Philippine rubber plantations

Because of a local law, limiting land operated by any one source of private capital to 2,500 acres, rubber plantations have not been extensively developed in the Philippines, but there are at present seven plantations within this limitation in the islands.     

Rapid Preparation of Pollen and Spore Exines for Electron Microscopy

Modifications in preparation techniques of acetolyzed pollen and spore exines for electron microscopy have reduced preparation time from the conventional 16-71 hr to 4-5 hr or less. These modifications include: (1) reduction of agar concentration from 4% to 0.9%; (2) omission of graded alcohol dehydration, going directly to acetone immersion and resin infiltration; (3) reduction of three steps in resin infiltration to one; (4) polymerization of resin at 80-85 C for 4-5 hr or at 90-98 C for 45-90 min, as opposed to conventional polymerization at 60-80 C for 12-59 hr.     

Polypeptide halomethyl ketones bind to serine proteases as analogs of the tetrahedral intermediate. X-ray crystallographic comparison of lysine- and phenylalanine-polypeptide chloromethyl ketone-inhibited subtilisin.

1. A detailed study of cytochrome C oxidse activity with Keilin-Hartree particles and purified beef heart enzyme, at low ionic strength and low cytochrome C concentrations, showed biphasic kinetics with apparent Km1 = 5 x 10(-8) M, and apparent Km2 = 0.35 to 1.0 x 10(-6) M. Direct binding studies with purified oxidase, phospholipid-containing as well as phospholipid-depleted, demonstrated two sites of interaction of cytochrome c with the enzyme, with KD2 less than or equal to 10(-7) M, and KD2 = 10(-6) M. 2...     

Synthesis and evaluation of human phosphodiesterases (PDE) 5 inhibitor analogs as trypanosomal PDE inhibitors. Part 1. Sildenafil analogs

Parasitic diseases, such as African sleeping sickness, have a significant impact on the health and well-being in the poorest regions of the world. Pragmatic drug discovery efforts are needed to find new therapeutic agents. In this Letter we describe target repurposing efforts focused on trypanosomal phosphodiesterases. We outline the synthesis and biological evaluation of analogs of sildenafil (1), a human PDE5 inhibitor, for activities against trypanosomal PDEB1 (TbrPDEB1). We find that, while low potency analogs can be prepared, this chemical class is a sub-optimal starting point for further development of TbrPDE inhibitors.     

dConsensus: a tool for displaying domain assignments by multiple structure-based algorithms and for construction of a consensus assignment

Background  

Partitioning of a protein into structural components, known as domains, is an important initial step in protein classification and for functional and evolutionary studies. While the systematic assignments of domains by human experts exist (CATH and SCOP), the introduction of high throughput technologies for structure determination threatens to overwhelm expert approaches. A variety of algorithmic methods have been developed to expedite this process, allowing almost instant structural decomposition into domains. The performance of algorithmic methods can approach 85% agreement on the number of domains with the consensus reached by experts. However, each algorithm takes a somewhat different conceptual approach, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. Currently there is no simple way to automatically compare assignments from different structure-based domain assignment methods, thereby providing a comprehensive understanding of possible structure partitioning as well as providing some insight into the tendencies of particular algorithms. Most importantly, a consensus assignment drawn from multiple assignment methods can provide a singular and presumably more accurate view.     

ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 mediate endotoxemic myocardial dysfunction independent of neutrophil accumulation

Both intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) have been implicated in neutrophil-mediated lung and liver injury during sepsis. However, the role of these adhesion molecules as well as the contribution of neutrophils in myocardial dysfunction during sepsis remains to be determined. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and neutrophils in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced myocardial dysfunction. Mice were subjected to LPS (0.5 mg/kg ip) or vehicle (normal saline), and left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) was determined by the Langendorff technique. LVDP was depressed by nearly 40% at 6 h after LPS. Immunofluorescent staining revealed a temporal increase in myocardial ICAM-1/VCAM-1 expression and neutrophils after LPS. Antibody blockade of VCAM-1 reduced myocardial neutrophil accumulation and abrogated LPS-induced cardiac dysfunction. Antibody blockade or absence of ICAM-1 (gene knockout) also abrogated LPS-induced cardiac dysfunction but did not reduce neutrophil accumulation. Neutrophil depletion (vinblastine or antibody) did not protect from LPS-induced myocardial dysfunction. Our results suggest that although endotoxemic myocardial dysfunction requires both ICAM-1 and VCAM-1, it occurs independent of neutrophil accumulation.     

Myocardial gene reprogramming associated with a cardiac cross-resistant state induced by LPS preconditioning

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) preconditioning induces cardiacresistance to subsequent LPS or ischemia. This study tested thehypothesis that resistance to LPS and resistance to ischemiaare two manifestations of cardiac cross-resistance which may involvereprogramming of cardiac gene expression. Rats were preconditioned witha single dose of LPS (0.5 mg/kg ip). Cardiac resistance to LPS wasexamined with a subsequent LPS challenge. Cardiac resistance toischemia was determined by subjecting hearts toischemia-reperfusion. Total RNA was extracted from myocardiumfor Northern analysis of mRNAs encoding protooncoproteins, antioxidantenzymes, and contractile protein isoforms. Rats preconditioned with LPS1-7 days earlier acquired cardiac resistance to endotoxemicdepression. This resistance temporally correlated with resistance toischemia. Pretreatment with cycloheximide (0.5 mg/kg ip)abolished resistance to both LPS and ischemia. LPSpreconditioning induced the expression of c-jun andc-fos mRNAs. LPS also transientlyincreased mRNAs encoding catalase and Mn-containing superoxidedismutase. The expression of both - and -myosin heavy chain mRNAswas upregulated, whereas the expression of cardiac -actin mRNA wassuppressed. We conclude that 1)LPS induces sustained cardiac resistance to both LPS and ischemia, 2) resistance toischemia and resistance to LPS seem to be two mechanisticallyindistinct components of cardiac cross-resistance, and3) the cardiac cross-resistance isassociated with reprogramming of myocardial gene expression.