Expression of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway and muscle loss in experimental cancer cachexia

Muscle protein degradation is thought to play a major role in muscle atrophy in cancer cachexia. To investigate the importance of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, which has been suggested to be the main degradative pathway mediating progressive protein loss in cachexia, the expression of mRNA for proteasome subunits C2 and C5 as well as the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme, E214k, has been determined in gastrocnemius and pectoral muscles of mice bearing the MAC16 adenocarcinoma, using competitive quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Protein levels of proteasome subunits and E214k were determined by immunoblotting, to ensure changes in mRNA were reflected in changes in protein expression. Muscle weights correlated linearly with weight loss during the course of the study. There was a good correlation between expression of C2 and E214k mRNA and protein levels in gastrocnemius muscle with increases of 6–8-fold for C2 and two-fold for E214k between 12 and 20% weight loss, followed by a decrease in expression at weight losses of 25–27%, although loss of muscle protein continued. In contrast, expression of C5 mRNA only increased two-fold and was elevated similarly at all weight losses between 7.5 and 27%. Both proteasome functional activity, and proteasome-specific tyrosine release as a measure of total protein degradation was also maximal at 18–20% weight loss and decreased at higher weight loss. Proteasome expression in pectoral muscle followed a different pattern with increases in C2 and C5 and E214k mRNA only being seen at weight losses above 17%, although muscle loss increased progressively with increasing weight loss. These results suggest that activation of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway plays a major role in protein loss in gastrocnemius muscle, up to 20% weight loss, but that other factors such as depression in protein synthesis may play a more important role at higher weight loss

Catálogo Normas Legales Diario Oficial El Peruano, Dic. 1980 - Dic. 1985

Aprueban en vía de regularización, contratos de lotes de terrenos celebrado entre sociedad de beneficencia publica de Lima, en representación de dos cofradías y el patronato del Parque de las Leyendas. Documento que forma parte del “Catálogo de normas legales. Una mirada del Sector Cultura desde el Boletín del Diario El Peruano, Dic. 1980 – Dic. 1985

Early childhood educators’ competences for supporting children’s academic language skills in Germany

This study investigates early childhood educators’ language training competence that is required to support children's linguistic development. Hundred and forty-four early-years-professionals in Germany completed a computer-based assessment. We first tested knowledge of linguistic topics (e.g. morpho-syntax, developmental stages). Second, we probed their ability to make relevant linguistic observations in videotaped child–educator interactions. Third, we asked them to select adequate language interventions for the observed child. The participants’ knowledge and observing ability scores were slightly above 50% but they scored low in selecting effective interventions. More detailed analyses indicate that those with a higher level of secondary education outperformed low-educated early-years-professionals. Only those with intensive specialist training were better equipped to choose appropriate intervention methods. We discuss the results in light of the current German and (inter-) national practice of early childhood educators’ professional training and suggest a greater emphasis on linguistics and language awareness in their education

A Novel Pneumatic Force Sensor for Robot-Assisted Surgery

This paper presents a pneumatic-based force sensor, used to measure the force generated at the tip of a surgical instrument during robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS). Despite the achievements of the robotic surgery, the lack of haptic feedback to the surgeon is still a great limitation, since through palpation the physician can distinguish consistency of tissues and determine the occurrence of an abnormal mass. Although a great effort has been made by researchers to develop novel haptic interfaces able to provide force feedback to the operator, far fewer works exist regarding the design of sensing systems for robotic surgery. In this respect, we propose a new force measurement method based on the relation between the air pressure variation inside a pneumatic balloon and the interaction force due to the contact between the balloon and an object. A performance comparison with a very-fine resolution commercial force sensor proves the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach