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Considerable Research Effort (considerable + research_effort)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	33%

Selected Abstracts

Initial Evidence of an Association Between OPRM1 and Adolescent Alcohol Misuse

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 1 2010
Robert Miranda
Background:, Considerable research efforts have attempted to identify genes associated with alcoholism among adults, yet few studies have examined adolescents. Identifying genes associated with alcohol misuse in youth is important given that the relative contribution of genetic and environmental influences on alcoholism varies across development. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between a polymorphism of the ,-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) and alcohol misuse in a sample of youth and to test whether heightened sensitivity to the reinforcing effects of alcohol mediated this relationship. Methods:, Adolescents (n = 187; mean age = 15.4 years; 47.6% female) were genotyped for A118G (rs1799971), a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the OPRM1 gene, and assessed for alcohol use disorder (AUD) diagnoses and other psychopathology. Alcohol misuse was also measured continuously to maximize detection of drinking problems in youth. Drinking motives were used to capture the extent to which youth consumed alcohol to enhance positive affect. Results:, AUD groups differed significantly in terms of allelic distributions of the A118G SNP, such that 51.9% of youth with an AUD carried at least one copy of the G allele compared to 16.3% of non-AUD controls. Those who carried the G allele endorsed drinking to enhance positive affect more strongly than those who were homozygous for the A allele and drinking to enhance positive affect mediated the association between OPRM1 and alcohol-related problems. Conclusions:, These data build on findings from adult studies and provide the first evidence that a polymorphism of the OPRM1 receptor gene is associated with the development of early-onset alcohol-related problems during adolescence, in part, by heightening sensitivity to the reinforcing effects of alcohol. [source]

Acute pancreatitis in dogs

JOURNAL OF VETERINARY EMERGENCY AND CRITICAL CARE, Issue 4 2003
Jennifer L. Holm DVM
Abstract Objective: To summarize current information regarding severity assessment, diagnostic imaging, and treatment of human and canine acute pancreatitis (AP). Human-based studies: In humans, scoring systems, advanced imaging methods, and serum markers are used to assess the severity of disease, which allows for optimization of patient management. The extent of pancreatic necrosis and the presence of infected pancreatic necrosis are the most important factors determining the development of multiple organ failure (MOF) and subsequent mortality. Considerable research efforts have focused on the development of inexpensive, easy, and reliable laboratory markers to assess disease severity as early as possible in the course of the disease. The use of prophylactic antibiotics, enteral nutrition, and surgery have been shown to be beneficial in certain patient populations. Veterinary-based studies: The majority of what is currently known about naturally occurring canine AP has been derived from retrospective evaluations. The identification and development of inexpensive and reliable detection kits of key laboratory markers in dogs with AP could dramatically improve our ability to prognosticate and identify patient populations likely to benefit from treatment interventions. Treatment remains largely supportive and future studies evaluating the efficacy of surgery, nutritional support and other treatment modalities are warranted. Data sources: Current human and veterinary literature. Conclusions: Pancreatitis can lead to a life-threatening severe systemic inflammatory condition, resulting in MOF and death in both humans and dogs. Given the similarities in the pathophysiology of AP in both humans and dogs, novel concepts used to assess severity and treat people with AP may be applicable to dogs. [source]

Amalgam Electrodes for Electroanalysis

ELECTROANALYSIS, Issue 8 2003
Øyvind Mikkelsen
Abstract Liquid mercury is a unique material for the indicator electrode in voltammetry. One reason for this is the high overvoltage for hydrogen formation, thus extending the actual potential window. Diluted amalgams are important reaction products in voltammetric (polarographic) processes, however liquid amalgams are rarely used directly as electrode material for analytical purposes. Because of the fact that voltammetry is very suitable for field and remote monitoring, issues concerning the use of mercury electrodes in environmental analyses have led to considerable research effort aimed at finding alternative tools with acceptable performance. Solid electrodes are such alternatives. Different types of electrodes are reviewed. In particular, solid amalgam electrodes are very promising, with acceptable low toxicity to be used for field measurements. Solid amalgam electrodes are easy and cheap to construct and are stable over a reasonable time up to several weeks. Assessment of the toxicity risk and the long time stability for remote and unattended monitoring is discussed. The differences between solid dental amalgam electrodes, made by using techniques known from dental clinical practice, and mercury film or mercury layer electrodes on solid substrates are reviewed. In particular the dental technique for constructing solid amalgam electrodes gives advantage because it's fast and inexpensive. Also the technique for making dental amalgam has been explored and optimized over years by dentists, giving advantage when the same technique is used for constructing electrodes. Dental amalgam electrodes has been found to act similar to a silver electrodes, but with high overvoltage towards hydrogen. This make it possible to use the dental amalgam electrode for detection of zinc, cobalt and nickel in additions to other metals like lead, copper, thallium, cadmium, bismuth, iron etc. Also the use for reducible organic compounds is expected to be promising. [source]

