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PubMed2004

Battlefield Advanced Trauma Life Support (BATLS).

The vast majority of casualties will only require a common sense approach to their preparation for evacuation, by asking simple questions, most problems can be identified and resolved prior to the evacuation. Ask? Are aeromed teams available to undertake this task? (Contact them). If aeromed teams are unavailable but can offer advice, talk to them. Where is the onward destination and are they expecting the casualty. (Check). Is the destination suitable for the casualty and the aircraft type? (Check). What level of training is required to transfer the casualty? (Cbt Med Tech/RGN/MO). Are the appropriate aeromed stretchers and harnesses available? (If not get them). Are all the casualty's documentation and X-rays available for transportation with the casualty? (Check). Does the casualty require a secure airway, intravenous access or fluid resuscitation prior to or during flight? (Ideally, the casualty must be as stable as possible prior to flight). Are all i.v. lines taped and secure. (Check them). Is there sufficient oxygen supply on board for the casualty's(ies) needs to complete the journey and cope with delays? This especially applies if the ventilator is air or oxygen driven. Has the electrical medical equipment required for transportation been cleared for use on the aircraft? (Talk to the aircrew). This equipment may be necessary for in-flight monitoring. Even simple tasks such as counting a pulse rate using the carotid artery, may be impossible in a vibrating airframe. How is the casualty going to be positioned on board the aircraft and does the escort have access? (Find out). If the flight is tactical and at night, the air-crew may be using night vision goggles, can any light be used in the cabin? (On chinooks the crew may be able to provide a blacked out area; in other aircraft torches with green filters will have to be used and monitoring undertaken by touch. Check the situation with the crew and be prepared to adapt). It is very difficult to care for a casualty in the air, particularly on a helicopter. It is extremely important to prepare the casualty properly prior to the flight. A few extra minutes on the ground preparing the casualty may ultimately save their life. However, the tactical situation or the condition of the casualty may dictate the scoop and scoot approach, rather than stay and play.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Lipid metabolism and vesicle trafficking: more than just greasing the transport machinery.

The movement of lipids from their sites of synthesis to ultimate intracellular destinations must be coordinated with lipid metabolic pathways to ensure overall lipid homeostasis is maintained. Thus, lipids would be predicted to play regulatory roles in the movement of vesicles within cells. Recent work has highlighted how specific lipid metabolic events can affect distinct vesicle trafficking steps and has resulted in our first glimpses of how alterations in lipid metabolism participate in the regulation of intracellular vesicles. Specifically, (i) alterations in sphingolipid metabolism affect the ability of SNAREs to fuse membranes, (ii) sterols are required for efficient endocytosis, (iii) glycerophospholipids and phosphorylated phosphatidylinositols regulate Golgi-mediated vesicle transport, (iv) lipid acylation is required for efficient vesicle transport mediated membrane fission, and (v) the addition of glycosylphosphatidylinositol lipid anchors to proteins orders them into distinct domains that result in their preferential sorting from other vesicle destined protein components in the endoplasmic reticulum. This review describes the experimental evidence that demonstrates a role for lipid metabolism in the regulation of specific vesicle transport events.

Acylation↗

PubMed1975

Cerebral hemodynamics following internal maxillary artery ligation in the goat.

Changes in cerebral and extracerebral blood flow in the goat after ligation of the internal maxillary artery and deliberate thrombosis of the extracerebral arteries (buccinator, ethmoidal, and ophthalmic) with thrombin were compared to changes seen in animals after internal maxillary artery ligation only and in normal animals where no surgical manipulations were performed. Blood flow was measured by injecting 51-Cr-labeled microspheres into the internal maxillary artery via a catheter placed into the temporal artery. Analysis of the radioactivity in extracerebral and intracerebral tissues indicated that when the internal maxillary artery is ligated and the extracerebral arteries are thrombosed, virtually all of the blood flow from the carotid artery is destined from the brain. However, if only the internal maxillary artery is ligated nearly one-fourth of the blood flow from the maxillary travels to extra-cerebral tissues. In normal animals, it was determined that only one-fourth of the blood flow in the internal maxillary is destined for the cerebral circulation. Results from this study indicate that if the former method is employed an accurate measure of cerebral blood flow is possible without the complications of extra-cerebral flow. If the latter technique is used care must be taken in evaluating cerebral blood flow since a large component of extra-cerebral blood flow is present.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Socioeconomic aspects of postacute care for patients with brain infarction in France.

