Showing papers by "University of Vienna published in 1979"

Public Choice III

Abstract: This book represents a considerable revision and expansion of Public Choice II (1989) Six new chapters have been added, and several chapters from the previous edition have been extensively revised The discussion of empirical work in public choice has been greatly expanded As in the previous editions, all of the major topics of public choice are covered These include: why the state exists, voting rules, federalism, the theory of clubs, two-party and multiparty electoral systems, rent seeking, bureaucracy, interest groups, dictatorship, the size of government, voter participation, and political business cycles Normative issues in public choice are also examined including a normative analysis of the simple majority rule, Bergson–Samuelson social welfare functions, the Arrow and Sen impossibility theorems, Rawls's social contract theory and the constitutional political economy of Buchanan and Tullock

On intrinsic ergodicity of piecewise monotonic transformations with positive entropy II

Abstract: We consider a class of piecewise monotonically increasing functionsf on the unit intervalI. We want to determine the measures with maximal entropy for these transformations. In part I we construct a shift-space Σ + isomorphic to (I, f) generalizing the \-shift and another shift Σ M over an infinite alphabet, which is of finite type given by an infinite transition matrixM. Σ M has the same set of maximal measures as (I, f) and we are able to compute the maximal measures of maximal measures of. In part II we try to bring these results back to (I, f). There are only finitely many ergodic maximal measures for (I, f). The supports of two of them have at most finitely many points in common. If (I, f) is topologically transitive it has unique maximal measure.

Emergence of the Hypercycle

Abstract: Why do millions of species, plants and animals, exist, while there is only one basic molecular machinery of the cell: one universal genetic code and unique chiralities of the macromolecules?

Intramedullary Spinal Cord Metastases.

Abstract: Seven autopsy cases of intramedullary metastases, four in the cervical spinal cord, are reported and the literature reviewed. Whereas lung and breast cancer, malignant melanomas and lymphomas are reported as the most common primary tumors, the present series included three cases of breast carcinoma and two cases each of colon and oat cell carcinoma of the lung. Neither the clinical symptoms nor the neurological signs distinguished intramedullary metastases from the more common extradural deposits, but radiological evidence of vertebral metastases and myelographic stop were present in only one case each, and CSF cytology was negative. Intramedullary deposits in this series were neither associated with extradural tumor nor with spread into the subarachnoid space, while cerebral metastases were present in four cases. This favors hematogenous dissemination rather than direct trans-dural or perineural spread of these lesions.

Is stimulation of benzodiazepine receptor binding mediated by a novel GABA receptor

Abstract: A STEREOSPECIFIC, saturable, high affinity binding site for 3H-diazepam has recently been characterised in membrane fractions isolated from the brains of mammals1, including man2, which has been suggested to represent the pharmacological benzodiazepine (BZ) receptor2–4. Electrophysiological5 and biochemical6 results indicate that BZs exert their main actions in the central nervous system by facilitation of the synaptic action of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Evidence for an interaction between GABA and BZs at the receptor level has recently been obtained7–11. Thus, GABA has been shown to stimulate BZ binding8–11 and there is preliminary evidence that this process is mediated by a specific GABA recognition site, as the GABA agonists muscimol8, imidazoleacetic acid11, and 3-guanidino-propionic acid11 also stimulate 3H-diazepam binding. We now report different structural requirements for stimulation of 3H-diazepam binding to rat brain synaptic membranes compared with those for inhibition of Na+-independent 3H-GABA binding12. We suggest that stimulation by GABA of BZ receptor binding involves a novel type of a GABA receptor.

5-Methoxypsoralen (Bergapten) in photochemotherapy of psoriasis.

Abstract: 5-Methoxypsoralen (5-MOP, Bergapten) was evaluated as a potential photosensitizing drug in oral photochemotherapy of psoriasis Treatment results indicate that (1) 5-MOP is as effective as, and in high doses more effective than, 8-methoxypsoralen in clearing psoriatic lesions; (2) therapeutic doses of 5-MOP do not lead to erythema; the acute side-effects of 8-MOP PUVA therapy--erythema, blistering, pruritus--are thus avoided; (3) even high doses of 5-MOP are not followed by nausea 5-MOP PUVA therapy thus represents a real alternative to 8-MOP PUVA, its advantages over 8-MOP PUVA being greater safety and patient acceptance

