Cardiac Na+, K+, Mg+2 and Ca+2 Concentrations in Chronically Exercised Rats

Bradycardia as a result of chronic exercise was induced in a group of male Sprague-Dawley rats. These experimental animals ran two hours daily, 6 days a week for 6 weeks, at a speed of 12.9 meters per minute, in a motorized running cage. Previous studies have indicated that this regimen adequately resulted in exercise bradycardia without corresponding hypertrophy. Hearts from this experimental group of chronically exercised rats were assayed via atomic absorption spectrophotometry for total tissue content of Na+ , K+ , Mg +2, and Ca +2 . These results were compared with the concentrations obtained from hearts of a group of sedentary control rats. Differences were found in the concentrations of the ions between the two groups, but these differences were all non-significant according to the Student t-test. The following concentration ratios were calculated for both groups: Na+ : K+, Mg+2: Ca+2, and Ca+2 : Na+. No significant differences were found. There was considerable variation among individual results; an increased sample size might minimize the effects of this variation on the statistical tests, perhaps indicating significant differences in the ionic concentrations, particularly with regard to calcium concentration

Cardiac Na+, K+, Mg+2 and Ca+2 Concentrations in Chronically Exercised Rats

Bradycardia as a result of chronic exercise was induced in a group of male Sprague-Dawley rats. These experimental animals ran two hours daily, 6 days a week for 6 weeks, at a speed of 12.9 meters per minute, in a motorized running cage. Previous studies have indicated that this regimen adequately resulted in exercise bradycardia without corresponding hypertrophy. Hearts from this experimental group of chronically exercised rats were assayed via atomic absorption spectrophotometry for total tissue content of Na+, K+, Mg+2, Ca+2. These results were compared with the concentrations obtained from hearts of a group of sedentary control rats. Differences were found in the concentrations of the ions between the two groups, but these differences were all non-significant according to the Student t-test. The following concentration ratios were calculated for both groups: Na+: K+, Mg+2: Ca+2, and Ca+2 : Na+. No significant differences were found. There was considerable variation among individual results; an increased sample size might minimize the effects of this variation on the statistical tests, perhaps indicating significant differences in the ionic concentrations, particularly with regard to calcium concentration

Granitic Rocks of Ophiolites

The field relationships, primary and secondary petrography and chemical composition of granitic rocks (plagiogranites) and associated formations in five ophiolites are described. In addition, the occurrence of similar rocks in other ophiolites, some island arcs and in the ocean crust is reviewed. Plagiogranites in ophiolites can be distinguished from all other granitic rocks by their almost complete lack of potassium feldspar, low alumina content, high K/Rb ratio and their LREdepleted, flat or "dished" rare earth profiles and negative europium anomalies. The hypothesis that ophiolites represent oceanic lithosphere fragments is supported by the strong resemblance of some granitic rocks d~edged from the seafloor to those in ophiolites. Granitic rocks in ophiolites differentiate from subalkaline tholeiitic magmas at spreading axes in mid-ocean and in marginal ocean basins. These magmas evolved on a trend of ironenrichment unless FeTioxides appeared as fractionating phases, which seems to have followed saturation of the magma by seawater. The magma then became progressively enriched in silica and sodium, evolving by the removal of plagioclase, FeTioxides, apatite and zircon. However, potassium was partitioned into the magmatic volatile phase and so entered the open hydrothermal system at the spreading axis and was thereby not enriched in the plagiogranites. Plagiogranites in ophiolites are all deuterically altered to assemblages typical or upper greenschist or lower amphibolite racies metamorphism. Hydrothermal activity in the vicinity or each magma cell beneath the spreading axis ceased soon after the last of the silicate liquid froze and there was little repenetration of the ophiolite plutonic complex by hydrothermal fluids

Recreating Medieval and Renaissance European combat systems: a critical review of The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest, Mastering the Art of Arms vol 1: The Medieval Dagger, and The Duellist’s Companion