BACKGROUND: In France, the socioeconomic aspects of stroke have never been addressed. Such analyses are essential for health authorities to justify the establishment of new stroke units when resources are low, provided it can be shown that stroke units are effective in reducing both the morbidity and mortality of stroke. Only 6 dedicated stroke services exist for 60 million inhabitants in France. Our aim was to study acute and postacute pathways and to determine the factors that influence destination after discharge, handicap evolution and costs. METHODS: In a cohort of 494 consecutive patients with brain infarction, we collected information on medical and socioeconomic variables, handicap and its evolution using the modified Rankin scale and Mini-Mental Status score at the 10th day, 6th month and 18th-40th month. These data were recorded during the initial hospital stay, at the follow-up clinic visit and in a home interview done 18-40 months after discharge by research nurses. We used multiple logistic regression for analyses. RESULTS: The most important factor for not returning home was having a Rankin score greater than 3 with an odds ratio of 41.7 (95% confidence interval 19.2-90.0; p = 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that when the Rankin score was 0, 1 or 2, the main factors for not returning home were socioeconomic variables and serious medical disorders. When the Rankin score was 4 or 5, the main reason for not being sent for rehabilitation was medical status. After adjustment for the Rankin score, patients who returned home or were transferred to rehabilitation were quite similar regarding socioeconomic and medical variables. Other patients transferred to a geriatric ward, nursing home or new housing were more frequently living alone, 60 years of age or older, had less than 2 children, low level of education, dementia or cancer. Overall, the mean cost was 19,513 Euros over an 18-month period and was mainly driven by the level of the Rankin score (e.g. 10,530 vs. 34,809 Euros for Rankin scores of 0-1 and 4-5, respectively). CONCLUSION: These data showed that not only handicap level but also socioeconomic variables are important in determining the destination of stroke patients after discharge. They may help health authorities to make decisions to establish new approaches to treat stroke. This study can also serve as a basis for future cost-effectiveness studies of new drugs being evaluated in therapeutic trials or of new management strategies of stroke patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Neurogenesis and neuronal regeneration in the adult reptilian brain.

Evidence accumulated over the last few decades demonstrates that all reptiles examined thus far continue to add neurons at a high rate and in many regions of the adult brain. This so-called adult neurogenesis has been described in the olfactory bulbs, rostral forebrain, all cortical areas, anterior dorsal ventricular ridge, septum, striatum, nucleus sphericus, and cerebellum. The rate of neuronal production varies greatly among these brain areas. Moreover, striking differences in the rate and distribution of adult neurogenesis have been noted among species. In addition to producing new neurons in the adult brain, lizards, and possibly other reptiles as well, are capable of regenerating large portions of their telencephalon damaged as a result of experimentally-induced injuries, thus exhibiting an enormous potential for neuronal regeneration. Adult neurogenesis and neuronal regeneration take advantage of the same mechanisms that are present during embryonic neurogenesis. New neurons are born in the ependyma lining the ventricles and migrate radially through the brain parenchyma along processes of radial glial cells. Several lines of evidence suggest that radial glial cells also act as stem cells for adult neurogenesis. Once they reach their final destination, the young neurons extend axons that reach appropriate target areas. Tangential migration of neurons alongside the ventricular ependyma has also been reported. Most of these tangentially migrating neurons seem to be destined for the olfactory bulbs and are, thus, part of a system similar to the mammalian rostral migratory stream. The proliferation and recruitment of new neurons appear to result in continuous growth of most areas showing adult neurogenesis. The functional consequences of this continuous generation and integration of new neurons into existing circuits is largely conjectural, but involvement of these phenomena in learning and memory is one likely possibility.

