Cardiac surgery with crystalloid cardioplegia: Improved functional recovery due to molecular adaptations in adult rat hearts

Background: The effect of aging on functional recovery after a period of crystalloid cardioplegic arrest is still a matter of debate. We hypothesized that age-dependent differences in the polyamine metabolism may contribute to such differences. Methods: Hearts from juvenile and adult Wistar rats were placed in a perfused beating heart model and given Bretschneider's cardioplegia for an ischemia period of 60 min. During reperfusion, recovery of contractile function and coronary blood flow were measured for 90 min. In addition, adult hearts received putrescine to bypass polyamine metabolism during the 1st min of reperfusion. In comparison, the effect of putrescine was analyzed from hearts reperfused after 45-min flow arrest for 90 min. The rate-limiting enzyme of the polyamine metabolism, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the proapoptotic enzyme bax, and the relation between SR-calcium-ATPase (SERCA2a) and a natrium-calcium-exchanger enzyme were determined on mRNA-level through real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Adult hearts had lower basal performance and lower SERCA mRNA expression compared to juvenile hearts. However, after a 60-min aortic clamping period, recovery of left ventricular developed pressure (105.6 ± 39.7% of baseline) in the adult group was better than in the young group (61.3 ± 34.1% of baseline). ODC mRNA was significantly (P = 0.04228) lower in adult hearts (0.60 ± 0.09-fold vs. juvenile rats). Similar, bax mRNA was significantly (P = 0.01662) lower in adult hearts (0.22 ± 0.03-fold vs. juvenile rats). Addition of putrescine to adult hearts during reperfusion attenuated a better outcome of these hearts suggesting a detrimental effect of polyamine metabolism after cardioplegic arrest. In contrast, putrescine improved recovery in postischemic hearts without exposure to cardioplegic solution. Conclusion: Adult rat hearts tolerate cardioplegia-mitigated ischemia better than juvenile hearts because they express less ODC during resubstitution of normal calcium levels

Mechanisms Regulating Grain Contamination with Trichothecenes Trans located from the Stem Base of Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Infected with Fusarium culmorum

Factors limiting trichothecene contamination of mature wheat grains after Fusarium infection are of major interest in crop production. In addition to ear infection, systemic translocation of deoxynivalenol (DON) may contribute to mycotoxin levels in grains after stem base infection with toxigenic Fusarium spp. However, the exact and potential mechanisms regulating DON translocation into wheat grains from the plant base are still unknown. We analyzed two wheat cultivars differing in susceptibility to Fusarium head blight (FHB), which were infected at the stem base with Fusarium culmorum in climate chamber experiments. Fungal DNA was found only in the infected stem base tissue, whereas DON and its derivative, DON-3-glucoside (D3G), were detected in upper plant parts. Although infected stem bases contained more than 10,000 mu g kg(-1) dry weight (DW) of DON and mean levels of DON after translocation in the ear and husks reached 1,900 mu g kg(-1) DW, no DON or D3G was detectable in mature grains. D3G quantification revealed that DON detoxification took mainly place in the stem basis, where <= 50% of DON was metabolized into D3G. Enhanced expression of a gene putatively encoding a uridine diphosphate-glycosyltransferase (GenBank accession number FG985273) was observed in the stein base after infection with F. culmorum. Resistance to F. culmorum stem base infection, DON glycosylation in the stem base, and mycotoxin translocation were unrelated to cultivar resistance to FHB. Histological studies demonstrated that the vascular transport of DON labeled with fluorescein as a tracer from the peduncle to the grain was interrupted by a barrier zone at the interface between grain and rachilla, formerly described as "xylem discontinuity". This is the first study to demonstrate the effective control of influx of systemically translocated fungal mycotoxins into grains at the rachilla-seed interface by the xylem discontinuity tissue in wheat ears.Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR

Multivalent stimulation of beta(1)-, but not beta(2)-receptors by adrenaline functionalised gold nanoparticles

