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Iron, selenium and glutathione peroxidase activity are elevated in sporadic motor neuron disease.

Oxygen free radical damage is strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of familial motor neuron disease (MND) associated with mutation of the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase gene, and may be relevant in sporadic MND. Selenium (Se) and iron (Fe) have important roles in free radical metabolism. Using neutron activation analysis we have demonstrated significant elevation of Se and Fe in lumbar spinal cord in MND cases (38) compared to controls (22). Analysis of enzymes involved in free radical scavenging showed a significant and specific increase in the activity of the selenoprotein enzyme glutathione peroxidase in MND spinal cord.

Glutathione Peroxidase↗

The effects of taipoxin and notexin on the function and fine structure of the murine neuromuscular junction.

The isolated neurotoxins taipoxin and notexin from the venoms of the Elapidae, Oxyuranus scutellatus and Notechis scutatus scutatus respectively cause a neuromuscular block when administered to the mouse in vivo or to the phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm preparation in vitro. The block is preceded by a latency period during which the toxins bind irreversibly to the nerve. The period is shortened by nerve activity. The frequency of the miniature end-plate potentials is gradually reduced, almost to zero, and their amplitude distribution is altered; small and very large miniature endplate potentials appearing. Ultrastructurally the endplates are altered in the presynaptic portion but not in the postsynaptic part. In an early stage of poisoning the axolemma has an increased number of omega-shaped indentations similar in size to synaptic vesicles. At a later stage, when the animals die of respiratory paralysis, the axolemmal indentations are more numerous and the synaptic vesicles greatly reduced in number, the remaining vesicles having a variable and frequently larger than normal size. When impulse activity in the phrenic nerve is stopped by cutting the nerve before the administration of toxin there is no reduction in the number of synaptic vesicles, only the appearance of an increased number of axolemmal indentations. It is suggested that taipoxin and notexin irreversibly interfere with the formation of synaptic vesicles by arresting vesicle membrane recycling at the level of the axolemma. When the pre-existing store of vesicles is depleted, by nerve activity, a neuromuscular block results.

Acetylcholine↗

Temporal changes in gastric volume in the human fetus in late pregnancy.

Disturbed fetal gastrointestinal tract function is associated with hydramnios and may be a marker of later gastrointestinal disease. We investigated gastric motor function in the human fetus to establish the range and rate of fluctuation of gastric volume. Two pairs of orthogonal gastric diameters were measured at 5-min intervals for 1-h periods using a linear-array ultrasound scanner in 12 fetuses in late pregnancy (26-40, median 35.5 weeks gestation). A gastric volume index (GVI) was calculated. Maximum absolute gastric volume index correlated significantly with gestational age. The minimum gastric volume index as a percentage of the maximum (0-60.4%, median 28.1%) showed that marked changes in gastric dimensions occur. Filling (41.5-74.1, median 62.6 degrees) and emptying (46.6-80.9, median 61.7 degrees angles were calculated for the longest continuous filling and emptying periods using a linear model, and showed no difference in the rates of filling and emptying. Peak-to-peak and trough-to-trough durations suggested a periodicity of 35-55 min. Investigation of the development of normal fetal gastric motor activity may lead to a better understanding of postnatal adjustment to enteral feeding, and may provide a diagnostic method for antenatal diagnosis of gastrointestinal functional disturbances.

Female↗

Fast imaging in liquids and solids with the Back-projection Low Angle ShoT (BLAST) technique.

A simple fast imaging scheme is proposed, which is applicable to solid- and liquid-like materials. It is based on low angle pulse excitation in combination with back-projection reconstruction and proper data handling and is called Back-projection Low Angle ShoT (BLAST) technique. The sequence is applied to grape as a biological sample and to a jellibaby (2 kHz linewidth at half intensity) for demonstration of the applicability to solid objects.

Algorithms↗

Gummi bear bezoar: a case report.

