A preliminary investigation of prediction of mean arterial pressure after self-regulatory treatments.

This study investigated the ability of pretreatment variables from three different domains (social-demographic, psychological, and psychophysiological) to predict posttreatment mean arterial pressure (MAP) for 59 unmedicated males with mild hypertension who were participating in a cross-cultural (USA-USSR) comparison of autogenic training and thermal biofeedback to a self-relaxation control. The overall multiple regression equation consisted of two variables and indicated that higher diastolic blood pressures during a cold pressor task were predictive of greater MAP reductions while higher scores on the Irritability subscale of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Scale were predictive of less MAP reductions. Suggestions for future research in this area are provided.     

Thrombin attenuates the stimulatory effect of histamine on Ca2+ entry in confluent human umbilical vein endothelial cell cultures

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells were grown to confluence, as first passage cells, on coverslips. Treatment with ionomycin or histamine caused a sustained rise in intracellular Ca2+ (measured by Fura-2 fluorescence), but after treatment with thrombin, only a transient rise in Ca2+ was observed. Furthermore, the addition of thrombin after ionomycin or histamine lowered the raised Ca2+ back to near control levels. This effect of thrombin was concentration dependent, with increasing concentrations producing increases in both the rate and extent of the lowering of Ca2+. A similar effect of thrombin was seen on video imaging of Fura-2-loaded cell monolayers. The Ca2(+)-lowering effect of thrombin was not mimicked by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate nor blocked by staurosporine, indicating a lack of involvement of protein kinase C; intracellular pH also does not appear to be involved. The mechanism by which thrombin lowers cytoplasmic Ca2+ is due mainly to inhibition of Ca2+ entry since thrombin prevented the stimulated influx of Mn2+ caused by histamine or ionomycin. It may therefore be that in vivo under certain physiological or pathological conditions, thrombin's effects on intracellular Ca2+ are more transient than those of histamine, and thrombin also may induce transience in histamine's actions.     

An eight-nucleotide sequence in the potato virus X 3' untranslated region is required for both host protein binding and viral multiplication.

Gel retardation and UV-cross-linking techniques were used to demonstrate that two tobacco proteins, with approximate molecular masses of 28 and 32 kDa, bind to a site within the 3' region of potato virus X (PVX) genomic RNA. The protein binding is specific, in that a 50-fold excess of unlabeled probe prevents formation of the complexes but no reduction is observed with a 2,000-fold molar excess of yeast tRNA. Complex formation is inhibited by poly(U) but is relatively unaffected by poly(A), poly(G), or poly(C-I). PVX RNA-host protein complex formation occurs in vitro at salt concentrations up to 400 mM. Deletion mapping indicates that the proteins bind within the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of PVX genomic RNA and that an 8-nucleotide U-rich sequence (5'-UAUUUUCU) is required for the binding. Deletion of the 8-nucleotide U-rich region from the 3' UTR of a sensitive PVX reporter virus that carries the luciferase gene in place of the PVX coat protein gene results in a more than 70,000-fold reduction in luciferase expression in tobacco protoplasts. RNA probes carrying the sequence GCGC in place of the central four contiguous uridines of the 8-nucleotide U-rich motif fail to bind host protein at detectable levels, and the same mutation, when introduced into the PVX reporter virus, eliminates viral multiplication. Mutations of 1 or 2 nucleotides within the same four uridines reduced both binding of host proteins and replication of reporter virus. These results indicate that the 8-nucleotide U-rich motif within the PVX 3' UTR is important for some aspect of viral multiplication and suggest that host protein binding plays a role in the process.     

Metoclopramide increases plasma but not cerebrospinal fluid vasopressin levels in man: study in hydrocephalic patients.

Arginine vasopressin (AVP) concentrations were determined in plasma and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in 8 adult male patients suffering from hydrocephalus of various etiologies, before and after intravenous administration of 10 mg metoclopramide. Metoclopramide was able to increase the plasma (2.6 +/- 0.2 ng/l in basal conditions and 6.1 +/- 0.6 ng/l at 30 min) but not the CSF AVP levels. The results suggest that the neurons which secrete AVP into the CSF may be functionally different from those secreting into the peripheral circulation.     

Bacterial conversion of glycerol to beta-hydroxypropionaldehyde

beta-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) can be oxidized to acrylic acid, an industrially important chemical used in the manufacture of synthetic plastics and other polymers. Of 19 genera and 55 strains tested, 3 Klebsiella and 2 Enterobacter strains produced 3-HPA. The most efficient strain was Klebsiella pneumoniae NRRL B-4011. Under optimum conditions (28 degrees C; 40 g of semicarbazide hydrochloride per liter, 70 g of glycerol per liter; and pH 6.0), 3.1 g of B-4011 cells per liter accumulated 22 g of 3-HPA per liter at a specific rate of 0.83 g/g per h; however, 14.5 g of cells per liter accumulated 46 g of 3-HPA per liter at a specific rate of 0.41 g/g per h.