Morphine-induced conditioned place preference in mice: Metabolomic profiling of brain tissue to find “molecular switch” of drug abuse by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Conditioned place preference (CPP) is a widely used model to explore the mechanism of context-dependent learning. In this work, we developed a GC–MS method to investigate the metabolites in mice brain which was used to study the mechanism of context-dependent learning associated with rewarding effect of morphine. Metabolites were extracted from brain tissues and derivatized followed by analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In total, 69 peaks were identified as known compounds. By a Wilcoxon ran sum test with p value ≤0.05, 21 metabolites were selected and considered as the potential biomarkers of morphine in mice brain. Using principal component analysis (PCA) and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves, a model was constructed with a combination of these 21 metabolic markers. Multivariate statistics of the model yielded separation between the two groups with an area under the curve value of 0.947. Some metabolites were further discussed in detail about their pathway. Results showed that our technique can be successfully applied to profile for biomarkers and in understanding molecular mechanisms of drug abuse.     

HITTING TIME AND PLACE TO A SPHERE OR SPHERICAL SHELL FOR BROWNIAN MOTION

61.IntroductionLetX~{X,(w),t20}beastandardd-dimensionalBrownianmotioninR'(d22).ThefirsthittingtimeofXforaBorelsetBinRdisdefinedtobeThefirsthittingplaceisX(TB).InthispapergwemainlyconsiderthesphereZ'--,(0,r)~{x:xERd,lxl~r}andthesphericalshellZ'--,(0,a)UZ'--,(0,b)~{x.xER',lxl=aorlxl~b},wherer>0,a>0,b>0anda相似文献   

Numbers,scale and symbols: the public understanding of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology will be an increasing part of the everyday lives of most people in the world. There is a general recognition that few people understand the implications of the technology, the technology itself or even the definition of the word. This lack of understanding stems from a lack of knowledge about science in general but more specifically difficulty in grasping the size scale and symbolism of nanotechnology. A potential key to informing the general public is establishing the ability to comprehend the scale of nanotechnology. Transitioning from the macro to the nanoscale seems to require an ability to comprehend scales of one-billion. Scaling is a skill not common in most individuals and tests of their ability to extrapolate size based upon scaling a common object demonstrates that most individuals cannot scale to the extent needed to make the transition to nanoscale. Symbolism is another important vehicle to providing the general public with a basis to understand the concepts of nanotechnology. With increasing age, individuals are able to draw representations of atomic scale objects, but these tend to be iconic and the different representations not easily translated. Ball and stick models are most recognized by the public, which provides an opportunity to present not only useful symbolism but also a reference point for the atomic scale.     

The Diffie–Hellman problem and generalization of Verheul’s theorem

Bilinear pairings on elliptic curves have been of much interest in cryptography recently. Most of the protocols involving pairings rely on the hardness of the bilinear Diffie–Hellman problem. In contrast to the discrete log (or Diffie–Hellman) problem in a finite field, the difficulty of this problem has not yet been much studied. In 2001, Verheul (Advances in Cryptology—EUROCRYPT 2001, LNCS 2045, pp. 195–210, 2001) proved that on a certain class of curves, the discrete log and Diffie–Hellman problems are unlikely to be provably equivalent to the same problems in a corresponding finite field unless both Diffie–Hellman problems are easy. In this paper we generalize Verheul’s theorem and discuss the implications on the security of pairing based systems.      

Public debates driven by incomplete scientific data: The cases of evolution theory, global warming and H1N1 pandemic influenza

Public debates driven by incomplete scientific data where nobody can claim absolute certainty, due to the current state of scientific knowledge, are studied. The cases of evolution theory, global warming and H1N1 pandemic influenza are investigated. The first two are of controversial impact while the third is more neutral and resolved. To adopt a cautious balanced attitude based on clear but inconclusive data appears to be a lose-out strategy. In contrast overstating arguments with incorrect claims which cannot be scientifically refuted appears to be necessary but not sufficient to eventually win a public debate. The underlying key mechanisms of these puzzling and unfortunate conclusions are identified using the Galam sequential probabilistic model of opinion dynamics (Galam, 2002 [4], Galam, 2005 [18], Galam and Jacobs, 2007 [19]). It reveals that the existence of inflexible agents and their respective proportions are the instrumental parameters to determine the faith of incomplete scientific data in public debates. Acting on one’s own inflexible proportion modifies the topology of the flow diagram, which in turn can make irrelevant initial supports. On the contrary focusing on open-minded agents may be useless given some topologies. When the evidence is not as strong as claimed, the inflexibles rather than the data are found to drive the opinion of the population. The results shed a new but disturbing light on designing adequate strategies to win a public debate.     