Bezoars in children are rare. Bezoars causing intestinal obstruction are even more unusual. We would like to report the first Gummi Bear Bezoar causing a large bowel obstruction in a child.

Bezoars↗

MRI in motor delay: important adjunct to classification of cerebral palsy.

Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed prospectively in 45 children (ages 3-27 months) with clinically documented motor delay to evaluate the ability of MRI to determine etiologic factors, to determine whether myelination correlated with motor delay, and whether the clinical category corresponded with the imaging findings. Of the 22 children diagnosed clinically as having major motor delay (i.e., cerebral palsy), 77% had magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities. In 23%, etiologic associations were established from MRI alone and in 32% a clinically suspected etiology was supported. No children had myelination delay as the sole abnormality. In 23 children with minor motor delay, only 17% had abnormal scans. Clearly, MRI provided useful information in the majority of children with cerebral palsy; therefore, a classification system is proposed in which MRI can be used in conjunction with clinical assessment to specify more precisely the etiologic factors in cerebral palsy.

Atrophy↗

Free radical yields from the homolysis of peroxynitrous acid.

A recent study reports discordant results for maximal free-radical yields from the decomposition of peroxynitrous acid using different assay reagents and a puzzling decrease (to zero) of the radical yields with increasing pH. An assay method using 2,2,'azino-bis(3-ethyl-benzthiazoline sulphonate) (ABTS) has been tested using stopped-flow kinetic studies, and the results imply that the assay is satisfactory when [HOONO] much greater than [-OONO] but that reactions involving peroxynitrite anion interfere at higher pH. Evidence is presented that peroxynitrite was an interfering species in the earlier studies.

Benzothiazoles↗

Estimated conductance of glutamate receptor channels activated during EPSCs at the cerebellar mossy fiber-granule cell synapse.

We have analyzed the variance associated with the decay of the non-NMDA receptor component of synaptic currents, recorded from mossy fiber-granule cell synapses in cerebellar slices, to obtain a conductance estimate for the synaptic channel. Current fluctuations arising from the random channel gating properties were separated from those arising from the fluctuations in the population of channels by subtracting the mean excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) waveform scaled to the EPSC peak amplitude. A weighted mean single-channel conductance of approximately 20 pS was determined from the relationship between the mean current and the variance around the mean during the decay of evoked and spontaneous synaptic currents. This result suggests that high conductance non-NMDA channels, such as the 10-30 pS glutamate receptor channel previously characterized in granule cells, carry the majority of the fast component of the EPSC at this synapse. In addition, our data are consistent with the activation of surprisingly few (approximately 10) non-NMDA channels by a single packet of transmitter.

6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione↗

Sweet intake, sweet-liking, urges to eat, and weight change: relationship to alcohol dependence and abstinence.

INTRODUCTION: Linkages between alcohol dependence (AD) and abstinence and aspects of food ingestion and preference have been described in animals and humans, including (1) eating sweets decreases urges to drink alcohol; (2) preferences for highly sweet tastants is associated with alcohol dependence; and (3) food deprivation leads to increased alcohol intake. METHODS: We randomly assigned AD subjects in early abstinence to 3 different sets of dietary instructions (eat sweets for alcohol urges; eat a balanced diet; avoid sweets). We compared the groups on urges for alcohol, alcohol consumption, weight, and sweet preference at baseline, one, and six months. We also compared these AD subjects with light-drinking C's and compared AD subjects who remained abstinent for 6 month follow-up with nonabstinent AD subjects. RESULTS: Recruited AS subjects, 38 of 68, completed 6 month follow-up; 27 of 36 C's completed the follow-up. 21 AD's were abstinent while 17 were non-abstinent. There was no effect of dietary recommendations on urges to drink or alcohol consumption. AD's were more likely than C's to prefer highly sweet tastants. The proportion of AD's preferring the sweetest tastant decreased over time. AD's gained more weight than C's over the 6-month follow-up. DISCUSSION: While the use of sweets did not affect urges to drink or drinking, important relationships between sweet preference, weight gain, and alcohol dependence or abstinence were identified.