Aging↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Interleukin-2 immunotherapy of murine cytomegalovirus retinitis during MAIDS correlates with increased intraocular CD8+ T-cell infiltration.

AIDS-related human cytomegalovirus retinitis continues to be an important sight-threatening disease in AIDS patients who do not respond to highly active antiretroviral therapy. We have shown previously that systemic cytokine immunotherapy with interleukin-2 (IL-2) will protect against experimental murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) in mice with a murine retrovirus-induced immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS). Since IL-2 serves as a Th1 immunoregulatory cytokine, we hypothesized that IL-2-induced protection against MCMV retinitis during MAIDS would correlate with a measurable increase in the number of natural killer (NK) cells and/or CD8+ T cells that infiltrate the eye in response to MCMV infection of the retina. We therefore performed a study to quantify and compare the number of NK cells and CD8+ T cells that infiltrate MCMV-infected eyes in untreated and IL-2-treated mice with MAIDS at 3 days and 5 days after subretinal MCMV inoculation. Double-label flow cytometric analysis revealed the detection of measurable numbers of both NK cells and CD8+ T cells in MCMV-infected eyes of untreated MAIDS mice destined to develop retinitis. In contrast, IL-2 immunotherapy during MAIDS correlated with a 10-fold increase by day 5 after inoculation in the number of CD8+ T cells in MCMV-infected eyes destined to be resistant to retinitis. However, IL-2 immunotherapy during MAIDS had no appreciable effect on the number of NK cells that infiltrated MCMV-infected eyes. Taken together, our findings suggest that function of cytotoxic lymphocytes that infiltrate the eye may be more important than absolute numbers of cytotoxic lymphocytes that infiltrate the eye when assessing the protective effects of IL-2 immunotherapy on MCMV retinitis during MAIDS.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

PubMed2005

Time-lapse analysis reveals a series of events by which cranial neural crest cells reroute around physical barriers.

Segmentation is crucial to the development of the vertebrate body plan. Underlying segmentation in the head is further revealed when cranial neural crest cells emerge from even numbered rhombomeres in the hindbrain to form three stereotypical migratory streams that lead to the peripheral branchial arches. To test the role of intrinsic versus extrinsic cues in influencing an individual cell's trajectory, we implanted physical barriers in the chick mesoderm, distal to emerging neural crest cell stream fronts. We analyzed the spatio-temporal dynamics as individual neural crest cells encountered and responded to the barriers, using time-lapse confocal imaging. We find the majority of neural crest cells reach the branchial arch destinations following a repeatable series of events by which the cells overcome the barriers. Even though the lead cells become temporarily blocked by a barrier, cells that follow from behind find a novel pathway around a barrier and become de novo leaders of a new stream. Surprisingly, quantitative analyses of cell trajectories show that cells that encounter an r3 barrier migrate significantly faster but less directly than cells that encounter an r4 barrier, which migrate normally. Interestingly, we also find that cells temporarily blocked by the barrier migrate slightly faster and change direction more often. In addition, we show that cells can be forced to migrate into normally repulsive territory. These results suggest that cranial neural crest cell trajectories are not intrinsically determined, that cells can respond to minor alterations in the environment and re-target a peripheral destination, and that both intrinsic and extrinsic cues are important in patterning.

