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Selected AbstractsQuantitative measurement of serotonin synthesis and sequestration in individual live neuronal cellsJOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 5 2005J. Balaji Abstract Synthesis and subsequent sequestration into vesicles are essential steps that precede neurotransmitter exocytosis, but neither the total neurotransmitter content nor the fraction sequestered into vesicles have been measured in individual live neurons. We use multiphoton microscopy to directly observe intracellular and intravesicular serotonin in the serotonergic neuronal cell line RN46A. We focus on how the relationship between synthesis and sequestration changes as synthesis is up-regulated by differentiation or down-regulated by chemical inhibition. Temperature-induced differentiation causes an increase of about 60% in the total serotonin content of individual cells, which goes up to about 10 fmol. However, the number of vesicles per cell increases by a factor of four and the proportion of serotonin sequestered inside the vesicles increases by a factor of five. When serotonin synthesis is inhibited in differentiated cells and the serotonin content goes down to the level present in undifferentiated cells, the sequestered proportion still remains at this high level. The total neurotransmitter content of a cell is, thus, an unreliable indicator of the sequestered amount. [source] A statistical comparison of pad numbers versus pad weights in the quantification of urinary incontinence,NEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, Issue 1 2007Drew A. Dylewski Abstract Aims Pad per day (PPD) usage is a frequently utilized measure of urinary incontinence. The 24-hour pad weight test (24PWT) is a reproducible test for quantifying incontinence volumes. We investigated whether PPD validly reports the magnitude of urinary incontinence. Methods This was a retrospective review of patients undergoing stress incontinence surgery from July 2002 to 2005. Inclusion criteria were a documented 24PWT and patient-reported PPD usage. Grams of urine loss per pad (GPP) provided a third measure of incontinence. Descriptive statistics and correlations between all variables and significance were noted. Factor analysis was performed on the three measures of leakage and age for all patients over age 50. Results One hundred forty-five male and 116 female patients met inclusion criteria. Correlated against 24PWT, GPP has the strongest association with a correlation of 0.80 for males and 0.88 for females. PPD has a weaker correlation of 0.64 for males and 0.61 for females (R2,=,0.38 overall). Factor analysis identified two components associated with incontinence. A "leakage" component correlated best with 24PWT and GPP. Additionally, an "age" component implies that despite stable 24PWT values, older patients increase GPP while PPD decreases. Conclusions Self-reported PPD is an unreliable measure of incontinence as this variable only measures 38% of the variation of urinary incontinence volume. Patients at a given PPD level present with a wide range of 24PWT values. Older patients have higher per-pad leakage. Future incontinence studies should report 24PWT to ensure the most reliable and uniform data. Neurourol. Urodynam. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Trypanosome Alternative Oxidase is Regulated Post-transcriptionally at the Level of RNA StabilityTHE JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2002MINU CHAUDHURI ABSTRACT In the bloodstream form of African trypanosomes, trypanosome alternative oxidase (TAO), the non-cytochrome ubiquinol:oxidoreductase, is the only terminal oxidase of the mitochondrial electron transport system. TAO is developmentally regulated during mitochondrial biogenesis in this parasite. During in vitro differentiation of Trypanosoma bmcei from the bloodstream to the procyclic form, the overall rate of oxygen consumption decreased about 80%. The mode of respiration changed over a 2- to 3-wk period from a cyanide-insensitive, SHAM-sensitive pathway to a predominantly cyanide-sensitive pathway. The TAO protein level gradually decreased to the level present in the procyclic forms during this 3-wk period. However, within the first week of differentiation, the TAO transcript level decreased about 90% and then in the following weeks it reached the level present in the established procyclic form, that is about 20% of that in bloodstream forms. Like other trypanosomatid genes TAO transcript synthesis remains unaltered in fully differentiated bloodstream and procyclic trypanosomes. The half-life of the TAO mRNA was about 3.2 h in the procyclic trypanosomes, whereas the TAO transcript level remained unaltered even after 4 h of incubation with actinomycin D in bloodstream forms. Inhibition of protein synthesis resulted in about a four-fold accumulation of the TAO transcript in the procyclic trypanosomes, comparable to the level present in the bloodstream forms. Thus, TAO is regulated at the level of mRNA stability and de novo protein synthesis is required for the reduction of the TAO mRNA pool in the procyclic form. [source] Depression levels in chronic orofacial pain patients: a pilot studyJOURNAL OF ORAL REHABILITATION, Issue 10 2004R. S. Tesch summary, The assessment of depressive behaviour in chronic pain patients is especially important, because depression is commonly associated with chronic pain. The aim of this pilot study was to compare depression levels between patients with head and neck cancer pain and temporomandibular disorders (TMD), and to determine whether there is an association between depression levels and chronic pain severity. This study was an observational and sectional study and the sample consisted of 40 patients, uniformly divided into those with chronic orofacial pain related to cancer and those with painful TMD classified with research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (RDC/TMD) axis I. Depression levels, pain intensity and severity were assessed with RDC/TMD axis II. The study demonstrated statistically significant differences in depression levels present in the head and neck cancer pain group and the painful TMD group, with the occurrence of a moderate statistically significant correlation between depression levels and chronic pain severity. [source] Physicochemical changes during strawberry development in the field compared with those that occur in harvested fruit during storageJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 2 2006M Cecilia N Nunes Abstract ,Chandler', ,Oso Grande' and ,Sweet Charlie' strawberry cultivars were harvested at four stages of color development ranging from color break to full red and stored in the dark for 8 days at 1 °C. Changes in the physical and chemical characteristics of fruit during storage were compared with those occurring during development in the field. Strawberry fruit harvested at the three-quarters colored and full red stages continued their development and ripening during storage. However, fruit harvested at the color break and half-colored stages did not develop like those ripened in the field. Strawberries harvested at the three-quarters colored stage developed the same pH, acidity, soluble solids, ascorbic acid and total phenolics content during storage as the at-harvest levels present in strawberries harvested at the full red stage. In addition, three-quarters colored strawberries were as firm and red after storage as the full red stage fruit were at the time of harvest. Thus, strawberries harvested at the three-quarters colored stage can be stored for a longer period than strawberries harvested full red while retaining better color and firmness. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Short term instabilities of InGaN GaN light emitting diodes by capacitance,voltage characteristics and junction spectroscopyPHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI (C) - CURRENT TOPICS IN SOLID STATE PHYSICS, Issue 7 2005A. Castaldini Abstract We present a combined capacitance-voltage, Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) and electroluminescence (EL) study of short-term instabilities of InGaN/GaN LEDs submitted to forward current aging tests at room temperature. In the early stages of the aging tests at low forward current levels (15 and 20 mA), LEDs present a decrease in optical emission, which stabilizes within the first 50 hours and never exceeds 20% (measured at an output current of 1 mA after stressing the LEDs for 50 hours with 15 mA stress). The spectral distribution of the EL intensity does not change with stress, while C-V profiles detect changes consisting in apparent doping and/or charge concentration increase within quantum wells. This increase is correlated with the decrease in optical power. DLTS has been carried out to clarify the DC aging induced generation/modification of the energy levels present in the devices. Remarkable changes occur after the stress, which can be related to the doping/charge variation and thus to the efficiency loss. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] | |||||||||||||