Changes in free amino acid concentrations in the blood, brain and muscle of heat-exposed chicks

1. An experiment was conducted to analyse the changes in free amino acid concentrations in the blood, brain and muscle of chicks in response to 15 or 30 min exposure to high ambient temperature (HT). 2. Food intake and body weight were not affected, while rectal temperature was significantly increased by short-term HT exposure. 3. Several free amino acid concentrations increased in the blood, brain and muscle even with short-term HT, whereas levels of a few amino acids declined significantly. As well as the nonessential amino acids, essential amino acids also significantly increased with exposure to HT. 4. 3-Methylhistidine, a marker of proteolysis, significantly declined in the muscle of HT chicks, implying a reduction of protein breakdown under HT. 5. These results indicate that alteration of protein metabolism may occur in chicks even with short-term heat exposure

Sigma-1 receptor agonist fluvoxamine for postoperative delirium in older adults: report of three cases

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Postoperative delirium is a topic of great importance in the geriatric surgical specialty. Although antipsychotic drugs are the medications most frequently used to treat this syndrome, these drugs are associated with a variety of adverse events, including sedation, extrapyramidal side effects, and cardiac arrhythmias. Drug treatment for postoperative delirium requires careful consideration of the balance between the effective management of symptoms and potential adverse effects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We report on a Japanese woman (an 86-year-old (open reduction and internal fixation of the right femoral neck fracture), and two Japanese men (an 86-year-old (abdominal aortic aneurysm stent grafting), and a 77-year-old (right upper lobectomy due to lung tumour)) in which the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and sigma-1 receptor agonist fluvoxamine was effective in ameliorating the postoperative delirium of these patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Delirium Rating Scale scores in these patients dramatically decreased after treatment with fluvoxamine.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Doctors should consider fluvoxamine as an alternative approach to treating postoperative delirium in older patients in order to avoid the risk of side effects and increased mortality by antipsychotic drugs.</p

Use of Chitosan-Siloxane Porous Hybrid Scaffold as Novel Burr Hole Covers

Chitosan-siloxane porous hybrids have high potential as tissue scaffolds. This manuscript focuses on the regeneration of skull bone after a burr hole. This was done using hybrids incorporated with calcium or coated with hydroxyapatite after soaking in a phosohate solution. The specimens fitted the burr hole and the cells migrated into the pores form surrounding bone tissue. After implanation no inflammation was observed and the specimens degraded 12 months later. A coating of hydroxyapatite accelerated bone formation compared

Anisotropic spin-density distribution and magnetic anisotropy of strained La1−x_{1-x}Srx_xMnO3_3 thin films: Angle-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Magnetic anisotropies of ferromagnetic thin films are induced by epitaxial strain from the substrate via strain-induced anisotropy in the orbital magnetic moment and that in the spatial distribution of spin-polarized electrons. However, the preferential orbital occupation in ferromagnetic metallic La$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$MnO$_3$ (LSMO) thin films studied by x-ray linear dichroism (XLD) has always been found out-of-plane for both tensile and compressive epitaxial strain and hence irrespective of the magnetic anisotropy. In order to resolve this mystery, we directly probed the preferential orbital occupation of spin-polarized electrons in LSMO thin films under strain by angle-dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). Anisotropy of the spin-density distribution was found to be in-plane for the tensile strain and out-of-plane for the compressive strain, consistent with the observed magnetic anisotropy. The ubiquitous out-of-plane preferential orbital occupation seen by XLD is attributed to the occupation of both spin-up and spin-down out-of-plane orbitals in the surface magnetic dead layer.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

Claudin-1, -3 and -4 proteins and mRNA expression in benign and malignant breast lesions: a research study