Animals↗

PubMed2007

The determinants of successful in-hospital rehabilitation in people aged 90 years and older.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The very elderly constitute a subgroup of elderly who may respond differently than the younger elderly to medical intervention. This possibility has not previously been investigated. Our study investigates whether successful rehabilitation of the very elderly is possible within the current processes of care and also whether factors that help predict successful rehabilitation in all age elderly are applicable to the oldest old. METHODS: A retrospective case note analysis of all very elderly people (>or=90 years old) treated within in-patient elderly person rehabilitation facilities at the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield. Potential predictive factors analysed: Barthel index, main presenting illness, number of co-morbid conditions, number of regular prescribed medications, abbreviated mental test score, prior formal social services input, previous hospital admission within 1 year and serum albumin (g/l). Outcome measures reflecting success of rehabilitation: duration of rehabilitation (days), discharge destination to the same ('good outcome') or increased ('poor outcome') level of social and/or nursing care, readmission to hospital within 30 days of discharge and death during rehabilitation or within 120 days of discharge. RESULTS: Of 230 nonagenarians admitted to inpatient elderly rehabilitation 47% required no increase in social support following their admission and 76% of those admitted from their own home were able to return there. Barthel index and the number of co-morbid conditions were the most influential predictors of success, with Barthel index predicting length of stay (p < 0.001), discharge destination (p < 0.001) and in-hospital mortality (p < 0.01) and co-morbidity predicting readmission to hospital (p = 0.05), in-hospital mortality (p = 0.04) and survival (p = 0.05). On multi-variate analysis all other predictive factors analysed, except for presenting illness, were associated with at least one outcome measure (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Successful inpatient rehabilitation of the very elderly is possible. Factors that predict the success of rehabilitation of nonagenarians are similar to those associated with success in the younger elderly. The factors that most broadly predict success are Barthel index and the number of co-morbid conditions identified at admission to rehabilitation. Main presenting illness did not emerge as a predictor within this group.

Accidental Falls↗

PubMedDate not supplied

How do neuronal proteins know where they are going? . . . Speculations on the role of molecular address markers.

The neuroscientist often divides the cellular world into neuronal and nonneuronal cells, setting the stage for emphasizing differences rather than similarities between cell types. This review focuses on a common theme in cell biology: the sorting of newly-synthesized membrane proteins, their intracellular transport, and their delivery to distinct domains of the cell surface. At the subcellular level, membrane proteins in neurons pass through the cell body and enter the axon by a pathway reminiscent of that utilized in other cell types. At the molecular level, little is known of how sorting and delivery are directed in neurons, although details of such recognition mechanisms are emerging for many specific proteins in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Analogies are drawn from these systems to propose how neuronal proteins destined for regions of axolemma and axon terminals are sorted from proteins destined for endomembranes, somal organelles, somal plasma membrane and dendrites, and delivered, via fast axonal transport, to their correct membrane domains.

Axonal Transport↗

PubMed1991

Vertebrate craniofacial development: the relation between ontogenetic process and morphological outcome.

Many structures that are present, often transiently, in the head of extant vertebrate embryos appear to be segmentally organized. These include the brain, particularly the hindbrain (e.g., rhombomeres), and adjacent axial structures such as paraxial mesoderm (e.g., somites, somitomeres) and neural crest cells. Also present in the head are additional sets of serially arranged structures that develop in more ventral and lateral locations. Examples of these are epibranchial placodes, aortic arches, and pharyngeal pouches. All these embryonic structures are frequently used both individually and collectively as characters to assist in defining homologies. New cell labeling and identification methods are providing detailed accounts of cell movements and tissue lineages that reveal a range of disparate behaviors not previously appreciated. The well-known migrations of neural crest cells bring all but the neurogenic members of this mesenchymal population form dorsal, axial locations into ventral and rostral locations where they largely surround the pharynx, stomdeum, and prosencephalon. Equally dramatic movements of neural plate cells, myoblasts, angioblasts, and placode-derived cells have recently been documented. These movements may occur in concert with those of other nearby tissues (e.g., branchiomeric myoblasts, neural crest cells, and surface ectoderm) or may be independent (e.g., placodal neuroblasts). Migrating cells may be clustered and follow definable pathways towards their destination (e.g., neural crest cells), or they may be solitary and wander invasively without a prespecified destination (e.g., angioblasts). These extensive morphogenetic movements bring cells into contact with a greater variety of other tissues and matrix environments than has heretofore been recognized. Moreover, because of these rearrangements, the cells present in a particular location, such as a branchial arch, may trace their ancestry to many axial levels, which complicates the analyses of segmental relations. Comparative morphological studies of craniofacial development have recently been augmented by descriptions of the sites and times of expression of many matrix components, growth factors and their receptors, and regulatory genes. Particularly important has been the discovery of a network of genes called the homeobox family. These genes are similar in their sequence and their organization along a chromosome to genes that establish the spatial identity of prospective body parts in drosophila. The combination of cellular and molecular descriptive studies of vertebrate craniofacial development provide exciting opportunities to catalogue patterns of gene expression and morphogenesis during the gastrula, neurula, and early organogenesis stages. Moreover, such data form the basis for proposing and then testing hypotheses about the mechanisms controlling cell movements, tissue formation, and the assembly of functionally integrated sets of structures.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