Adult↗

Outcome of subsequent pregnancy in patients with documented peripartum cardiomyopathy.

Subsequent pregnancy in 6 patients with previous peripartum cardiomyopathy resulted in reduction of ejection fraction by >10% in 5 patients at 1 month postpartum. Two patients with impaired ejection fraction at onset of subsequent pregnancy died 3 months postpartum due to heart failure despite optimal medical therapy. Deterioration of left ventricular function occurred uniformly postpartum and was accompanied by elevation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha plasma levels from 2.4 +/- 1.1 pg/ml at onset of subsequent pregnancy to 6.2 +/- 2.4 pg/ml at 1 month postpartum.

Adult↗

Impact of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system gene variants on the severity of hypertension in patients with newly diagnosed hypertension.

BACKGROUND: The severity of hypertension has prognostic significance. Previous studies have assessed the relationship between renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) genotype and the severity of hypertension in either treated patients or those who have only recently discontinued treatment. METHODS: We assessed the impact of RAAS genotype on ambulatory and office blood pressure (BP) in 231 newly diagnosed hypertensive patients of African ancestry who had never received therapy. Subjects were genotyped for variants of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (insertion/deletion), angiotensinogen (M235T, -20A-->C), and aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2)(-344C-->T) genes. RESULTS: The CYP11B2 gene polymorphism was associated with systolic BP (SBP). In comparison to subjects with at least one copy of the -344C allele (n = 75), patients who were homozygous for the -344T allele (n = 156) had both higher ambulatory SBP (150 +/- 1 v 144 +/- 1 mm Hg, P =.002 before and P =.01 after adjusting for multiple genotyping) and office SBP (163 +/- 2 v 156 +/- 2 mm Hg, P =.01 before and P =.05 after adjusting for multiple genotyping). Neither the angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion nor the angiotensinogen gene polymorphisms were associated with ambulatory or office SBP or diastolic BP (DBP). The CYP11B2 gene variant also did not affect DBP. CONCLUSION: A variant within the CYP11B2 locus has a clinically important impact on the severity of SBP changes in individuals with newly diagnosed hypertension who are of African ethnicity.

Angiotensinogen↗

Effect of slow-release indapamide and perindopril compared with amlodipine on 24-hour blood pressure and left ventricular mass in hypertensive patients of African ancestry.

BACKGROUND: In the treatment of hypertension in subjects of African origins, although hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) is not as effective as calcium channel blockers, indapamide is superior to HCTZ. In the present study we therefore compared the effects of slow release (SR) indapamide with the calcium channel blocker amlodipine, when used as initial therapy, on blood pressure (BP) and left ventricular mass (LVM) during 6 months of treatment in this group. METHODS: Patients with a mean daytime ambulatory diastolic BP > or =90 mm Hg and < or =110 mm Hg (n = 125, aged 53 +/- 11 years, 68% women) were randomized to receive open-label 1.5 mg of indapamide SR or 5 mg of amlodipine. If daytime ambulatory diastolic BP at 1 month was >/=90 mm Hg, 4 mg of perindopril was added to indapamide SR or the dose of amlodipine was increased to 10 mg. RESULTS: After 1 month of therapy, there was an equivalent decline in systolic and diastolic BP in both groups (P <.0001). In the indapamide-treated group (n = 62) the daytime BP decreased from 153 +/- 12/101 +/- 6 mm Hg to 138 +/- 15/92 +/- 10 mm Hg and for amlodipine (n = 58), it decreased from 152 +/- 13/99 +/- 5 mm Hg to 138 +/- 12/91 +/- 8 mm Hg. At 6 months daytime ambulatory BP decreased to 130 +/- 15/86 +/- 8 mm Hg and to 129 +/- 11/85 +/- 5 mm Hg for the indapamide SR (n = 42) and amlodipine (n = 44) treatment groups, respectively. Both groups showed equivalent regression of LVM index and relative wall thickness. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that in hypertensive patients of African ancestry initiating therapy with 1.5 mg of indapamide SR and then adding 4 mg of perindopril is equally as effective as amlodipine therapy at reducing BP, and modifying target organ damage.

