Testicular endocrine activity is upregulated by D-Aspartic acid in the green frog Rana esculenta

This study investigated the involvement of D-aspartic acid (D-Asp) in testicular steroidogenesis of the green frog Rana esculenta and its effect on stimulation of thumb pad morphology and glandular activity, a typical testosterone-dependent secondary sexual characteristic in this amphibian species. In the testis, D-Asp concentrations vary significantly during the reproductive cycle: they are low in pre- and post-reproductive periods, but reach peak levels in the reproductive period (140-236 nmol/g wet tissue). Moreover, the concentrations of D-Asp in the testis through the sexual cycle positively match the testosterone levels in the gonad and the plasma. The racemase activity evaluated during the cycle expresses its peak when D-Asp and testosterone levels are highest, that is, during the reproductive period, confirming the synthesis of D-Asp from L-Asp by an aspartate racemase. Short-term in vivo experiments consisting of a single injection of D-Asp (2.0 micro mol/g body weight) demonstrated that this amino acid accumulates significantly in the testis, and after 3 h its uptake is coupled with a testosterone increase in both testis and plasma. Moreover, within 18 h of amino acid administration, the D-Asp concentration in the testis decreased along with the testosterone titer to prestimulation levels. Other amino acids (L-Asp, D-Glu and L-Glu) used instead of D-Asp were ineffective, confirming that the significant increase in testicular testosterone was a specific feature of this amino acid. In long-term experiments, D-Asp had been administered chronically to frogs caught during the three phases of the reproductive cycle, inducing testosterone increase and 17beta-estradiol decrease in the gonad during the pre- and post-reproductive period, and vice versa during the reproductive period

SWEET - User manual (version 2.0)

SWEET (Shallow Water Equations Evolving in Time) is a code for the solution of the 2D de Saint Venant equations, written in their conservative form. The code adopts a Finite Differences scheme to advance in time, with a fractional step procedure. The space discretization is realized through Finite Elements, with a linear representation of the water elevation and a quadratic representation of the unit- width discharge. In this document, the physical model and the numerical schemes used for solving the resulting equations are extensively described. The accuracy of the scheme is verified in different test cases. The sequential algorithm has been ported in the parallel computing framework by using the domain decomposition approach. The Schwarz algorithm has been added to the scheme for preconditioning the iterative solution of the elliptic equation modeling the dynamics of the elevation of the water level. The performance of the parallel code are evaluated on a large size computational test case. The structure of the code is explained by a description of the role of each sub- routine and by a flowchart of the program. The input and output files are described in detail, as they constitute the user interface of the code. Both input and output files have a simple structure, and any effort has been made to simplify the procedure of the input setup for the parallel code, and to manage the output results. The PVM message passing library has been used to perform the communications in the parallel version of SWEET. A short introduction to PVM is added at the end of the present report. The SWEET package is the results of a joint work between CRS4 and Enel - Polo Idraulico e Strutturale. The authors of this document kindly acknowledge the valuable contributions of Vincenzo Pennati, from Enel - Polo Idraulico e Strutturale, and of Luca Formaggia, Alfio Quarteroni and Alan Scheinine, from CRS4. This manual is an extension and revision of the SWEET User Manual Version 1.0, 1996. The author of the former document, as well as of the largest part of the SWEET code, is Davide Ambrosi, currently at Politecnico di Torino. To him, not only our sincere thank is due, but mainly the recognizance that SWEET is and will remain a work of his

“Influence of the Therapy with Dorzolamide on the Corneal Structures: Analysis by Confocal Microscopy (CS3)”