PubMed1992

The germinative zone produces the most cortical astrocytes after neuronal migration in the developing mammalian brain.

The origin of astrocytes of the mouse neocortex during the fetal and early postnatal periods as determined by immunocytological, autoradiographic, electron microscopic and antimitotic methods is described. Most astrocytes destined for the white matter and the infragranular cortical layers are derived from the transformation of radial glial cells between P0 and P10 with an inside-out pattern. This cell metamorphosis is not directly preceded by mitosis and involves the activation of the radial glial lysosomal apparatus. In opposition to recent hypotheses, our findings suggest that most astrocytes destined for the supragranular cortical layers are produced in the germinative zone after the migration of the infragranular neurons and themselves migrate afterwards to the upper cortex between E16 and the first postnatal days. These astrocytes do not display an intermediate stage of the radial glial cell and do not participate in the pattern of appearance of the deeper astrocytes. This second step of astrocytogenesis is a condition for normal cytoarchitectonic development and the maintenance of the supragranular layers, since the deprivation of the astrocytic equipment of the supragranular layers by an antimitotic drug drastically reduces the number of supragranular neurons.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Unexpected interaction between beta-adrenergic blockade and heart rate variability before and after myocardial infarction. A longitudinal study in dogs at high and low risk for sudden death.

BACKGROUND: Heart rate (HR) variability is a marker of tonic cardiac autonomic activity and contributes in assessing risk for sudden death after myocardial infarction. Recent clinical observations have indicated that attenuation of HR variability, which occurs after myocardial infarction, may be transient. This study addresses the issue of whether autonomic control of heart rate recovers at different rates after myocardial infarction in subjects at high and low risk for ventricular fibrillation (VF). METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty dogs, 22 with myocardial infarction and 8 sham-prepared animals, completed the study. Changes and recovery in cardiac autonomic activity after myocardial infarction were examined by measuring HR variability before and at defined intervals during the first 30 days after infarction. Each HR variability measurement was made before and after beta-blockade in dogs at high (n = 10) and low (n = 12) risk for VF. Arrhythmia risk was determined on the basis of development of VF during exercise and transient myocardial ischemia 30 days after infarction. No sham-prepared animals developed VF. Preinfarction measurements of HR variability were not different between the groups before beta-blockade, but HR variability increased much more in response to beta-blockade in animals destined to be resistant compared with susceptible animals (289 +/- 26 to 369 +/- 35 msec, delta 27.7%, versus 270 +/- 36 to 283 +/- 34 milliseconds, delta 4.8%, respectively, P < .01). Immediately after infarction, HR variability was significantly attenuated in all dogs, but in the resistant dogs it recovered to pre-myocardial infarction levels within 10 days. After the infarction, beta-blockade did not increase HR variability in either group of animals. Postoperative increases in HR variability from beta-blockade were preserved in the sham group. Susceptible animals were characterized by a persistent attenuation of HR variability throughout the 30 days. CONCLUSIONS: The depression in HR variability produced by myocardial infarction has a clearly different temporal recovery pattern between low- and high-risk animals. After myocardial infarction, beta-adrenergic blockade does not alter HR variability, thus preserving its predictive value. Before myocardial infarction, however, beta-blockade increases HR variability only in the animals destined to be at low risk for lethal arrhythmias after the infarction. The recovery pattern of HR variability after myocardial infarction may contribute to the early recognition of individuals at high risk for sudden death.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Childhood predictors of future blood pressure.

