Haemodynamic and hormonal responses to heat exposure in a Finnish sauna bath

Eight healthy young men were studied during three periods of heat exposure in a Finnish sauna bath: at 80 degrees C dry bulb (80 D) and 100 degrees C dry bulb (100 D) temperatures until subjective discomfort, and in 80 degrees C dry heat, becoming humid (80 DH) until subjective exhaustion. Oral temperature increased 1.1 degrees C at 80 D, 1.9 degrees C at 100 D and 3.2 degrees C at 80 DH. Heart rate increased about 60% at 80 D, 90% at 100 D and 130% at 80 DH. Plasma noradrenaline increased about 100% at 80 D, 160% at 100 D and 310% at 80 DH. Adrenaline did not change. Plasma prolactin increased 2-fold at 80 D, 7-fold at 100 D and 10-fold at 80 DH. Blood concentrations of the beta-endorphin immunoreactivity at 100 D, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) at 100 D and 80 DH, growth hormone at 100 D and testosterone at 80 DH also increased, but cortisol at 80 D and 100 D decreased. The plasma prostaglandin E2 and serum thromboxane B2 levels did not change. Patterns related to heat exposure were observed for heart rate, plasma noradrenaline, ACTH and prolactin in the three study periods.     

Economics and success factors of flexible manufacturing systems: The conventional explanation revisited

This article analyzes costs and relative benefits of several hundred flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) in the world. The analyses are based on the computerized data bases, which make it easy to correlate different cost and benefit indicators with each other and to look for regular patterns and tendencies in the applications. Both investment cost distributions and the system complexity distributions are analyzed. The relative benefits and advantages and their relationships are shown. Finally, technical and economic explanations for successful implementation strategies are given. The results show that there are two classes of economically successful systems. The small-scale and technically compact systems are usually used in small-batch production for the replacement of semimanual production. The main benefits are increased capacity and productivity as well as quality improvements. The large-scale and technically complex systems are used in large-volume production for the replacement of fixed automation and transfer lines. The benefits are mainly due to the increased potential for flexibility and capital savings.     

Morphological variation among clones of ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus,Basellaceae) collected in Southern Peru

Material of 229 clones of ulluco (Ullucus tuberosus), representing 10 accessions from markets in southern Peru and one from the wild in Bolivia, was analyzed with regard to morphological variation. The diploid chromosome number (2n = 24) was ascertained in 16 of the clones. Clones grown in different environments (e.g., long vs. short day) retained a more or less similar order of variation with respect to color of the tubers, stems, and leaves and the length/width ratio of the leaves. The shape of fully developed tubers also showed stable variation. Within a single experiment several other vegetative characters showed significant differences between accessions. Furthermore, many flower and inflorescence characters showed variation between accessions, some of them also indicating geographical variation between the Puno-Juliaca area and the Cuzco area. Considerable variation between the clones of an accession was evident, some accessions being clearly more variable than others. Our results show that ulluco is a crop plant that varies extensively even within a geographically limited area. Although repeatedly referred to in the literature as a purely asexual crop, ulluco was shown to be capable of sexual reproduction; this must have been and possibly still is an important source of genetic variation in the species.     

Self-sufficiency,free trade and safety

The relationship between free trade, self-sufficiency and safety of blood and blood components has been a perennial discussion topic in the blood service community. Traditionally, national self-sufficiency has been perceived as the ultimate goal that would also maximize safety. However, very few countries are, or can be, truly self-sufficient when self-sufficiency is understood correctly to encompass the whole value chain from the blood donor to the finished product. This is most striking when plasma derived medicines are considered. Free trade of blood products, or competition, as such can have a negative or positive effect on blood safety. Further, free trade of equipment and reagents and several plasma medicines is actually necessary to meet the domestic demand for blood and blood derivatives in most countries. Opposing free trade due to dogmatic reasons is not in the best interest of any country and will be especially harmful for the developing world. Competition between blood services in the USA has been present for decades. The more than threefold differences in blood product prices between European blood services indicate that competition is long overdue in Europe, too. This competition should be welcomed but carefully and proactively regulated to avoid putting safe and secure blood supply at risk.     

Microbe repelling coated stainless steel analysed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and physicochemical methods

Coating of stainless steel with diamond-like carbon or certain fluoropolymers reduced or almost eliminated adhesion and biofilm growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis, Deinococcus geothermalis, Meiothermus silvanus and Pseudoxanthomonas taiwanensis. These species are known to be pertinent biofilm formers on medical implants or in the wet-end of paper machines. Field emission scanning electron microscopic analysis showed that Staph. epidermidis, D. geothermalis and M. silvanus grew on stainless steel using thread-like organelles for adhesion and biofilm formation. The adhesion threads were fewer in number on fluoropolymer-coated steel than on plain steel and absent when the same strains were grown in liquid culture. Psx. taiwanensis adhered to the same surfaces by a mechanism involving cell ghosts on which the biofilm of live cells grew. Hydrophilic (diamond-like carbon) or hydrophobic (fluoropolymer) coatings reduced the adherence of the four test bacteria on different steels. Selected topographic parameters, including root-mean-square roughness (S (q)), skewness (S (sk)) and surface kurtosis (S (ku)), were analysed by atomic force microscopy. The surfaces that best repelled microbial adhesion of the tested bacteria had higher skewness values than those only slightly repelling. Water contact angle, measured (theta (m)) or roughness corrected (theta (y)), affected the tendency for biofilm growth in a different manner for the four test bacteria.     