Purpose: To value, in vivo, with the confocal microscopy(CS3) the corneal microscopic changes in a group of patients in therapy with Dorzolamide 2% eyedrops. Methods:Thirty patients (sixty eyes) with monocular hypertension (IOP21 mmHg) and no previous ipotonic therapy were recruited. The hypertensive eye (HE)was treated with Dorzolamine 2% eyedrops three times daily, the normal tension eye (NE) was used as the control eye. At the time of recruitment, one and three months after the beginning of treatment were performed: applanation tonometry, ultrasound pachimetry (USP), and a CS examination. Results: Mean age was 41,13±10,515 year, at the recruitment time: mean IOP was 16,50±2.34 mmHg in the NE and 22,06±0.68 mmHg in the HE, USP was 542,50±31,18 µ in the NE and 536,63±38,08 in the HE, endothelial cell density was (cell/mm2) 2473,37±339,58 in the NE and 2386,94±284,16 in the HE, stromal reflectivity was 0.36±0.06 in the NE and 0.36±0.05 in the HE. At each control time the IOP was statistically reduced in the treated eyes of a mean of 7,25 mmHg (p<0.01), all the corneal data didn’t show a statistically significant change during the follow–up period, only the stromal reflectivity seemed to be increased in the last control of 0,1 (p<0.005). Conclusions: The CS3 examination allowed us to value the microscopic corneal structure and to show that no clinically significant changes were produced by dorzolamide local therapy

NUTRITIONAL VALUES OF PSEUDOCEREALS FLOUR MIXTURES USED IN GLUTEN-FREE SWEET BAKERY PRODUCTS

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder caused by a reaction of the body’s immune system to prolamins found in wheat (gliadin), rye (secalin), barley (hordein) and their crossbreeds. At present, the only effective treatment for coeliac people is a lifelong gluten-free diet, but it is difficult to follow such a diet, due to the many gluten containing products excluded. Starting from these considerations, this study aimed to investigate some nutritional parameters, in order to support the use of pseudocereal gluten-free flour mixtures (amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa, respectively) along with rice flour, for obtaining gluten-free sweet bakery products, with a high nutritional value and acceptability. Thus, each sort of flour was used in various amounts of 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively, along with rice flour, in order to obtain the best gluten-free sweet products (muffins), regarding its nutritional value and acceptability score. Gluten-free sweet products were prepared by the same recipe, in three trials each, in which rice flour and amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa flour, respectively, varied: T1-RF:AF(90:10), T2-RF:AF(80:20), T3-RF:AF(70:30), T4-RF:BWF(90:10), T5-RF:BWF(80:20), T6-RF:BWF(70:30), T7-RF:QF(90:10), T8-RF:QF(80:20), T9-RF:QF(70:30). A blank sample of the sweet gluten-free bakery product was prepared by using rice flour only, as basis

Ist Personenwahrnehmung im Attributionsgeschehen abhängig vom Ort der Erhebung?

Als zentraler Befund der ersten Untersuchung der einflussreichen Arbeit von Heider und Simmel [Am. J. Psychol., 57, 243-59 (1944)] zeigte sich, dass bewegte geometrische Objekte ganz überwiegend als Lebewesen wahrgenommen werden und diese wiederum meist als Personen. Da die Originaluntersuchung, die am Smith College für Psychologie durchgeführt wurde, nur Frauen miteinbezog und die Ergebnisse keine genauen Angaben zur Häufigkeit personaler Kausalität beinhalten, werden zwei Replikationen durchgeführt, um die Befunde auf eine breiter generalisierbare Basis zu stellen. In Studie eins wird die Untersuchung unter Verwendung des Originalversuchsmaterials an einer technischen Hochschule an Nichtpsychologen durchgeführt. Es zeigt sich auch bei konservativer Analyse, dass geschlechtsunabhängig weniger als 35 % der Teilnehmenden die Objekte als Lebewesen beschreiben. Von denjenigen, die die Objekte als beseelt wahrnehmen, werden diese in 80 % der Fälle als Menschen bezeichnet. Um eine mögliche Erklärung dieser deutlichen Abweichungen von den Originalbefunden zu finden, wird Studie zwei in Entsprechung zur Originalarbeit an einem Institut für Psychologie ausschließlich an Psychologiestudierenden durchgeführt. Jedoch zeigen sich auch hier identische Befunde. Somit konnten in zwei Replikationen zentrale Befunde der klassischen Arbeit nicht repliziert werden. Die Verwendung einer selektiven Stichprobe in unterschiedlichen Umgebungen erklärt nicht die klassischen Resultate

Rupture of a left sinus of Valsalva aneurysm into the pulmonary artery

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