Blood pressure in infants and children is much lower than that in adults. It is suspected that children whose blood pressures are greatest for their age or body size may be destined for future hypertension. However, it is apparent that some children with lower blood pressures are also destined for hypertension as adults. Children with a family history of hypertension demonstrate greater blood pressure and heart rate responses to mental challenge. These responses are enhanced when a high salt diet is consumed. Increased maximal exercise systolic blood pressure and increased left ventricular wall mass in childhood add significantly to the prediction of future high blood pressure. In addition, the acquisition of excess weight for height from childhood to young adult life adds to the prediction of future blood pressure elevations. Both children and adults who are obese have significantly higher blood pressures than those who are lean. Approximately 34% of the variability in body mass index is explained by genotype differences at a single recessive locus, 41% by genotype differences at polygenic loci, and 25% by nongenetic factors. Thus, the genetic influence of obesity may be an important factor responsible for elevated blood pressure in both children and adults.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Ischemic core and penumbra in human stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The ischemic core and penumbra have not been thoroughly characterized after acute cerebral thromboembolic occlusion in humans. Differentiation between areas of potentially viable and irreversibly injured ischemic tissue may facilitate assessment and treatment of stroke patients. METHODS: Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured in 20 patients with acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion between 60 and 360 minutes after stroke onset, with the stable xenon computerized tomography (CT) technique. Threshold displays were generated at a single level, and the percentages of hemisphere with CBF </=6, </=10, 11 to 20, 21 to 30, and >30 cm3. 100 g-1. min-1 were measured. The corresponding images on 12 available follow-up CT scans were similarly assessed to determine the area of final infarct. Comparisons were analyzed with a paired Student's t test and Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Discrete and confluent areas of CBF </=20 cm3. 100 g-1. min-1 were identified in all patients, ipsilateral to the symptomatic MCA territory. The average area of CBF </=20 cm3. 100 g-1. min-1 within the ipsilateral hemisphere was 66+/-17% compared with 36+/-12% contralaterally (P<0.001). A difference in the extent of low CBF was due primarily to areas with CBF </=10 cm3. 100 g-1. min-1 (48+/-18% versus 16+/-7%, P<0.001). The area of most severe ipsilateral ischemia (</=6 cm3. 100 g-1. min-1) best corresponded to the final area of infarction (37+/-18% versus 40+/-24%; correlation coefficient, 0.866; P<0.01). The acute ischemic core destined to infarction was not surrounded by a widened rim of moderate ischemia because the area with CBF 11 to 20 cm3. 100 g-1. min-1 was similar bilaterally (19+/-4% versus 20+/-7%, P=0.792, thus not significant). CONCLUSIONS: Our study in acute human stroke involving MCA occlusion indicates that a severely ischemic core (CBF </=6 cm3. 100 g-1. min-1), observed between 1 to 6 hours after stroke onset, corresponds to the cerebral tissue destined to infarction. The ischemic penumbra with flow values between 7 and 20 cm3. 100 g-1. min-1 surrounding the ischemic core is very narrow. Therefore, strategies to improve the outcome of many patients with acute MCA occlusion must either include interventions to reverse the ischemic process within a few minutes of onset or increase the cerebral tolerance of ischemia and thereby prolong the potential therapeutic window.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed2002