Adult↗

Effect of dark chocolate on arterial function in healthy individuals.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies suggest that high flavonoid intake confers a benefit on cardiovascular outcome. Endothelial function, arterial stiffness, and wave reflections are important determinants of cardiovascular performance and are predictors of cardiovascular risk. METHODS: The effect of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate (100 g) on endothelial function, aortic stiffness, wave reflections, and oxidant status were studied for 3 h in 17 young healthy volunteers according to a randomized, single-blind, sham procedure-controlled, cross-over protocol. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery, aortic augmentation index (AIx), and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) were used as measures of endothelial function, wave reflections, and aortic stiffness, respectively. Plasma oxidant status was evaluated with measurement of plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). RESULTS: Chocolate led to a significant increase in resting and hyperemic brachial artery diameter throughout the study (maximum increase by 0.15 mm and 0.18 mm, respectively, P < .001 for both). The FMD increased significantly at 60 min (absolute increase 1.43%, P < .05). The AIx was significantly decreased with chocolate throughout the study (maximum absolute decrease 7.8%, P < .001), indicating a decrease in wave reflections, whereas PWV did not change to a significant extent. Plasma MDA and TAC did not change after chocolate, indicating no alterations in plasma oxidant status. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows for the first time that consumption of dark chocolate acutely decreases wave reflections, that it does not affect aortic stiffness, and that it may exert a beneficial effect on endothelial function in healthy adults. Chocolate consumption may exert a protective effect on the cardiovascular system; further studies are warranted to assess any long-term effects.

Adult↗

Creating an organizational diversity vision: goals, outcomes, and future directions of the International Society of Psychiatric Nurses.

The aim of this article was to chronicle the development and status of a diversity vision within a psychiatric nursing organization. Organizational activities to support diversity and cultural competence, along with challenges to a full integration of these values, are presented. Psychiatric nurses need to be engaged in the process of developing personal and organizational cultural competence to eliminate barriers that contribute to disparities in effective mental health care.

Clinical Competence↗

Hedonic ratings and perceived healthiness in experimental functional food choices.

The associations of liking and perceived healthiness ratings between repeated food choices were studied in two experiments. Participants' snack bar (n=41, Experiment I) and beverage (n=60, Experiment II) choices among six product alternatives were monitored for 4 and 3 weeks, respectively. In Experiment I, participants were allowed to familiarise themselves with snack bar alternatives ("familiar assortment") prior to making choices. In Experiment II, the participants started making their beverage choices without familiarising themselves ("unfamiliar assortment"). In both experiments, the participants were divided into three groups according to their choice behaviour for each alternative: non-interested (0 choices), experimenters (1 choice) and potential frequent users (2 or more choices). In Experiment I, the overall difference between non-interested and potential frequent users of a product was 1.3 points in expected liking and 2.6 points in actual liking on a 7-point scale (ANOVA, p<0.001). In Experiment II, the overall differences in blind hedonic ratings between non-interested participants and potential frequent users of a product were within a range of 0.9 points (p<0.001). The difference was wider for expected liking ratings, 1.3 points (p<0.001). Neither the perceived healthiness of the samples nor the background attitudes could be consistently associated with the choices (Pearson's correlation coefficient).

Adult↗

The influence of product and oral characteristics on swallowing.

