Review article

hammed Yasïzovich Sushanlo, DUNGANE (The Dungans). With a foreword by G. G. Stratanovich.

The Kirghiz Academy of Sciences, Section of Orientology. Frunze 1971.     

Review article

Deciphering the Maya Script. David Humiston Kelley. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas. 1976. xvii + 334 pp. £19.25.     

Review article

Pierre L. van den Berghe, THE ETHNIC PHENOMENON, Elsevier, New York and Oxford, 1981, 301 pp. $25.00.     

Review article: FDG-PET in inflammatory diseases

Positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) has for the past several years demonstrated its high value in oncology. The physiopathology of FDG explains its increasingly frequent use for inflammatory diseases such as vasculitis (giant cell arteritis or Takayasu's arteritis) as well as for granulomatous diseases (sarcoidosis, tuberculosis). The value of FDG-PET lies in its usefulness for the diagnosis of systemic diseases which includes a whole body analysis as well as a therapeutic evaluation. This review article will attempt to identify and illustrate the main features of this functional imaging.     

Calcium salts bone regeneration scaffolds: a review article

A growing array of synthetic bone regeneration scaffolds has been in use over the last century. These scaffolds aim to provide a three dimensional substrate for bone cells to populate on and to function appropriately. The majority of commercially-available scaffolds are based on calcium sulphate salts, calcium phosphate salts, or composites of the two. The mechanical and biological properties of these scaffolds are a result of the properties of the constituent materials and their ratio in the composite. This review addresses the mechanical and biological characteristics and provides an up-to-date summary of the clinical data available about the use of these calcium-based scaffolds. It will also assess the benefit of using stem cell technology along with this type of scaffolds. This article links between the basic science evidence and the clinical outcomes and details the commercially-available options.     

Inhibitors of polyamine metabolism: Review article

Summary. The identification of increased polyamine concentrations in a variety of diseases from cancer and psoriasis to parasitic infections has led to the hypothesis that manipulation of polyamine metabolism is a realistic target for therapeutic or preventative intervention in the treatment of certain diseases.The early development of polyamine biosynthetic single enzyme inhibitors such as -difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) and methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) showed some interesting early promise as anticancer drugs, but ultimately failed in vivo. Despite this, DFMO is currently in use as an effective anti-parasitic agent and has recently also been shown to have further potential as a chemopreventative agent in colorectal cancer.The initial promise in vitro led to the development and testing of other potential inhibitors of the pathway namely the polyamine analogues. The analogues have met with greater success than the single enzyme inhibitors possibly due to their multiple targets. These include down regulation of polyamine biosynthesis through inhibition of ornithine decarboxylase and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase and decreased polyamine uptake. This coupled with increased activity of the catabolic enzymes, polyamine oxidase and spermidine/spermine N¹-acetyltransferase, and increased polyamine export has made the analogues more effective in depleting polyamine pools. Recently, the identification of a new oxidase (PAO-h1/SMO) in polyamine catabolism and evidence of induction of both PAO and PAO-h1/SMO in response to polyamine analogue treatment, suggests the analogues may become an important part of future chemotherapeutic and/or chemopreventative regimens.     

Review article number 6 : Plant molluscicides

A review on the application of plant molluscicides in the control of schistosomiasis is presented. Laboratory bioassays are discussed, together with criteria for activity. An attempt has been made to provide a comprehensive list of known molluscicidal natural products.     

Perspectives in S-100 protein biology: Review article

The S-100 protein family constitutes a subgroup of Ca²⁺-binding proteins of the EF-hand type comprising three dimeric isoforms, S-100a₀, S-100a and S-100b, plus a number of structurally related proteins displaying 28–55% homology with S-100 subunits. S-100 protein was discovered in 1965; yet, its biological functions have not been fully elucidated. The present report will review the putative biological roles of S-100 protein. Both intracellular and extracellular roles have been proposed for S-100 protein. Within cells, S-100 protein has been reported to regulate protein phosphorylation, ATPase, adenylate cyclase, and aldolase activities and Ca²⁺-induced Ca²⁺ release. Also, cytoskeletal systems, namely microtubules and microfilaments have been reported to be regulated by the protein in the presence of Ca²⁺. Some molecular targets of S-100 protein within cells, have been identified. This is the case with microtubule proteins, caldesmon, and a brain aldolase. S-100 protein has been reported to be secreted; extracellular S-100 protein can stimulate neuronal differentiation, glial proliferation, and prolactin secretion. However, the mechanisms by which S-100 is secreted and stimulates the above processes are largely unknown. Future research should characterize these latter aspects of S-100 biology and find out the linkage between its intracellular effects and its extracellular activities.     

Calcium signaling in liver

In hepatocytes, hormones linked to the formation of the second messenger inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) evoke transient increases or spikes in cytosolic free calcium ([Ca2+]i), that increase in frequency with the agonist concentration. These oscillatory Ca2+ signals are thought to transmit the information encoded in the extracellular stimulus to down-stream Ca2+-sensitive metabolic processes. We have utilized both confocal and wide field fluorescence microscopy techniques to study the InsP3-dependent signaling pathway at the cellular and subcellular levels in the intact perfused liver. Typically InsP3-dependent [Ca2+]i spikes manifest as Ca2+ waves that propagate throughout the entire cytoplasm and nucleus, and in the intact liver these [Ca2+]i increases are conveyed through gap junctions to encompass entire lobular units. The translobular movement of Ca2+ provides a means to coordinate the function of metabolic zones of the lobule and thus, liver function. In this article, we describe the characteristics of agonist-evoked [Ca2+]i signals in the liver and discuss possible mechanisms to explain the propagation of intercellular Ca2+ waves in the intact organ.     