The three publications offered for evaluation, The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest, Mastering the Art of Arms vol 1: The Medieval Dagger, and The Duellist’s Companion, establish by example the relatively young discipline of the accurate recreation of historical martial skills. This discipline includes the following elements: • Textual analysis of historical sources (The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest). • Image analysis for the purpose of establishing details of the execution of the illustrated action (all three works). Mechanical or kinesthetic analysis of the actions described and depicted (The Medieval Dagger, The Duellist’s Companion). • Determination of the historical and combat context in which the system is intended to work. In these cases, a formal duel or tournament contest between knights (The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest, The Medieval Dagger), or illegal but socially acceptable unarmoured duelling (The Duellist’s Companion). • Observation of the overall tactical and mechanical preferences of the martial system represented (The Medieval Dagger, The Duellist’s Companion). • Organisation of the material into a syllabus for study and practice (The Medieval Dagger, The Duellist’s Companion). The submitted works demonstrate the discipline as applied to the extant works of three historical masters: Philippo Vadi (ca 1440–1500), Fiore dei Liberi (ca 1350– 1420), and Ridolfo Capoferro (ca 1557–1620). The unified body of work is the approach to the material as represented by these books. The submitted works: 1. The Art of Sword Fighting in Earnest (2018) is a translation and commentary on the late 15th-century Italian manuscript De Arte Gladiatoria Dimicandi. It makes the content of the manuscript available to anglophone non-paleographers, in a transparent way. The translation itself has also been released as a free download, with the original images in colour reproduction. 2. Mastering the Art of Arms vol 1: The Medieval Dagger (2012) is a practical syllabus for understanding and executing the dagger combat skills represented in Fiore dei Liberi’s 1410 manuscript Il Fior di Battaglia. It includes detailed reference to the source, but also provides a template for martial skill development, such as ways to gradually increase the intensity and complexity of the drill until it approaches an actual combat environment. 3. The Duellist’s Companion (2006) is a training guide for the style of rapier combat represented in Ridolfo Capoferro’s 1610 work Gran Simulacro dell’Arte e dell’uso della scherma. Rapier mechanics and actions are refined and complex, so this book covers mechanics in some detail, and provides comprehensive instructions for making Capoferro’s techniques and theory accessible to the modern reader. Taken as a whole, these publications represent a new form of manuscript study: the recreation from textual sources of our hitherto lost martial heritage, and the development of a pedagogical method by which these arts can be safely taught and practised

Is Step Down Assessment of Screen-Detected Lesions as Safe as Workup at a Metropolitan Assessment Centre?

Objective: BreastScreen WA offers population mammographic screening via fixed clinics in the metropolitan area and mobile clinics that visit country areas every two years. If an abnormality is suspected following mobile clinic screening, women undergo Step Down Assessment; diagnostic further views are performed at the mobile clinic and if a possibly significant abnormality persists, country women are referred to a Perth Metropolitan Breast Assessment Centre. The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to determine if Step Down Assessment in country Western Australia offered the same diagnostic effectiveness as screening and assessment in the metropolitan area. Methods: The study included all screening episodes at BreastScreen WA between 1999 and 2008. Screening episodes from metropolitan and mobile clinics were compared according to the primary outcomes of cancer detection rates, recall and further investigations, cancer size, return to screen rates and interval cancers. Results: Cancer detection rate per 1,000 screening episodes was lower for the country program than the metropolitan program (3.07 (2.84–3.31) versus 7.04 (6.82–7.27)). The false negative (interval cancer) rate was lower for Step Down Assessment than for the metropolitan program. The size of cancers detected was similar for both screening services. Return to screen rates were comparable between both groups. Conclusion: The results indicate that the current service model is providing appropriate diagnostic effectiveness, as well as comparable client satisfaction, for country and metropolitan women

HNF4alpha Dysfunction as a Molecular Rational for Cyclosporine Induced Hypertension

Induction of tolerance against grafted organs is achieved by the immunosuppressive agent cyclosporine, a prominent member of the calcineurin inhibitors. Unfortunately, its lifetime use is associated with hypertension and nephrotoxicity. Several mechanism for cyclosporine induced hypertension have been proposed, i.e. activation of the sympathetic nervous system, endothelin-mediated systemic vasoconstriction, impaired vasodilatation secondary to reduction in prostaglandin and nitric oxide, altered cytosolic calcium translocation, and activation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). In this regard the molecular basis for undue RAS activation and an increased signaling of the vasoactive oligopeptide angiotensin II (AngII) remain elusive. Notably, angiotensinogen (AGT) is the precursor of AngII and transcriptional regulation of AGT is controlled by the hepatic nuclear factor HNF4alpha. To better understand the molecular events associated with cyclosporine induced hypertension, we investigated the effect of cyclosporine on HNF4alpha expression and activity and searched for novel HNF4alpha target genes among members of the RAS cascade. Using bioinformatic algorithm and EMSA bandshift assays we identified angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AGTR1), angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE), and angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as genes targeted by HNF4alpha. Notably, cyclosporine represses HNF4alpha gene and protein expression and its DNA-binding activity at consensus sequences to AGT, AGTR1, ACE, and ACE2. Consequently, the gene expression of AGT, AGTR1, and ACE2 was significantly reduced as evidenced by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. While RAS is composed of a sophisticated interplay between multiple factors we propose a decrease of ACE2 to enforce AngII signaling via AGTR1 to ultimately result in vasoconstriction and hypertension. Taken collectively we demonstrate cyclosporine to repress HNF4alpha activity through calcineurin inhibitor mediated inhibition of nuclear factor of activation of T-cells (NFAT) which in turn represses HNF4alpha that leads to a disturbed balance of RAS