The variance equity measure in locational decision theory

Classical location theories and models were initially developed for the private sector, so that the related operational research literature has emphasized performance measures of efficiency and effectiveness. For public sector applications, measures of equity become important, yet such measures have received little formal treatment. This paper suggests a locational equity measure, the variance measure, and investigates its properties for tree networks. A fast algorithm (O(M)) to locate the minimum variance point on a tree network is developed, and some numerical results illustrate the variance optimal location.This work is dedicated to the memory of Professor Jonathan Halpern     

Computing the cores of strategic games with punishment–dominance relations

In this paper, we discuss the computational complexity of the strategic cores of a class of n-person games defined by Masuzawa (Int J Game Theory 32:479–483, 2003), which includes economic situations with monotone externality. We propose an algorithm for finding an α-core strategy of any game in this class which, counting the evaluation of a payoff for a strategy profile as one step, terminates after O(n ³· M) operations, where M is the maximum size of a strategy set of any of the n players. The idea underlying this method is based on the property of reduced games. This paper is based on a part of the doctoral dissertation of the author. The author thanks Mikio Nakayama, Masashi Umezawa, William Thomson, an associate editor, and the anonymous referee for their helpful comments, suggestions, and advice. Thanks are also due to Yukihiko Funaki for a comment that led the author to this subject. The author is responsible for errors and inadvertencies.     

Public policy structuring incorporating reciprocal expectation analysis

This paper proposes a method of structuring public policy by incorporating reciprocal expectation analysis. The proposed method is characterized by three components: identification of the problem structure perceived by stakeholders using cognitive maps, policy structuring analysis with a value–driver matrix and a reciprocal expectation matrix, and feasibility analysis of agreements among the stakeholders. The three types of relationship among stakeholders are derived from the feasibility analysis, which are “Dosho-imu”, “Isho-imu”, and “Domu”. Three tests of feasibility to reach the agreement are then proposed: “information-sharing test”, “bargaining test”, and “reframing test”. A case study is presented, applying the method to strategic transportation planning in the Kanto region of Japan. Finally, the potential functions of the proposed method in practice are discussed.     

不同类型旅游移民的地方认同建构研究——以丽江古城为例

旅游移民在国内已经出现,却很少得到学者的关注.以丽江古城为例,通过修正后的量表对丽江古城的旅游移民进行实测.然后通过SPSS 20.0软件,综合运用独立样本T检验、单因素分析法对不同类型旅游移民的地方认同水平及影响因素做了分析.再将人口统计学特征、"城市融入""外出目的"依次投入模型进行阶层回归分析.研究发现:(1)不同类型旅游移民的地方认同的影响机制不同,生活方式型旅游移民对丽江的地方认同显著高于经济利益导向型旅游移民;(2)地方认同不存在"性别"差异,"居住时间"和"从事行业"显著影响生活方式型旅游移民的地方认同;(3)总体而言,"城市融入"对于旅游移民地方认同的解释力度要高于"外出目的",其中"是否与当地居民来往"仅对经济利益导向型旅游移民产生影响.研究丰富了旅游移民的人地关系研究,对于旅游地的可持续发展也具有一定的现实意义.     

Chromatographic performance of deuterated solvents in reversed phase micro high performance liquid chromatography

The chromatographic performance of the deuterated solvents, CD₃OD and D₂O, has been investigated in reversed-phase micro high performance liquid chromatography. The chromatographic performance of CD₃OD is only slightly superior to that of CH₃OH. However, the performance of D₂ is significantly superior to that of H₂O, separation of aromatics being improved by about 30%. D₂ is a particularly powerful solvent for the separation iof deuterated and non-deuterated compounds.