Review article: Colour and the American system of justice

A. Leon Higginbotham, In the Matter of Color: Race and the American Legal Process ‐the Colonial Period; New York, Oxford University Press, 1978. 536 pp. £8.50.     

Review article: Polonia studies and the collapse of Communism

This paper asks to what extent Suriname's consociational democracy still rests on its historically shaped meta-ideology of ethnic essentialism. Based on ethnographic data of the country's national elections in 2010, I suggest that the ‘ethnic taboo’ of ethnic mobilization by politicians was present to a certain extent. However, this taboo was challenged by the nationalist turn of Desi Bouterse's National Democratic Party. Furthermore, when considering voting behaviour and that of ethnically mixed Doglas in particular, we see that Surinamese politics is more complex. I will argue that while we have been thinking about Surinamese politics as being on a par with ethnic groupings, these 2010 elections were not simply about ethnicity. Ethnicity may have informed but did not fully explain people's political choices, because people are too complex to be captured in an exclusively ethnic category, and because the Surinamese political system is too complex to maintain clear ethnic categories.     

Review article: Zimbabwe: The politics of ethnicity

Joshua Nkomo, Nkomo: The Story of my Life. London, Methuen, 1984, 270 pp., £9.95.     

Calcium sequestration activity in rat liver microsomes. Evidence for a cooperation of calcium transport with glucose-6-phosphatase

Mechanisms regulating the energy-dependent calcium sequestering activity of liver microsomes were studied. The possibility for a physiologic mechanism capable of entrapping the transported Ca2+ was investigated. It was found that the addition of glucose 6-phosphate to the incubation system for MgATP-dependent microsomal calcium transport results in a marked stimulation of Ca2+ uptake. The uptake at 30 min is about 50% of that obtained with oxalate when the incubation is carried out at pH 6.8, which is the pH optimum for oxalate-stimulated calcium uptake. However, at physiological pH values (7.2-7.4), the glucose 6-phosphate-stimulated calcium uptake is maximal and equals that obtained with oxalate at pH 6.8. The Vmax of the glucose 6-phosphate-stimulated transport is 22.3 nmol of calcium/mg protein per min. The apparent Km for calcium calculated from total calcium concentrations is 31.9 microM. After the incubation of the system for MgATP-dependent microsomal calcium transport in the presence of glucose 6-phosphate, inorganic phosphorus and calcium are found in equal concentrations, on a molar base, in the recovered microsomal fraction. In the system for the glucose 6-phosphate-stimulated calcium uptake, glucose 6-phosphate is actively hydrolyzed by the glucose-6-phosphatase activity of liver microsomes. The latter activity is not influenced by concomitant calcium uptake. Calcium uptake is maximal when the concentration of glucose 6-phosphate in the system is 1-3 mM, which is much lower than that necessary to saturate glucose-6-phosphatase. These results are interpreted in the light of a possible cooperative activity between the energy-dependent calcium pump of liver microsomes and the glucose-6-phosphatase multicomponent system. The physiological implications of such a cooperation are discussed.     

Review article: The alkali treatment of straws

The Beckmann method of alkali treatment consists of soaking straw in dilute alkali solutions for 24 hours and then washing it with clean water. Straw digestibility is increased from about 40 to about 70%. While this process has been known for 50 years, it has not been much used because treatment costs are too high. Also, it cannot be industrialised. The spray process, in which the straw is wetted with an alkali solution (Wilson and Pigden, 1964) is an improvement from both points of view, but poses nutritional problems since straw is not washed after treatment. So great is the potential, however, that within the last seven years nearly 100 research reports have been published on the production and use of spray-treated straw. These reports are reviewed in this article.Straws are poorly digested by ruminants because of their high cell-wall content. Alkali treatment disrupts the cell-wall by dissolving hemicellulose, lignin and silica, by hydrolysing uronic and acetic acid esters and by swelling cellulose. Digestibility in vitro increases from about 40 to about 80% with $\text{10}\text{g NaOH}\text{100}\text{g straw}$. Equally large increases are not, however, obtained in vivo because of unreacted alkali and/or high sodium concentration. Several hypotheses concerning the depression of digestibility in vivo are reviewed. In general $\text{3–6}\text{g NaOH}\text{100}\text{g straw}$ is the optimum. For maximum effectiveness the volume of the alkali solution must be between 50 and $\text{200}\text{ml}\text{100}\text{g straw}$. The usefulness of neutralising unreacted alkali has not yet been determined. Crop and industrial residues with lower initial digestibility than straw (e.g. paddy hulls, bagasse and some types of sawdust) are usually still too poor after treatment (digestibility 30–50%) to be useful feeds. Pressure and temperature increase the effectiveness of alkali, but add to the cost of treatment. The pelleting of treated straws probably increases the effectiveness of alkali treatment. The length of time treated straw is allowed to “cure” before being fed does not affect its digestibility. Chemicals other than NaOH, like chlorine, ammonia and peroxides, are also effective in treating straws but are more expensive and/or more difficult to apply.Animal feeding experiments with sprayed straw have shown its utility for livestock normally fed poor straw diets, in high concentrate diets for growing, finishing and milking stock, and as an extender of silage. The factors affecting the degree of improvement to be expected in digestibility, growth and production from the treatment of straw need to be identified and studied.In spite of its high pH and Na content, sprayed straw has not been found to cause any health problems in livestock when treatment is in the range of 3–8 g NaOH/100 g straw. The extra sodium is excreted in the urine. Water intake and urine volume increase. Milk composition is unaffected.Several factories producing alkali spray-treated straw-based diets in pelleted form are already in operation in Europe. The process is briefly described.