Long-term platinum retention after treatment with cisplatin and oxaliplatin

Background  

The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term platinum retention in patients treated with cisplatin and oxaliplatin.     

The neural bases of cognitive conflict and control in moral judgment

Traditional theories of moral psychology emphasize reasoning and "higher cognition," while more recent work emphasizes the role of emotion. The present fMRI data support a theory of moral judgment according to which both "cognitive" and emotional processes play crucial and sometimes mutually competitive roles. The present results indicate that brain regions associated with abstract reasoning and cognitive control (including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) are recruited to resolve difficult personal moral dilemmas in which utilitarian values require "personal" moral violations, violations that have previously been associated with increased activity in emotion-related brain regions. Several regions of frontal and parietal cortex predict intertrial differences in moral judgment behavior, exhibiting greater activity for utilitarian judgments. We speculate that the controversy surrounding utilitarian moral philosophy reflects an underlying tension between competing subsystems in the brain.     

Chill-Induced Changes in the Activity and Abundance of the Vacuolar Proton-Pumping Pyrophosphatase from Mung Bean Hypocotyls

Changes in the properties of extractable vacuolar H+-pumping pyrophosphatase (V-PPase) and vacuolar ATPase activities in chilling-sensitive seedlings of mung bean (Vigna radiata) were investigated. Following chilling at 4[deg]C for 48 h, both hydrolytic and proton-pumping activities of the V-PPase increased 1.5- to 2-fold over controls and remained elevated even after 72 h at low temperatures. Vacuolar ATPase levels did not change significantly throughout the chilling regime. However a large increase in alcohol dehydrogenase activity during chilling suggests a shift toward fermentative metabolism, which can be expected to decrease ATPase activity in situ. Western blotting of vacuolar membrane-enriched fractions from control and treated plants has confirmed that the changes in V-PPase activity are mirrored by increases in the amount of pump protein. Results suggest a specific role for the V-PPase in protecting chill-sensitive plants from the injurious effects of low temperatures via the maintenance of the proton gradient across the vacuolar membrane.     

A comparative study on efficiency of adult fibroblasts and amniotic fluid-derived stem cells as donor cells for production of hand-made cloned buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) embryos

The efficiency of two cell types, namely adult fibroblasts, and amniotic fluid stem (AFS) cells as nuclear donor cells for somatic cell nuclear transfer by hand-made cloning in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) was compared. The in vitro expanded buffalo adult fibroblast cells showed a typical “S” shape growth curve with a doubling time of 40.8 h and stained positive for vimentin. The in vitro cultured undifferentiated AFS cells showed a doubling time of 33.2 h and stained positive for alkaline phosphatase, these cells were also found positive for undifferentiated embryonic stem cell markers like OCT-4, NANOG and SOX-2, which accentuate their pluripotent property. Further, when AFS cells were exposed to corresponding induction conditions, these cells differentiated into osteogenic, adipogenic and chondrogenic lineages which was confirmed through alizaran, oil red O and alcian blue staining, respectively. Cultured adult fibroblasts and AFS cells of passages 10–15 and 8–12, respectively, were used as nuclear donors. A total of 94 embryos were reconstructed using adult fibroblast as donor cells with cleavage and blastocyst production rate of 62.8 ± 1.8 and 19.1 ± 1.5, respectively. An overall cleavage and blastocyst formation rate of 71.1 ± 1.2 and 29.9 ± 2.2 was obtained when 97 embryos were reconstructed using AFS cells as donor cells. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in reconstructed efficiency between the cloned embryos derived from two donor cells, whereas the results showed that there were significant differences (P < 0.05) in cleavage and blastocyst rates between the cloned embryos derived from two donor cell groups. Average total cell numbers for blastocyst generated using AFS cells (172.4 ± 5.8) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than from adult fibroblasts (148.2 ± 6.1). This study suggests that the in vitro developmental potential of the cloned embryos derived from AFS cells were higher than that of the cloned embryos derived from adult fibroblasts in buffalo hand-made cloning.     

A histological and immunohistochemical study of the effects of N-acetyl cysteine on retinopathy of prematurity by modifying insulin-like growth factor-1

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disorder that occurs in premature infants and may lead to permanent visual impairment. We investigated both the possible protective role of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) for preventing ROP and the role of IGF-1 in the disorder. Forty-five newborn rats were divided into three groups. Group 1 was raised in room air as controls. Group 2 was exposed to 60% oxygen for 14 days after birth, then transferred to room air. Group 3 was exposed to the same conditions as group 2, but received intraperitoneal injections of NAC on postnatal days 7–17. After 35 days, both eyes of all rats were processed for histology. Some sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin to assess structural changes and other sections were immunostained to determine the location of IGF-1. Frozen sections also were prepared and stained for adenosine triphosphatase to detect retinal blood vessels. Compared to the controls, more blood vessels, many of which were abnormal, and increased IGF-1 expression were observed in group 2. In group 3, abnormal blood vessels and IGF-1 expression were less evident. NAC appeared to be an effective vascular-protective agent for ROP by decreasing IGF-1 expression.     

