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Retention Period (retention + period)
Selected AbstractsAzidothymidine causes functional and structural destruction of mitochondria, glutathione deficiency and HIV-1 promoter sensitizationFEBS JOURNAL, Issue 11 2002Tokio Yamaguchi Mitochondrial functional and structural impairment and generation of oxidative stress have been implicated in aging, various diseases and chemotherapies. This study analyzed azidothymidine (AZT)-caused failures in mitochondrial functions, in redox regulation and activation of the HIV-1 gene expression. We monitored intracellular concentrations of ATP and glutathione (GSH) as the indicators of energy production and redox conditions, respectively, during the time-course experiments with U937 and MOLT4 human lymphoid cells in the presence of AZT (0.05 mg·mL,1) or H2O2 (0.01 mm) for 15,25 days. Mitochondrial DNA integrity and NF-,B-driven HIV-1 promoter activity were also assessed. ATP concentration began to decrease within several days after exposure to AZT or H2O2, and the decrease continued to reach 30,40% of the normal level. However, decline of GSH was detectable after a retention period for at least 5,6 days, and progressed likewise. PCR analyses found that mitochondrial DNA destruction occurred when the ATP and GSH depletion had progressed, detecting a difference in the deletion pattern between AZT and H2O2 -treated cells. The GSH decrease coincided with HIV-1 promoter sensitization detected by enhanced DNA binding ability of NF-,B and induction of the gene expression upon H2O2 -rechallenge. Our results suggest that, in the process of AIDS myopathy development, AZT or oxidative agents directly impair the energy-producing system of mitochondria, causing dysfunction of cellular redox control, which eventually leads to loss of the mitochondrial DNA integrity. The mechanism of cellular redox condition-mediated NF-,B activation is discussed. [source] Culture-based fisheries in non-perennial reservoirs in Sri Lanka: production and relative performance of stocked speciesFISHERIES MANAGEMENT & ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2005W. M. H. K. WIJENAYAKE Abstract, In Sri Lanka, there is a great potential for the development of culture-based fisheries because of the availability of around 12 000 non-perennial reservoirs in the dry zone (<187 cm annual rainfall) of the island. These reservoirs fill during the north-east monsoonal period in October to December and almost completely dry up during August to October. As these non-perennial reservoirs are highly productive, hatchery-reared fish fingerlings can be stocked to develop culture-based fisheries during the water retention period of 7,9 months. The present study was conducted in 32 non-perennial reservoirs in five administrative districts in Sri Lanka. These reservoirs were stocked with fingerlings of Indian (catla Catla catla Hamilton and rohu Labeo rohita Hamilton) and Chinese (bighead carp Aristichthys nobilis Richardson) major carps, common carp Cyprinus carpio L., genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT) strain of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.) and post-larvae of giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii De Man, at three different species combinations and overall stocking densities (SD) ranging from 218 to 3902 fingerlings ha,1, during the 2002,2003 culture cycle. Of the 32 reservoirs stocked, reliable data on harvest were obtained from 25 reservoirs. Fish yield ranged from 53 to 1801 kg ha,1 and the yields of non-perennial reservoirs in southern region were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those in the northern region. Naturally-recruited snakehead species contributed the catches in northern reservoirs. Fish yield was curvilinearly related to reservoir area (P < 0.05), and a negative second order relationship was evident between SD and yield (P < 0.05). Chlorophyll- a and fish yield exhibited a positive second order relationship (P < 0.01). Bighead carp yield impacted positively on the total yield (P < 0.05), whereas snakehead yield impact was negative. Bighead carp, common carp and rohu appear suitable for poly-culture in non-perennial reservoirs. GIFT strain O. niloticus had the lowest specific growth rate among stocked species and freshwater prawn had a low return. [source] Limnology and culture-based fisheries in non-perennial reservoirs in Sri LankaLAKES & RESERVOIRS: RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2005U. Asanka D. Jayasinghe Abstract This study was carried out to investigate the possibility of using the limnological characteristics of non-perennial reservoirs in Sri Lanka for the future management of culture-based fisheries. Forty-five reservoirs were randomly selected to study their limnology, out of which 32 were stocked with fish fingerlings of Chinese and Indian carps, tilapia and freshwater prawn at stocking densities ranging from 218,4372 fingerlings ha,1. Of these, 23 reservoirs were harvested at the end of the culture period (6,10 months). Thirteen limnological parameters were measured during the water retention period of each of the 45 reservoirs between November 2001 and January 2004. The mean values of the limnological parameters were used to ordinate the reservoirs through principal component analysis. Ordination showed a productivity gradient among reservoirs where Secchi disc depth, total phosphorus, chlorophyll- a, inorganic turbidity and organic turbidity were identified as key factors. The total fish yield of culture-based fisheries was positively correlated to the scores of the first principal component axis. This study reveals that it is possible to classify non-perennial reservoirs in Sri Lanka based on the above limnological parameters in order to develop culture-based fisheries and that they could be applicable in comparable water bodies elsewhere in the tropics. [source] Magnet Tracking: a new tool for in vivo studies of the rat gastrointestinal motilityNEUROGASTROENTEROLOGY & MOTILITY, Issue 6 2006R. Guignet Abstract, Digestive motility was studied in the rat using a miniaturized version of the Magnet Tracking system which monitored the progression of a small magnetic pill through the entire digestive tract. The dynamics of movement was followed and three-dimensional (3-D) images of digestive tract were generated. After a retention period in the stomach and rapid passage through duodenum, the magnet progressed along the small intestine with gradually decreasing speed and longer stationary periods. It remained in the caecum for variable intervals. In the colon, periods of progress alternated with long quiescent periods. Gastric activity oscillated at 5,6 min,1. In the small intestine, two frequency domains coexisted, showing independent modulations and proximo-distal gradients (40 to >32 and 28 to >20 min,1). Caecal oscillations were of 1.5 min,1. The data allowed the magnet location and calculation of gastric and small intestinal transit times (58 ± 36 and 83 ± 14 