Postoperative hypertension as an etiological factor in hematoma after rhytidectomy. Prevention with chlorpromazine.

Our experience strongly implicates postoperative "reactive hypertension" as a major etiological factor in hematoma formation in the face lift patient. This autonomic lability to post-surgical and emotional stress may be prevented and treated by the appropriate and timely administration of chlorpromazine.     

Gender differences in effects of 20 days horizontal bed rest on muscle strength in young subjects

Gender differences in the effect of 20 days bed rest (BR) on muscle strength were evaluated in voluntary 11 male and 7 female students. Maximum Isometric Voluntary Contractions (MVC) of 4 right arm muscles (RAM), 5 right leg muscles (RLM), and 2 body trunk muscles were measured with an isometric dynamometer, respectively. Muscle masses (MM) of right arm and leg and body trunk were determined by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, respectively. The maximum cross sectional area (CSAmax) of right m. quadriceps femoris was measured by magnetic resonance imaging. Elbow flexion MVC in males and all MVC of RLM except knee flexion in both males and females were decreased (p<0.05), but elbow extension MVC in females was increased (p<0.05), while all of other MVC only tended to decrease. However, the decrements in leg MVC were not correlated to the leg MM, and also the decrement in knee extension was not correlated to the CSAmax of m. quadriceps. The reduction of MVC of antigravity muscles might be caused not only by a decrease in MM but also by other factors. The greater decrements of leg MVC during BR were the higher initial level in males, but the inverse was observed in females. However, this discrepancy between males and females cannot be explained in the present study.     

Structure and genetic diversity of Ixora margaretae an endangered species

The dry forests of New Caledonia are an exceptional ecosystem because of their numerous endemic botanical species and their highly diversified fauna of insects, mollusks, reptiles and birds. Unfortunately, the area of the dry forests has been significantly reduced, mainly by human activities. Ecological, phenological and genetic analysis of Ixora margaretae, a symbolic species of the sclerophyll forest, has revealed contrasting traits among natural stands. The division of the natural range and then the separation of forest islands has greatly reduced the existing genetic variability of this species. The genetic diversity is strongly structured in genetic clusters which correspond well to specific ecotypes according to the environmental conditions and the forest types. Furthermore, genetic analysis of the reproductive and non-reproductive trees as well the half-sib families obtained by complete protection of mother trees has revealed substantial genetic drift which has resulted in increased loss of allelic variability. The total consumption of seeds by mainly rats confirms the observed absence of natural regeneration. All these results show that measures taken to protect the stands of dry forests will not be enough to maintain sufficient genetic variability of I. margaretae populations in the long term. Assisted regeneration with control of the increase in variability will be necessary to maintain the biodiversity of the species. The results obtained for I. margaretae must be confirmed with other symbolic species in order to take the necessary measures for the effective preservation of the dry forests in New Caledonia.     

Expression of the Na+-K+-2Cl- cotransporter in the rat endolymphatic sac

The endolymphatic sac (ES) is a part of the membranous labyrinth that contains the cochlea, vestibular organs, and semicircular canals, and is believed to absorb endolymphatic fluid. Na⁺–K⁺–2Cl⁻ (NKCC) is a cotransporter that occurs as two isoforms (NKCC-1 and NKCC-2). Especially, NKCC-2 is suggested to participate in ES endolymph absorption. In the present study, the expression and cellular localization of NKCC-1 and NKCC-2 in the rat ES were examined by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization, respectively. The findings indicate that both NKCC-1 and NKCC-2 are expressed in the rat ES and suggest that NKCC is involved in ES homeostasis. NKCC-2 may be particularly involved in endolymph absorption. This is the first report confirming NKCC expression in the ES.     