Theta oscillations and human navigation: a magnetoencephalography study.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to study alpha and theta activity while subjects navigated through a computer-generated virtual reality town. The subjects were first allowed to explore the environment freely. They then had to navigate from a starting point to a destination, knowing that an obstruction would appear at one of several possible locations along the main route and force them to take a detour. Spatiotemporal analysis of the theta and alpha bands were performed (1) prior to the start of navigation, (2) from the start of navigation until the obstruction was encountered, (3) during the time subjects were contemplating a detour and were not navigating, and (4) from the resumption of navigation until the destination was reached. In all subjects, theta power was strongest during the two periods of navigation. The peak frequency of the oscillations was approximately 3.7 Hz. Control studies consisted of a motor task similar to that required for navigation, passive viewing of a tour through the same virtual reality town, and a mental concentration task. No consistent increases in theta power were seen in the MEG during any of the control tasks. The results suggest an association between theta rhythm and the performance of navigational tasks in humans.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

An evolutionary algorithm for interval solid transportation problems.

The Solid Transportation Problem arises when bounds are given on three item properties. Usually, these properties are source, destination and mode of transport (conveyance), and may be given in an interval way. This paper deals with solid transportation problems in which the data in the constraint set are expressed in an interval form, i.e. when sources, destinations and conveyances have interval values instead of point values. An arbitrary linear or nonlinear objective function is also considered. To solve the problem, an Evolutionary Algorithm which extends and generalizes other approaches considering only point values, is proposed.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1994

Expression of surfactant proteins in embryonic rat lung.

Because surfactant proteins A, B, and C (SP-A, SP-B, and SP-C) are putative markers for alveolar epithelial type II cells, we investigated their expression in embryonic rat lung (12 to 15 days, term = 22 days). The expression of the messages for SP-A, SP-B, and SP-C was assessed by the reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Embryonic rat lung at 12 days' gestation lacked detectable mRNAs for all three surfactant proteins. Messages for SP-A, SP-B, and SP-C were, however, present in embryonic rat lung at 13 days' gestation. Expression of SP-A mRNA increased in embryonic rat lung with advancing gestation. Surfactant protein mRNA expression during the embryonic period of lung development was limited to the epithelial cells. The expression of SP-A mRNA, while limited to the lung, did not appear to be a marker for cells destined to become type II cells, since it was detected in the trachea and the presumptive main bronchial ducts of embryonic rat lung at 13 days' gestation, as well as in the distal lung prealveolar region. Expression of both SP-B and SP-C mRNAs in embryonic lung was confined to the distal portion of the ductal system, although message of SP-C was also found in brain and kidney. These results suggest that none of the three surfactant protein mRNAs studied are, at this early stage of lung development, specific for cells destined to become type II pneumocytes.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Fully automated solid weighing workstation.

A fully automated, solid-to-solid weighing workstation (patent pending) is described in this article. The core of this automated process is the use of an electrostatically charged pipette tip to attract solid particles on its outside surface. The particles were then dislodged into a 1.2-mL destination vial in a microbalance by spinning the pipette tip. Textures of solid that could be weighed included powder, crystalline, liquid, and semi-solid substances. The workstation can pick up submilligram quantities of sample (=0.3mg) from source vials containing as little as 1mg. The destination vials containing the samples were stored in a 96-well rack to enable subsequent automated liquid handling. Using bovine serum albumin as test solid, the coefficient of variation of the protein concentration for 48 samples is less than 6%. The workstation was used successfully to weigh out 48 different synthetic compounds. Time required for automated weighing was similar to manual weighing. The use of this workstation reduced 90% hands-on time and thus exposure to potentially toxic compounds. In addition, it minimized sample waste and reduced artifacts due to the poor solubility of compound in solvents. Moreover, it enabled compounds synthesized in milligram quantities to be weighed out and tested in biological assays.

Animals↗