Age-related difference in bioenergetics of lung and heart mitochondrial from rats exposed to ozone

Bioenergetics of isolated lung and heart mitochondria from adult and aged rats were examined in the presence of glutamate (NAD-linked substrate) or succinate + rotenone (FAD-linked substrate) following ozone exposure (3.0 ppm, 8 hr). In controls, several differences were observed between adults and aged in both organ preparations. Following exposure, all bioenergetic parameters were decreased significantly in lung preparations from both adult and aged rats. In heart mitochondria, the respiration rates in state 3 and in uncoupled state, and the ADP/O ratio were decreased significantly in both exposed age groups. The respiratory control ratio (RCR) was decreased significantly only in the aged exposed rats. These results suggest that acute exposure to high levels of ozone alters energy production in both lung and heart mitochondria of adult and aged rats.     

Nicotine and cannabinoids as adjuncts to neuroleptics in the treatment of Tourette syndrome and other motor disorders

Animal studies suggest nicotine and cannabinoids may significantly enhance the therapeutic value of neuroleptics in motor disorders. This was recently demonstrated in humans by the finding that chewing nicotine gum produced striking relief from tics and other symptoms of Tourette syndrome not controlled by neuroleptic treatment alone. It appears that the use of nicotine or cannabinoids may greatly improve the clinical response to neuroleptics in motor disorders.     

Psychophysiological responsivity on a laboratory stress task: Methodological implications for a stress-muscle hyperactivity pain model

A stress-muscle hyperactivity-pain (SMP) model has been proposed to explain the etiology of certain musculoskeletal pain disorders. According to this model, subjects should show physiological arousal during periods of stress relative to periods of rest. In a test of this prediction, 31 subjects performed a reaction time task that has been used in previous laboratory studies. Multiple psychophysiological variables were monitored during initial and final 10-minute baselines, during performance on nine 2-minute reaction time tasks, and during 36-second rest intervals following each of the 2-minute tasks. Results showed small but statistically significant differences generally supporting the SMP model when masseter EMG was averaged over time periods of 12 seconds to 2 minutes, but not when masseter EMG was averaged over 10- to 18-minute blocks. These results demonstrated the importance of carefully selecting time intervals for analysis. Additional analyses that compared TMD with symptom-free subjects revealed small differences in EMG that supported the SMP model. Analyses of EMG over shorter time intervals also showed, however, that masseter EMG increased during the 36-second rest interval following performance on a 2-minute stress task; this result suggested that a modification of the SMP model may be necessary.This research was supported in part by Grant 2 S06RR08038-17 funded by the National Institutes of Health.     

Planktivory in benthic nototheniid fish in McMurdo Sound,Antarctica

Synopsis Four species of nototheniid fish were sampled from below the sea ice near Cape Armitage, McMurdo Sound:Pagothenia borchgrevinki from just below the ice 1.5 km offshore,Trematomus bernacchii, Trematomus hansoni andTrematomus centronotus from off the bottom in about 20 m of water near the shore. Scale worms and isopods were conspicuous non-planktonic prey, and present in the three benthic fish species. The planktonic pteropod molluscLimacina helicina was numerically common in all four species of fish. The planktonic hyperiid amphipodHyperiella dilatata was also found in all fish species. WhereasP. borchgrevinki is planktivorous in accord with its pelagic habit, theTrematomus spp. clearly also feed on plankton from the water column.T. hansoni is particularly planktivorous, taking smaller copepods thanP. borchgrevinki.     

Radiative properties of hardwood leaves to ultraviolet irradiation

Spectral reflectance and transmittance of leaves to ultraviolet irradiation were determined under laboratory conditions for seven species of hardwood trees, namely red oak (Quercus rubra, L), black oak (Q. velutina, Lamarch), white oak (Q. alba, L.), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), Norway maple (A. plantanoides), hickory (Carya tomemtosa), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and black oak litter. The experimental system consisted of a solar simulator, an integrating sphere, and a spectroradiometer. Experiments were repeated three to five times for both adaxial and abaxial surfaces of fresh leaves chosen at randomly. The spectral distributions and simple averages of the radiative properties in the wavelength ranges of ultraviolet-B (UV-B, 280–320 nm) and ultraviolet-A (UV-A, 320–400 nm) were determined. The spectral distributions of reflectance were similar between adaxial and abaxial surfaces, although the magnitude varied among tree species. Leaf reflectance was very low for the ultraviolet spectrum in general and varied among species and between adaxial and abaxial surfaces. It was generally higher over the UV-A waveband compared to UV-B, and higher on the abaxial than adaxial surface. The broadband reflectance in the UV-A range (over all species) was 5.0 and 3.9% for abaxial and adaxial surface, respectively, compared to 3.5 and 2.8% in UV-B. The transmittance through leaves was extremely small in the UV-B (<0.1%) and nearly zero in the UV-A spectral range. Consequently, the absorptance of ultraviolet radiation by leaves, as determined from the measured reflectance and transmittance, was quite high, being more than 90% for all the combinations of species and wavebands examined. The reported results are useful for studies requiring spectral radiative properties of the examined leaves with respect to ultraviolet irradiation.     

Data Quality

A methodology is presented to develop and analyze vectors of data quality attribute scores. Each data quality vector component represents the quality of the data element for a specific attribute (e.g., age of data). Several methods for aggregating the components of data quality vectors to derive one data quality indicator (DQI) that represents the total quality associated with the input data element are presented with illustrative examples. The methods are compared and it is proven that the measure of central tendency, or arithmetic average, of the data quality vector components as a percentage of the total quality range attainable is an equivalent measure for the aggregate DQI. In addition, the methodology is applied and compared to realworld LCA data pedigree matrices. Finally, a method for aggregating weighted data quality vector attributes is developed and an illustrative example is presented. This methodology provides LCA practitioners with an approach to increase the precision of input data uncertainty assessments by selecting any number of data quality attributes with which to score the LCA inventory model input data. The resultant vector of data quality attributes can then be analyzed to develop one aggregate DQI for each input data element for use in stochastic LCA modeling.     

Preparation and structure of heparin lyase-derived heparan sulfate oligosaccharides

Porcine intestinal mucosal heparan sulfate was exhaustivelydepolymerized on a large scale using beparin lyase II (heparinaseII) or heparin lyase III (heparitinase, EC 4.2.2.8 [EC] ). The oligosaccharidemixtures formed with each enzyme were fractionated by low pressuregel permeation chromatography. Size-uniform mixtures of disaccharides,tetrasaccharides, and hexasaccharides were obtained. Each size-fractionatedmixture was then purified on the basis of charge by repetitivesemipreparative strong-anion-exchange high-performance liquidchromatography. This approach has led to the isolation of 13homogenous oligosaccharides. The purity of each oligosaccharidewas demonstrated by the presence of a single peak on analyticalstrong-anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatographyand reversed polarity capillary electrophoresis. The structuresof these oligosaccharides were established using 500 MHz one-and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.Three of the thirteen structures that were solved were novelwhile the remaining 10 have been previously described. All ofthe structures obtained using heparin lyase III contained a