Transition metal-chalcogen systems, VII.: The iron-selenium phase diagram

Abstract: The binary iron-selenium system was investigated by thermoanalytical and isopiestic methods and by X-ray analysis. Combining all results a temperature-concentration diagram was constructed from 20 to 66 at% Se and between 623 and 1,373 K. Two compounds and several NiAs-related structures could be identified. Tetragonal β-FeSe with a narrow stability range between 49.0 and 49.4 at% Se at 653 K decomposes by a peritectoid reaction at 730 K. The NiAs-related structures Fe1-xSe have a wide range of homogeneity from 51.5 to 58.5 at% Se at 823 K. The iron-rich hexagonal δ-phase extends, from 51.5 to 54.3 at% Se, and transforms to a high temperature modification δ′ of unknown structure with a maximum transformation temperature of 1,338 K at 52.8 at% Se. The congruent melting point of the δ′-phase is located at 1,351 K and 52.0 at% Se. At ≈ 54 at% Se the δ-phase undergoes a λ-transformation to the monoclinic γ′-phase which is stable between 54.3 and 54.6 at% Se. Between 54.6 and 56.4 at% Se two very similar monoclinic phases coexist: the γ′-and the γ-phase with similara- andb-axes but a simplec′- and a doublec-axis, resp. Between 56.4 and 58.5 at% Se the γ-phase is stable. Orthorhombic e-FeSe2 (marcasite structure) with a very narrow range of homogeneity at 66.6, at% Se decomposes peritectically at 858 K. On the iron-rich side there are three invariant equilibria at high temperatures: a monotectic at 1,234 K and 46.5 at% Se, a eutectic at 1,215 K and 5.5 at% Se, and a eutectoid at 1,149 K. On the selenium-rich side there is a eutectoid at 1,122 K, a monotectic at 1,068 K and 71.5 at% Se, and a peritectic at 1,001 K.

Ab initio Studies on polymers

Abstract: Ab initio crystal orbital calculations have been performed on the infinite all-trans polyene. A structure with r c=c= 1.346 A, r c-c = 1.446 A, r c-h = 1.08 A, and ∢CCC = 125.3 ° was found to be most stable. The most important force constants, the band structure and the density of states were determined as well.

Silymarin, an inhibitor of lipoxygenase.

Abstract: Silybin (I), silydianin (II) and, silychristin (III), the main constituents, of silymarin, non-competitively inhibit the lipoxygenase from soybeans (EC 1.13.11.12) in vitro.

The genetics of language

Abstract: Within the context of the study of the genetics of language, Chomskian laws of grammar, such as theStructure-dependence Condition and theA over A Condition, may be usefully regarded to have a status similar to that of Mendelian Laws in classical genetics. In both the case of Chomsky's Laws and Mendel's Laws, formal genetic principles are postulated which abstract away from the physical mechanisms involved and in both cases certain apparent counterexamples mirror a more complex underlying genetic organisation.

Collision induced light scattering from fluids composed of tetrahedral molecules

Abstract: The collision induced isotropic and anisotropic spectra of light scattered from fluids of tetrahedral molecules are examined. The interaction function used includes the dipole-induced dipole effect (DID) and the collision induced rotational Raman effect (CIRR) to lowest order. The spectra are expressed as the Fourier transforms of four point correlation functions which contain the number density and the orientational density of the particles. The polarization ratio I VV CIRR(ω)/I VH CIRR(ω) for the CIRR contributions considered is shown to be 37/9 for all densities. The various terms contributing to the integrated intensity for the pair and triplet collisions are expressed in terms of the irreducible expansion coefficients of the orientation dependent pair distribution function. As an example, these terms are evaluated numerically for carbon tetrachloride for two different densities corresponding to a liquid and a vapour state.

Primary brain tumour presenting as spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage.

Abstract: In an autopsy series of 430 spontaneous intracerebral haematomas 44 cases, or 10.2 percent, were caused by a proved neoplasm, including 21 anaplastic gliomas, 17 metastases, 2 oligodendrogliomas, 2 malignant lymphomas, and one meningioma. These instances of massive bleeding into brain tumour represented 2.4 percent of about 1,800 primary and secondary cerebral neoplasms proved by necropsy. In only four of the patients with primary brain tumours (two glioblastomas, one oligodendroglioma invading the leptomeninges, and one primary malignant lymphoma), three of them with a history of arterial hypertension, were the presenting symptoms those of a spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage, and the tumour itself was not diagnosed until surgery or necropsy. One patient with acute haemorrhage into a glioblastoma of the basal ganglia showed a rapidly lethal course, while the others demonstrated one or more episodes before the onset of the acute fatal illness and a prolonged period from the time of the bleed until death. The clinical features and the pathogenesis of spontaneous haemorrhage into cerebral neoplasms are briefly reviewed.

A bioenergetic study of a benthic nematode, Plectus palustris de man 1880, throughout its life cycle : I. The respiratory metabolism at different densities of bacterial food.

Abstract: Respiration rates of the bacterivorous freshwater nematode Plectus palustris were measured during the whole life cycle of the species and for animals grown at two food densities. Covariance analysis showed that small, but significant differences exist in the elevation of the respiration rate-body weight regressions (R=aW b, in nl O2/ind·h and μg wet weight) for different food densities. At a food density of 6-9·108 bacterial cells/ml the level of respiration is 14% lower compared to rates of animals cultured at a ten times higher food density. However, the allometric function, R-aW b, adequately describes the relationship of respiration and body weight only during the larval growth phase and for young females, while respiration rates of newly hatched larvae and mature females at maximal egg production have lower metabolic rates. Cumulated metabolic costs to attain a certain age, size and stage of development have been determined and are used in a subsequent paper (Schiemer et al., 1979) to calculate the energy budgets of the species.