In this study, we present a strategy for the synthesis of catecholamine functionalised gold nanoparticles and investigated their multivalent interactions with adrenergic receptors in different biological systems. The catecholamines adrenaline and noradrenaline represent key examples of adrenergic agonists. We used gold nanoparticles as carriers and functionalised them on their surface with a variety of these neurotransmitter molecules. For this purpose, we synthesised each ligand separately using mercaptoundecanoic acid as a bifunctional linking unit and adrenaline (or noradrenaline) as a biogenic amine. This ligand was then immobilised onto the surface of presynthesised spherical monodispersive gold nanoparticles in a ligand exchange reaction. After detailed analytical characterisations, the functionalised gold nanoparticles were investigated for their interactions with adrenergic receptors in intestinal, cardiac and respiratory tissues. Whereas the contractility of respiratory smooth muscle cells (regulated by beta(2)-receptors) was not influenced, (nor)adrenaline functionalised nanoparticles administered in nanomolar concentrations induced epithelial K+ secretion (mediated via different beta-receptors) and increased contractility of isolated rat cardiomyocytes (mediated by beta(1)-receptors). The present results suggest differences in the accessibility of adrenergic agonists bound to gold nanoparticles to the binding pockets of different beta-receptor subtypes

Innovationspolitik fuer Deutschland Massnahmen in zukunftstraechtigen Feldern; Vorschlaege zur Diskussion mit Wissenschaft und Politik

Die vom Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie vorgelegten Vorschlaege betreffen acht Themenbereiche, fuer die jeweils Prioritaetensetzungen formuliert, gegenwaertig bestehende Staerken und Schwaechen evaluiert und zu ergreifende Massnahmen vorgeschlagen werden. Hierbei geht es im einzelnen um (1) technische Innovationen in Verkehr, Infrastruktur und Telematik, (2) eine bessere Nutzung der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnik, (3) die Foerderung der kombinatorischen Chemie, (4) den Einsatz innovativer Werkstoffe, (5) die Foerderung der Biotechnologie, (6) innovatives Management, (7) eine ebenso konkurrenzfaehige wie umweltbewusste Energieversorgung und Rohstoffnutzung sowie (8) die Nutzung der Weltraumfahrt. (ICE)Available from UuStB Koeln(38)-20000106226 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 1 - Executive Summary

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2s^-1. This report is the Executive Summary (Volume I) of the four volume Reference Design Report. It gives an overview of the physics at the ILC, the accelerator design and value estimate, the detector concepts, and the next steps towards project realization.The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2s^-1. This report is the Executive Summary (Volume I) of the four volume Reference Design Report. It gives an overview of the physics at the ILC, the accelerator design and value estimate, the detector concepts, and the next steps towards project realization

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 4 - Detectors

This report, Volume IV of the International Linear Collider Reference Design Report, describes the detectors which will record and measure the charged and neutral particles produced in the ILC's high energy e+e- collisions. The physics of the ILC, and the environment of the machine-detector interface, pose new challenges for detector design. Several conceptual designs for the detector promise the needed performance, and ongoing detector R&D is addressing the outstanding technological issues. Two such detectors, operating in push-pull mode, perfectly instrument the ILC interaction region, and access the full potential of ILC physics.This report, Volume IV of the International Linear Collider Reference Design Report, describes the detectors which will record and measure the charged and neutral particles produced in the ILC's high energy e+e- collisions. The physics of the ILC, and the environment of the machine-detector interface, pose new challenges for detector design. Several conceptual designs for the detector promise the needed performance, and ongoing detector R&D is addressing the outstanding technological issues. Two such detectors, operating in push-pull mode, perfectly instrument the ILC interaction region, and access the full potential of ILC physics

ILC Reference Design Report Volume 3 - Accelerator

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2 s^-1. The complex includes a polarized electron source, an undulator-based positron source, two 6.7 km circumference damping rings, two-stage bunch compressors, two 11 km long main linacs and a 4.5 km long beam delivery system. This report is Volume III (Accelerator) of the four volume Reference Design Report, which describes the design and cost of the ILC.The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radio-frequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The ILC has a total footprint of about 31 km and is designed for a peak luminosity of 2x10^34 cm^-2 s^-1. The complex includes a polarized electron source, an undulator-based positron source, two 6.7 km circumference damping rings, two-stage bunch compressors, two 11 km long main linacs and a 4.5 km long beam delivery system. This report is Volume III (Accelerator) of the four volume Reference Design Report, which describes the design and cost of the ILC