Cell wall composition and synthesis via Golgi-directed scale formation in the marine eucaryote,Schizochytrium aggregatum,with a note on Thraustochytrium sp.

Summary Cell walls of Schizochytrium aggregatum and Thraustochytrium sp. were mechanically isolated and subjected to chemical analysis. On a dry weight basis the cell walls contain 21–36% carbohydrate and 30–43% protein. The principal sugar (>95%) of the Schizochytrium wall is l-galactose, while the Thraustochytrium cell wall contains l-galactose, d-galactose and xylose with l-galactose predominating. Ultrastructurally the cell walls of both organisms consist of a laminated structure which yields thin, flexible, nearly circular scales (0.5–1.1 in diameter) upon sonic disintegration. Structures presumed to be developing wall scales are found within cisternae of the Golgi apparatus in both organisms. The chemical composition and method of formation of the cell wall in these two protists is distinctly different from that found in the Saprolegniales (Oomycetes), the group with which these organisms have hitherto been aligned.     

OBSERVATIONS ON THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE MALI GAMETES OF BIDDULPHIA LEVIS EHR.1

The marine centric diatom Biddulphia levis produced uniflagellate fusiform male gametes completely within the parent cell frustule. These gametes lacked both a central pair of microtubules in the flagellar axoneme and chloroplasts but did contain a cone of microtubules which passed posteriorly from the base of the kinetosome along the nuclear envelope. The gametes were released through a specialized pore in the girdle band leaving behind a cytoplasmic mass which contained chloroplasts and other cytoplasmic components. Tubules which resembled the flimmer hairs on the gamete flagellum occurred in cisternae of the cytoplasmic reticulum in the residual cytoplasm and in the nuclear envelope of the gametes. Gametogenesis in B. levis is compared with similar processes in other centric diatoms.     

DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID CONTENT OF THE THREE CELL TYPES OF PHAEODACTYLUM TRICORNUTUM BOHLIN1

There is no significant difference in the DNA content of the oval, fusiform, and triradiate cell types of Phaeodactylum tricornutum, suggesting that they do not represent an alternation of haploid and diploid generations. The triradiate cells have a shorter generation time than the oval or fusiform cells.     

Differential responsiveness to immunoablative therapy in refractory rheumatoid arthritis is associated with level and avidity of anti-cyclic citrullinated protein autoantibodies: a case study

In order to identify pathogenic correlates of refractory rheumatoid arthritis (RA), antibodies against anti-cyclic citrullinated protein (ACPAs) were investigated in RA patients in whom the dysregulated immune system had been ablated by high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Six patients with refractory RA were extensively characterized in terms of levels of total immunoglobulins, RA-specific autoantibodies (ACPAs and rheumatoid factor) and antibodies against rubella, tetanus toxoid (TT) and phosphorylcholine before and after HDC plus HSCT. Additionally, the avidity of ACPAs was measured before and after treatment and compared with the avidity of TT antibodies following repeated immunizations. Synovial biopsies were obtained by arthroscopy before HDC plus HSCT, and analyzed by immunohistochemistry. In the three patients with clinically long-lasting responses to HDC plus HSCT (median 423 days), significant reductions in ACPA-IgG levels after therapy were observed (median level dropped from 215 to 34 arbitrary units/ml; P = 0.05). In contrast, stable ACPA-IgG levels were observed in three patients who relapsed shortly after HDC plus HSCT (median of 67 days). Clinical responders had ACPA-IgG of lower avidity (r = 0.75; P = 0.08) and higher degree of inflammation histologically (r = 0.73; P = 0.09). Relapse (after 38 to 530 days) in all patients was preceded by rising levels of low avidity ACPA-IgG (after 30 to 388 days), in contrast to the stable titres of high avidity TT antibodies. In conclusion, humoral autoimmune responses were differentially modulated by immunoablative therapy in patients with synovial inflammation and low avidity ACPA-IgG autoantibodies as compared with patients with high levels of high avidity ACPA-IgG. The distinct clinical disease course after immunoablative therapy based on levels and avidity of ACPA-IgG indicates that refractory RA is not a single disease entity.