Properties And Regulation Of The Calcium Ion Pump In Heart And Skeletal Muscle Sarcoplasmic Reticulum

In heart and skeletal muscle, the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) plays a critical role in the contraction-relaxation cycle of the myocyte: a Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} channel releases Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} from SR into cytoplasm to trigger contraction, and a Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump resequesters Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} to cause relaxation. A major regulator of this cycle is {dollar}\rm Ca\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar}/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaM kinase), which is known to phosphorylate and thereby activate the cardiac SR Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump, Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} channel and endogenous Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar}-pump inhibitor phospholamban. This thesis examines the Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump and its regulation in different tissues (cardiac, slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle SR: CMSR, SMSR and FMSR) and different stages in development (fetal, newborn and adult rabbits) in order to identify the features common to these contractile systems and the variations that reflect functional differences.;This study demonstrates that the Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump in heart is intrinsically different from that in skeletal muscle by showing that fluoride inhibits the {dollar}\rm Ca\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar}-bound conformation of the pump in CMSR but not in FMSR. Further, the regulatory mechanism differs between tissues: the Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump is phosphorylated by an SR-associated CaM kinase in CMSR and SMSR, but not in FMSR. This phosphorylation has functional significance in SMSR as in CMSR: purified SMSR Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump, when phosphorylated by exogenous CaM kinase, doubles its catalytic activity without altering Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} sensitivity. Phosphorylation is quantitatively similar in CMSR and SMSR as regards rate and dependence on pH and temperature.;Studying fetal and newborn heart shows how Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump regulation develops, and is medically important because of its implications for therapy of congenital heart disease. This thesis demonstrates that the SR {dollar}\rm Ca\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump and the SR-associated CaM kinase (identified here as {dollar}\delta{dollar}-CaM kinase II) are present in fetal rabbit heart by 21 days gestation (term = 31), and that CaM kinase phosphorylates the pump at this time.;The ability of the SR-associated CaM kinase to phosphorylate the CA{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} pump, channel and phospholamban equip it to play a major role in regulating SR Ca{dollar}\sp{lcub}2+{rcub}{dollar} cycling and thus the contraction-relaxation function of heart and slow-twitch muscle. This regulatory system may therefore be an important target for medical treatment of heart disease from fetal through to adult life

Serving-Up the ACE: Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (“ACE”) in Dependency Adoption Through the Lens of Social Science

Almost certainly, every child who enters the foster care system has endured some sort of trauma. It is unrefuted that childhood trauma correlates with mental, physical, and behavioral problems well into adulthood. In 1998, one of the first major studies of the relationship between certain forms of childhood trauma and adult behavior and disease was reported. Collectively, these traumas are called “Adverse Childhood Experiences” (ACE). Today ACE refers to ten common forms of trauma that individuals may have experienced as children. To put this issue in perspective, it is currently estimated that 34.8 million children in the United States are affected by ACE, two out of three adults have one or more ACE, and one out of eight adults have four or more ACE. Since the original study, several studies have been published linking ACE to detrimental lifelong effects relating to mental health, chronic health, and behavior patterns. Despite this, the consideration of ACE in family law and child welfare-related cases is a relatively new concept in courts across the country. This Article summarizes the research on ACE and how this research has become integrated into the courtroom, using the Florida court system as an example. In addition, in a novel approach, this article will articulate how ACE research and findings can be utilized in foster care adoption

Book of Hours/Ours: Cicely Cottingham I Victor Davson

The Book of Hours/Ours project emerged as a result of curator Cynthia Hawkins’ invitation to have concurrent exhibitions at the Bertha V.B. Lederer Gallery at SUNY Geneseo. It came to us during the height of the Covid-19 crisis in New Jersey when we were confined to our small American Bungalow on the side of the first ridge of the Watchung Mountains called First Mountain (20 minutes up the hill from downtown Newark). The bungalow is designed with windows all around that look out on the surrounding landscape. Because of the abrupt end to the activity of our busy lives, we often found ourselves in dialogue with one another while contemplating the beauty of the nature surrounding us. From conversations, we landed on the idea of a joint project rather than separate exhibitions. The title is a play on the Christian devotional book popular in the Middle Ages called A Book of Hours. Cicely had already embarked on a series of watercolors that were within a larger project called “Tomorrow will come on its green footsteps” (a line from a poem by Pablo Neruda) and she suggested we use the same format for our project. Victor, who does not consider himself a landscape painter nevertheless chose landscape as his subject. The works that comprise the project reference the structure of a printed book that is made up of a “signature” of sixteen pages. Eight works are by Cicely and eight works are by Victor.https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/geneseo-authors/1011/thumbnail.jp