The urge to swallow food could be triggered by a threshold level in both food particle size and lubrication of the food bolus. Thus, both oral physiology and product characteristics may influence the swallowing threshold. We quantified the swallowing threshold in a group of 266 healthy adult subjects (age 42 +/- 12 years) by counting the number of chewing cycles needed to prepare food for swallowing. The influence of oral physiology on the swallowing threshold was determined by measuring salivary flow rate, maximum bite force and masticatory performance. We used about 10 cm(3) of bread, toast, melba toast, breakfast cake, peanuts and cheese to determine the influence on the swallowing threshold of various food characteristics, e.g. hardness, moisture and fat. Furthermore, we tested the effect of buttering the bread, toast, melba toast and breakfast cake on the swallowing threshold. Salivary flow rates were significantly and negatively correlated with the number of chewing cycles of melba toast and breakfast cake. Hence, subjects with more saliva needed less chewing cycles for these dry products. Maximum bite force and masticatory performance had an influence on the swallowing threshold for the hard products only (carrot and peanut). Although significant, the correlation coefficients were less than 0.28. Thus, the oral physiology parameters explained less than 10% of the variance in the swallowing threshold. We found significantly different numbers of chewing cycles for the various foods, ranging from 17 for cake to 63 for carrot. Hard and dry products needed more chewing cycles until swallowing. Buttering the food significantly reduced the number of chewing cycles needed before swallowing. This was especially true for the dry products cake, melba toast and toast. Hard and dry products require more chewing cycles and longer time in mouth until swallowing for sufficient breakdown to take place and for enough saliva to be added to form a coherent bolus safe for swallowing. In spite of this, more saliva, higher maximum bite force and better masticatory performance were only weakly correlated with a smaller number of chewing cycles. Butter enhanced lubrication and bolus formation of dry products, thus reducing the number of chewing cycles until swallowing. In conclusion, product characteristics and to a lesser extent oral physiology significantly affect swallowing threshold.

Adult↗

The effect of saliva composition on texture perception of semi-solids.

Saliva is expected to be of significance for the perception of food stimuli in the mouth. Mixing the food with saliva, including breakdown and dilution, is considered to be of large importance for semi-solids as these products are masticated without chewing. It is known that there are large variations in composition of saliva originating from different glands and different subjects. In this study we investigated how variations in salivary characteristics affect sensory perception. Eighteen trained subjects participated in the study. Saliva was collected at rest and during three types of stimulation (odour, parafilm chewing and citric acid), and flow rates were determined. The collected saliva was analyzed for protein concentration, buffer capacity, mucin level and alpha-amylase activity. The salivary components measured in this study varied considerably among subjects, but also within subjects as a result of different means of stimulation. Variations in salivary components were correlated with sensory perception of a number of flavour, mouth feel and after feel attributes in the semi-solids mayonnaise and custard dessert. Total protein concentration and alpha-amylase activity were observed to correlate most strongly with texture perception.

Adult↗

Two tyrosine hydroxylase genes in teleosts.

We report the finding of two non-allelic genes encoding tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) from the diploid teleost barramundi Lates calcarifer. Barramundi TH1 is the homologue of the higher vertebrate TH genes and encodes a protein of 489 amino acids that shares 90% sequence identity to the THs of other teleost species. A second non-allelic tyrosine hydroxylase gene (TH2) encodes a protein of 472 amino acids and shares 62% identity with TH1 and the vertebrate THs. TH1 mRNA is found in the brain and kidney of barramundi while TH2 mRNA is found only in brain. The TH2 gene is also present in the genomes of the pufferfish Takifugu and zebrafish Danio. Estimates of the rates of nucleotide substitution suggest the teleost TH2 genes are selectively constrained although not to the degree seen in the TH1 genes. Differential regulation of the two TH genes is, however, indicated by differences in transcript distribution, the nature of the Ca2+-responsive elements found in the proximal promoter region and the lack of recognised phosphorylation sites in TH2. Preservation of two apparently functional TH genes in phylogenetically distant teleost species is consistent with the notion of partitioning of function between duplicate genes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