Approaches to achieve high-level heterologous protein production in plants

PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL, Issue 1 2007
Stephen J. Streatfield
Summary Plants offer an alternative to microbial fermentation and animal cell cultures for the production of recombinant proteins. For protein pharmaceuticals, plant systems are inherently safer than native and even recombinant animal sources. In addition, post-translational modifications, such as glycosylation, which cannot be achieved with bacterial fermentation, can be accomplished using plants. The main advantage foreseen for plant systems is reduced production costs. Plants should have a particular advantage for proteins produced in bulk, such as industrial enzymes, for which product pricing is low. In addition, edible plant tissues are well suited to the expression of vaccine antigens and pharmaceuticals for oral delivery. Three approaches have been followed to express recombinant proteins in plants: expression from the plant nuclear genome; expression from the plastid genome; and expression from plant tissues carrying recombinant plant viral sequences. The most important factor in moving plant-produced heterologous proteins from developmental research to commercial products is to ensure competitive production costs, and the best way to achieve this is to boost expression. Thus, considerable research effort has been made to increase the amount of recombinant protein produced in plants. This research includes molecular technologies to increase replication, to boost transcription, to direct transcription in tissues suited for protein accumulation, to stabilize transcripts, to optimize translation, to target proteins to subcellular locations optimal for their accumulation, and to engineer proteins to stabilize them. Other methods include plant breeding to increase transgene copy number and to utilize germplasm suited to protein accumulation. Large-scale commercialization of plant-produced recombinant proteins will require a combination of these technologies. [source]

Innovation and corporate sustainability: An investigation into the process of change in the pharmaceuticals industry

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 5 2001
Martina Blum-Kusterer
Although there has been considerable research effort directed at refining the content of corporate environmental performance, e.g. corporate environmental reporting and accounting, there has been relatively little empirical investigation to date on the process of corporate eco-change. This research reports on the quantitative and qualitative results of a survey of German and UK pharmaceuticals firms, which evaluated the significance of the various incentives, both intra-firm and external to the organization, that have stimulated eco-change. We find that, although the industry is one that has been characterized by voluntary agreements and proactive behaviour in the past, regulation still remains the main driver for sustainability improvements. New technology is the second most important driver. Stakeholder dialogue and inter-firm cooperation were both revealed to be relatively weak forces for eco-change. The study also tested the validity of the conventional neo-classical economic world-view of innovation in firms versus a more radical co-evolutionary one. The former assumes that firms respond only to profit signals and do so efficiently, whereas the latter assumes that change is path dependent; i.e., the firms' norms and routines and past experiences are influential. We find that, although the neo-classical perspective stands up to our empirical investigation of eco-innovation to some degree, the co-evolutionary approach better captures the complexity of the corporate eco-change process. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [source]

Living polymerization of substituted acetylenes

JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 23 2005
Martin G. Mayershofer
Abstract For many years, considerable research efforts have been dedicated to ,-conjugated polymers because of their extraordinary electronic, optical, and structural properties. The employed transition-metal-based initiating systems comprise not only simple transition-metal salts but also rather sophisticated mixtures of two, three, or four compounds and even highly defined single-component systems such as transition-metal alkylidene complexes. Extensive fine-tuning of the electronic and steric properties of initiator,monomer systems eventually allowed the tailor-made synthesis of conjugated materials via living polymerization techniques. This article focuses on recent developments in the field of the living polymerization of substituted acetylene derivatives. Ill-defined group 5 and 6 transition metal halide-based initiators, well-defined transition-metal alkylidene complexes, and rhodium(I)-based systems that induce the living polymerization of numerous substituted acetylenes are reviewed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5723,5747, 2005 [source]