INTRODUCTION: We compared levels of protein and mRNA expression of three members of the claudin (CLDN) family in malignant breast tumours and benign lesions. METHODS: Altogether, 56 sections from 52 surgically resected breast specimens were analyzed for CLDN1, CLDN3 and CLDN4 expression by immunohistochemistry. mRNA was also analyzed using real-time PCR in 17 of the 52 cases. RESULTS: CLDNs were rarely observed exclusively at tight junction structures. CLDN1 was present in the membrane of normal duct cells and in some of the cell membranes from ductal carcinoma in situ, and was frequently observed in eight out of nine areas of apocrine metaplasia, whereas invasive tumours were negative for CLDN1 or it was present in a scattered distribution among such tumour cells (in 36/39 malignant tumours). CLDN3 was present in 49 of the 56 sections and CLDN4 was present in all 56 tissue sections. However, CLDN4 was highly positive in normal epithelial cells and was decreased or absent in 17 out of 21 ductal carcinoma grade 1, in special types of breast carcinoma (mucinous, papillary, tubular) and in areas of apocrine metaplasia. CLDN1 mRNA was downregulated by 12-fold in the sample (tumour) group as compared with the control group using GAPDH as the reference gene. CLDN3 and CLDN4 mRNA exhibited no difference in expression between invasive tumours and surrounding tissue. CONCLUSIONS: The significant loss of CLDN1 protein in breast cancer cells suggests that CLDN1 may play a role in invasion and metastasis. The loss of CLDN4 expression in areas of apocrine metaplasia and in the majority of grade 1 invasive carcinomas also suggests a particular role for this protein in mammary glandular cell differentiation and carcinogenesis

Immunohistochemical analysis of Bcl-2 protein in early squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus treated with photodynamic therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) in early squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus has been shown to result in complete response (CR) and cure. However, local recurrence after PDT develops frequently even after complete remission. Because the effect of PDT had been reported to depend on apoptosis, and apoptosis is inhibited by bcl-2 protein, the relationship between the expression of bcl-2 protein and local recurrence after PDT was examined immunohistochemically. From 1983 to 1997, 50 patients with 59 early squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus received PDT, and a CR was obtained in 43 lesions (72.8%). As there was no recurrence among tumours that were disease-free for more than 2 years, in this study the tumours were defined as cured when recurrence did not occur 2 years subsequent to the receiving of PDT. Of these CR lesions, 31 carcinomas (53.4%) resulted in a cure. Bcl-2 immunoreactivity was detected in 23 tumours (46.9%) and p53 immunoreactivity was detected in 22 tumours (44.9%). When all tumours were divided into either a large tumour with a longitudinal tumour length of 10 mm or more, or a small tumour with a length of less than 10 mm, the large tumour expressed more bcl-2 protein than the small tumour (P = 0.0155). The degree of bcl-2 expression was significantly related with tumour size (P = 0.0155). The expression of bcl-2 and p53 protein was not associated with the cure rate due to PDT. Tumour length and T status in TNM staging were significantly related to the cure by univariate analysis. T status was the only predictor of the cure according to mutivariate analysis. Of 42 CR lesions, the expression of neither bcl-2 nor p53 protein was associated with local recurrence; only T status was significantly associated (P = 0.008). The relationship between the expression of oncoprotein and local recurrence after PDT was not documented in this study. The success of PDT may depend on the exact assessment of tumour size under optimized PDT illumination. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

ZO-1 Guides Tight Junction Assembly and Epithelial Morphogenesis via Cytoskeletal Tension-Dependent and -Independent Functions

Formation and maintenance of tissue barriers require the coordination of cell mechanics and cell–cell junction assembly. Here, we combined methods to modulate ECM stiffness and to measure mechanical forces on adhesion complexes to investigate how tight junctions regulate cell mechanics and epithelial morphogenesis. We found that depletion of the tight junction adaptor ZO-1 disrupted junction assembly and morphogenesis in an ECM stiffness-dependent manner and led to a stiffness-dependant reorganisation of active myosin. Both junction formation and morphogenesis were rescued by inhibition of actomyosin contractility. ZO-1 depletion also impacted mechanical tension at cell-matrix and E-cadherin-based cell–cell adhesions. The effect on E-cadherin also depended on ECM stiffness and correlated with effects of ECM stiffness on actin cytoskeleton organisation. However, ZO-1 knockout also revealed tension-independent functions of ZO-1. ZO-1-deficient cells could assemble functional barriers at low tension, but their tight junctions remained corrupted with strongly reduced and discontinuous recruitment of junctional components. Our results thus reveal that reciprocal regulation between ZO-1 and cell mechanics controls tight junction assembly and epithelial morphogenesis, and that, in a second, tension-independent step, ZO-1 is required to assemble morphologically and structurally fully assembled and functionally normal tight junctions