by many authors from different points of view. It has long been known through the work of D. Bailey that no universal estimator for P(Xn+1|X0,X1, ...Xn) can be found which converges to the true estimator almost surely. Despite this result, for restricted classes of processes, or for sequences of estimators along stopping times, universal estimators can be found. We present here a survey of some of the recent work that has been done along these lines.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Clostridium botulinum type C is prevalent in Israel and outbreaks recorded in many species, other than horses. Association between levels of anti-BoNT/C antibodies and equine grass sickness (EGS) have been demonstrated but seroprevalence of anti-BoNT/C antibodies in horses has not been reported nor has EGS been reported in Israel. OBJECTIVES: To determine the seroprevalence of specific anti-BoNT/C antibodies in horses in Israel and to determine whether age, breed and gender, or geographical region of farms are potential risk factors for exposure to BoNT/C. HYPOTHESIS: Anti-BoNT/C antibodies are prevalent among horses in Israel and farm and horse-level variables are associated with increased risk for exposure. METHODS: Serum samples from 198 horses were collected and the levels of specific anti-BoNT/C antibodies were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). For each categorical variable indicator variables were created and the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the outcome variable were calculated using a univariable and multivariable logistic regression models. RESULTS: A total of 61 (30.8%) horses were ELISA positive for anti-BoNT/C IgG antibodies. The farm and its geographical region were associated significantly with seropositivity, horse-level variables, such as gender and breed, were also associated with seropositivity. Quarter Horse and Warmblood mares placed in the southern region of Israel had the highest odds to be tested positive for anti-BoNT/C IgG antibodies. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Several farm and various horse-level risk factors for exposure to BoNT/C, found in this study, could be correlated to previously reported risk factors of EGS. Studies are required to determine the predisposing factors that cause EGS, which is apparently not present in Israel.