Scale and system dependencies of indirect effects of large herbivores on phytophagous insects: a meta-analysis

An increasing number of studies are being conducted to examine the density- or trait-mediated indirect effects of large herbivores on phytophagous insects. However, these effects are highly context dependent and no general trends have been made clear. We conducted a meta-analysis focusing on three factors capable of affecting detection of the indirect effects of large herbivores on phytophagous insects: type of response variable, experimental scale, and characteristics of study organisms. Overall, large herbivores exerted a negative effect on insects, a trend that was prominent in studies using insect abundance as a response variable. No particular trends were observed in studies using herbivory rate as a variable, and these studies often focused on plant trait-mediated effects more than density-mediated ones. Experimental scale affected the strength of indirect effects: within-year or individual tree level experiments did not follow any trends, whereas 1–10 year experiments or 0–10 ha scale experiments show a negative impact on insects. Characteristics of large herbivores and growth forms of transmitter plants also contributed to variations in the observed effect size; negative effects were reported in livestock-grassland ecosystems and neutral effects in tree-dominated systems. There was a close association between response variable, experimental scale, and characteristics of study organisms, and these effects jointly contributed to the apparent trends. To predict the impacts of large herbivores at ecosystem level, it is necessary to eliminate these biases arising from study design and to evaluate the effect on insect densities at large spatial and temporal scales.     

Blood Types in Relation to Depressions and Schizophrenia: A Preliminary Report

The distribution of the ABO, A₁, D, E, C, and Kell blood types in relation to selected psychiatric diagnoses was studied in over 700 consecutive admissions to a provincial mental hospital. Predicted relationships based upon recent work in other laboratories were supported by consistent trends approaching statistical significance. In addition, blood group O was found to be significantly associated with involutional melancholia.     

Leaf rust induced volatile organic compounds signalling in willow during the infection

Plants are known to emit volatile organic compounds (VOC) in response to various biotic or abiotic stresses. Although the VOC emission in the case of insect attacks is well described, there is only little known about the impact of pathogens on plant emission. In the present study, we used a willow-leaf rust system to describe the effects of a biotrophic fungal infection on the VOC emission pattern of willow leaves. We detected that isoprene emissions from rust-infected leaves decreased threefold compared to control. The total monoterpene emissions did not change although a stress-signalling compound (Z)-β-ocimene showed an increase in infected plants on several days. The infection also increased the emission of sesquiterpenes and lipoxygenase products (LOX) by factors of 175-fold and 10-fold, respectively. The volatile emission signals showed two clear peaks during the experiment. At 6, 7 and 12 days post-infection (dpi), the relative volatile emission signal increased to about sixfold compared to uninfected plants. These time points are directly connected to rust infection since at 6 dpi the first rust pustules appeared on the leaves and at 12 dpi necrosis had developed around several pustules. We present correlations between LOX and sesquiterpene emission signals, which suggest at least two different steps in eliciting the volatile emission.     

BAmSA: Visualising transmembrane regions in protein complexes using biotinylated amphipols and electron microscopy

Membrane protein (MP) complexes play key roles in all living cells. Their structural characterisation is hampered by difficulties in purifying and crystallising them. Recent progress in electron microscopy (EM) have revolutionised the field, not only by providing higher-resolution structures for previously characterised MPs but also by yielding first glimpses into the structure of larger and more challenging complexes, such as bacterial secretion systems. However, the resolution of pioneering EM structures may be difficult and their interpretation requires clues regarding the overall organisation of the complexes. In this context, we present BAmSA, a new method for localising transmembrane (TM) regions in MP complexes, using a general procedure that allows tagging them without resorting to neither genetic nor chemical modification. Labels bound to TM regions can be visualised directly on raw negative-stain EM images, on class averages, or on three-dimensional reconstructions, providing a novel strategy to explore the organisation of MP complexes.     

A novel concept for ligand attachment to oligonucleotides via a 2'-succinyl linker

Conjugation of ligands to antisense oligonucleotides is a promising approach for enhancing their effects. In this report, a new method for synthesizing oligonucleotide conjugates is described. 2′-Amino-2′-deoxy-5′-dimethoxytrityl-uridine was select ively acylated with a succinic acid linker at the 2′ position. This compound was incorporated at the 3′ end of an oligonucleotide corresponding to the sequence of Oblimersen. The carboxyl group was protected for oligonucleotide synthesis as a benzyl ester, which could be selectively cleaved at the solid phase by a catalytic phase transfer reaction using palladium nanoparticles as catalyst. An oligonucleotide–fluorescein conjugate was prepared by condensation of aminofluorescein. Circular dichroism spectroscopic experiments showed a B-DNA type structure. The melting temperature of the duplex was only slightly lower than that of Oblimersen. Biological activity measured by western blotting resulted in a Bcl-2 target downregulation nearly identical to that of control Oblimersen on human melanoma cells, proving that this method is attractive for the binding of ligands located in the minor groove.