Cleaved SLPI, a novel biomarker of chymase activity

Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) is a protease inhibitor of the whey acidic protein-like family inhibiting chymase, chymotrypsin, elastase, proteinase 3, cathepsin G and tryptase. Performing in vitro enzymatic assays using both Western blotting and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry techniques we showed that, of the proteases known to interact with SLPI, only chymase could uniquely cleave this protein. The peptides of the cleaved SLPI (cSLPI) remain coupled due to the disulfide bonds in the molecule but under reducing conditions the cleavage can be observed as peptide products. Subsequent ex vivo studies confirmed the presence of SLPI in human saliva and its susceptibility to cleavage by chymase. Furthermore, inhibitors of chymase activity are able to inhibit this cleavage. Human saliva from both normal and allergic individuals was analyzed for levels of cSLPI and a correlation between the level of cSLPI and the extent of allergic symptoms was observed, suggesting the application of cSLPI as a biomarker of chymase activity in humans.     

The taming of the shrew milk teeth

SUMMARY A characteristic feature of mammalian dentition is the evolutionary reduction of tooth number and replacement. Because mice do not replace teeth, here we used Sorex araneus , the common shrew, as a model to investigate the loss of tooth replacement. Historically, shrews have been reported to initiate the development of several, milk or deciduous teeth but these soon become rudimentary and only the replacement teeth erupt. Shrews thus offer a living example of a derived mammalian pattern where the deciduous tooth development is being suppressed. Based on histological and gene expression analyses of serial sections, we suggest that S. araneus has discernible tooth replacement only in the premolar 4 (P4) position. Both generations of teeth express Shh in the enamel knot and in the inner enamel epithelium. Nevertheless, the deciduous P4 (dP4) is reduced in size during embryogenesis and is eventually lost without becoming functional. Analysis of growth shows that P4 replaces the dP4 in a "double-wedge" pattern indicative of competitive replacement where the suppression of the deciduous tooth coincides with the initiation of its replacement. Because activator–inhibitor mechanisms have been implicated in adjacent mouse molars and in transgenic mice with continuous tooth budding, we suggest that evolutionary suppression of deciduous teeth may involve early activation of replacement teeth, which in turn begin to suppress their deciduous predecessors.     

High local species richness of parasitic wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae; Pimplinae and Rhyssinae) from the lowland rainforests of Peruvian Amazonia

Abstract.  1. The parasitic wasp family Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera) is of great interest because it has been claimed that its species richness does not increase with decreasing latitude.
2. No extensive studies of the family have been conducted in South American localities.
3. Arthropods were sampled using 27 Malaise traps in the Allpahuayo–Mishana National Reserve (56 000 ha) in the north-eastern Peruvian Amazonian lowland rainforest. The total duration of the sampling programme was 185 Malaise trap months.
4. Altogether, 88 species were collected. This is one of the highest local pimpline and rhyssine species numbers ever recorded. A comparison with results from Mesoamerica revealed that at equal numbers of individuals sampled, the number of Pimplinae and Rhyssinae species in Peruvian Amazonia is at least twofold compared with lowland locations in Mesoamerica and somewhat higher than in the most species-rich Costa Rican higher altitude localities.
5. Non-parametric methods of estimating species richness were applied. These suggest that additional sampling would yield a considerable number of new Pimplinae and/or Rhyssinae species.     

Multifactor Effects and Evidence of Potential Interaction between Complement Factor H Y402H and LOC387715 A69S in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Background

Variants in the complement cascade genes and the LOC387715/HTRA1, have been widely reported to associate with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of visual impairment in industrialized countries.

Methods/Principal Findings

We investigated the association between the LOC387715 A69S and complement component C3 R102G risk alleles in the Finnish case-control material and found a significant association with both variants (OR 2.98, p = 3.75×10⁻⁹; non-AMD controls and OR 2.79, p = 2.78×10⁻¹⁹, blood donor controls and OR 1.83, p = 0.008; non-AMD controls and OR 1.39, p = 0.039; blood donor controls), respectively. Previously, we have shown a strong association between complement factor H (CFH) Y402H and AMD in the Finnish population. A carrier of at least one risk allele in each of the three susceptibility loci (LOC387715, C3, CFH) had an 18-fold risk of AMD when compared to a non-carrier homozygote in all three loci. A tentative gene-gene interaction between the two major AMD-associated loci, LOC387715 and CFH, was found in this study using a multiplicative (logistic regression) model, a synergy index (departure-from-additivity model) and the mutual information method (MI), suggesting that a common causative pathway may exist for these genes. Smoking (ever vs. never) exerted an extra risk for AMD, but somewhat surprisingly, only in connection with other factors such as sex and the C3 genotype. Population attributable risks (PAR) for the CFH, LOC387715 and C3 variants were 58.2%, 51.4% and 5.8%, respectively, the summary PAR for the three variants being 65.4%.

Conclusions/Significance

Evidence for gene-gene interaction between two major AMD associated loci CFH and LOC387715 was obtained using three methods, logistic regression, a synergy index and the mutual information (MI) index.