min respectively), both significantly prolonged by oleate administration (243 ± 130 and 170 ± 45 min respectively). Magnet Tracking is a non-invasive tool to study the in vivo spatial and temporal organization of gastrointestinal motility in the rat. [source] Palatally displaced upper lateral incisors: relapse after orthodontic treatment and its correlation with dentoskeletal morphologyORTHODONTICS & CRANIOFACIAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2000M. Okamoto The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the relapse tendency of the palatally positioned upper lateral incisor differs in patients treated with or without premolar extraction, and if there is any correlation between the amount of upper lateral incisor relapse and pretreatment dentoskeletal morphology or post-treatment changes. Forty-six patients with bilateral palatally displaced upper laterals who also exhibit maxillary dental constriction were separated into two groups: a premolar extraction (30 cases) group and a non-extraction (16 cases) group. All subjects had undergone orthodontic treatment with quad helix and edgewise appliances, followed by a 2-year retention period. Differences in the amount of the upper lateral incisor relapse and their correlations with the dentoskeletal morphology before and after treatment were determined on the lateral and postero-anterior cephalograms and dental casts. Results revealed that the upper lateral incisor relapse in the extraction group was significantly greater (p=0.0002) than the relapse in the non-extraction group. There was a positive correlation between incisor relapse and the distance of lateral incisor movement in both groups (r=0.539; p=0.030). Relapse in the non-extraction group was correlated with the widths of the upper dental arch (r,,0.507, p,0.044), with the naso-maxillary variables before treatment (r=,0.514, p=0.041), and also with changes in the upper inter-premolar and inter-molar widths during retention (r=0.514, p=0.040). [source] Correction of severe open bite using miniscrew anchorageAUSTRALIAN DENTAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009M Kaku Abstract This report describes the treatment of a case of severe open bite with posterior crossbite. While treating open bite, the outcome may not always be successful with orthodontic therapy alone. In such cases, surgical therapy is often chosen to gain a stable occlusion. Skeletal anchorage systems such as miniscrews are now frequently used for correcting severe malocclusion. In this report, we treated an open bite by intruding the molars with miniscrews placed bilaterally in the interdental space between both the upper and lower posterior teeth. The active treatment period was 36 months and the patient's teeth continued to be stable after a retention period of 36 months. [source] The evolution of intelligence: adaptive specializations versus general processBIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, Issue 3 2001EUAN M. MAGPHAIL ABSTRACT Darwin argued that between-species differences in intelligence were differences of degree, not of kind. The contemporary ecological approach to animal cognition argues that animals have evolved species-specific and problem-specific processes to solve problems associated with their particular ecological niches: thus different species use different processes, and within a species, different processes are used to tackle problems involving different inputs. This approach contrasts both with Darwin's view and with the general process view, according to which the same central processes of learning and memory are used across an extensive range of problems involving very different inputs. We review evidence relevant to the claim that the learning and memory performance of non-human animals varies according to the nature of the stimuli involved. We first discuss the resource distribution hypothesis, olfactory learning-set formation, and the ,biological constraints' literature, but find no convincing support from these topics for the ecological account of cognition. We then discuss the claim that the performance of birds in spatial tasks of learning and memory is superior in species that depend heavily upon stored food compared to species that either show less dependence upon stored food or do not store food. If it could be shown that storing species enjoy a superiority specifically in spatial (and not non-spatial) tasks, this would argue that spatial tasks are indeed solved using different processes from those used in non-spatial tasks. Our review of this literature does not find a consistent superiority of storing over non-storing birds in spatial tasks, and, in particular, no evidence of enhanced superiority of storing species when the task demands are increased, by, for example, increasing the number of items to be recalled or the duration of the retention period. We discuss also the observation that the hippocampus of storing birds is larger than that of non-storing birds, and find evidence contrary to the view that hippocampal enlargement is associated with enhanced spatial memory; we are, however, unable to suggest a convincing alternative explanation for hippocampal enlargement. The failure to find solid support for the ecological view supports the view that there are no qualitative differences in cognition between animal species in the processes of learning and memory. We also argue that our review supports our contention that speculation about the phylogenetic development and function of behavioural processes does not provide a solid basis for gaining insight into the nature of those processes. We end by confessing to a belief in one major qualitative difference in cognition in animals: we believe that humans alone are capable of acquiring language, and that it is this capacity that divides our intelligence so sharply from non-human intelligence. [source] ERP/CSD indices of impaired verbal working memory subprocesses in schizophreniaPSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2006Jürgen Kayser Abstract To disentangle subprocesses of verbal working memory deficits in schizophrenia, long EEG epochs (>10 s) were recorded from 13 patients and 17 healthy adults during a visual word serial position test. ERP generator patterns were summarized by temporal PCA from reference-free current source density (CSD) waveforms to sharpen 31-channel topographies. Patients showed poorer performance and reduced left inferior parietotemporal P3 source. Build-up of mid-frontal negative slow wave (SW) in controls during item encoding, integration, and active maintenance was absent in patients, whereas a sustained mid-frontal SW sink during the retention interval was comparable across groups. Mid-frontal SW sinks (encoding and retention periods) and posterior SW sinks and sources (encoding only) were related to performance in controls only. Data suggest disturbed processes in a frontal-parietotemporal network in schizophrenia, affecting encoding and early item storage. [source] | |||||||||||||