Syrticola mediterraneus n. sp., a harpacticoid copepod from the Bay of Calvi,Corsica

Syrticola mediterraneus n. sp. belonging to the family Cylindropsyllidae Sars (sensu Lang, 1948) is described from the Bay of Calvi (Corsica). The species is closely related to (?) Notopontia galapagoensis Mielke, 1982 and Syrticola flandricus Willems & Claeys, 1982. The former species is now transferred to the genus Syrticola as Syrticola galapagoensis n. comb.     

Staff Nurses’ Perceptions and Experiences about Structural Empowerment: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study

The aim of the study reported in this article was to investigate staff nurses’ perceptions and experiences about structural empowerment and perceptions regarding the extent to which structural empowerment supports safe quality patient care. To address the complex needs of patients, staff nurse involvement in clinical and organizational decision-making processes within interdisciplinary care settings is crucial. A qualitative study was conducted using individual semi-structured interviews of 11 staff nurses assigned to medical or surgical units in a 600-bed university hospital in Belgium. During the study period, the hospital was going through an organizational transformation process to move from a classic hierarchical and departmental organizational structure to one that was flat and interdisciplinary. Staff nurses reported experiencing structural empowerment and they were willing to be involved in decision-making processes primarily about patient care within the context of their practice unit. However, participants were not always fully aware of the challenges and the effect of empowerment on their daily practice, the quality of care and patient safety. Ongoing hospital change initiatives supported staff nurses’ involvement in decision-making processes for certain matters but for some decisions, a classic hierarchical and departmental process still remained. Nurses perceived relatively high work demands and at times viewed empowerment as presenting additional. Staff nurses recognized the opportunities structural empowerment provided within their daily practice. Nurse managers and unit climate were seen as crucial for success while lack of time and perceived work demands were viewed as barriers to empowerment.     

Determination of adenosine triphosphate in human semen to estimate the fertilizing potential and to quantify sperm antibodies

The measurement of the ATP content of fresh semen is as accurate as the estimation of sperm motility by conventional methods in discriminating between semen of fertile versus subfertile men. The ATP content of frozen thawed donor semen is correlated with the probability of conception per cycle of insemination. Exact quantification of cytotoxic sperm antibodies in serum is possible with the adenosine-triphosphate-release-cytotoxicity test, since measurement is free of the bias of microscopic examination. The procedure has been simplified by testing only one serum dilution and calculating the ‘sperm toxicity index’.     

Immobilization of acetylcoenzyme A synthetase and the preparation of an enzyme reactor for the synthesis of [11C]acetylcoenzyme A

The enzyme acetylcoenzyme A synthetase (acetate-CoA ligase (AMP forming), EC 6.2.1.1) from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) is used for the synthesis of 1 mumol [11C]acetylcoenzyme A. (CoA-[11C]Ac). A screening of the immobilization of the enzyme on differently derivatized controlled pore glass beads (50 nm pore size and 125-180 micron particle size) was performed. Several silanes, spacer arms and terminal reactive groups were tested. The immobilized enzyme was subjected to storage stability tests. From these experiments, the method of choice was selected: immobilization on CNBr-activated controlled pore glass. The immobilized parameters were optimized further to improve the activity of the enzyme-loaded glass beads. The latter were packed in a glass column. The kinetic properties of the column were investigated and optimized to obtain an almost complete conversion of 1 mumol acetate into acetylcoenzyme A (CoA-Ac) within a few minutes. This is realized with an enzyme reactor (13.0 x 0.5 cm) containing 6.12 U active acetylcoenzyme A synthetase immobilized onto 1 g controlled pore glass.     

Frequencies of simultaneous transformation with different T-DNAs and their relevance to the Agrobacterium/plant cell interaction

Summary We investigated whether the efficiency of transformation of plant cells by Agrobacterium tumefaciens during cocultivation is limited by the properties of the plant cells or by the infecting bacteria.Therefore, tobacco protoplasts were infected by cocultivation with two different agrobacteria strains carrying Ti plasmids with distinguishable T-DNAs. These T-DNAs cotransform plant cells at a frequency equal to the product of their independent transformation frequencies, which indicates that all plant cells are equally competent. On the other hand, when these T-DNAs are located on the same Ti plasmid vector within one bacterial strain, the cotransformation frequency is significantly higher than the product of the single transformation frequencies. We interpret these results to indicate that transformation is limited more by the establishment of effective bacteria/plant cell interaction than by (i) the process of DNA integration and (ii) by the number of plant cells capable of being transformed by Agrobacterium. We found that most plant cells are transformed by only one or a few agrobacteria. Analysis of the number of T-DNA copies in these clonally transformed lines indicates amplification of the original, infecting T-region copy.     

Isolation and identification of two isomeric trihydroxy octadecenoic acids with prostaglandin E-like activity from onion bulbs (Allium cepa)

Two fractions with prostaglandin E-like activity were isolated from onion (Allium cepa) by using XAD-2 adsorption, silicic acid column chromatography and thin layer chromatography. The fractions were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and were characterized as isomeric mixtures of 9,10,13-trihydroxy-11-octadecenoic and 9,12,13-trihydroxy-10-octadecenoic acid, which are lipoxygenase metabolites of linoleic acid. Bio-assay, for which cascade superfusion was used and the rabbit coeliac and mesenteric arteries and the rat fundus strip were employed as assay organs, was utilized to monitor the bio-active profile throughout the isolation procedures. The activity of 1 microgram of the pharmacologically active fractions T1 and T2 was found to be equivalent to that of respectively 1.33 and 0.63 ng of prostaglandin E2.     

Mechanism of complement-induced stimulation of prostacyclin production by isolated rabbit peritoneum

The interaction between the complement system and prostaglandin synthesis has not thoroughly been explored, although both mediators are known to be involved in inflammatory reactions and endotoxic shock. When rabbit peritoneum, a rich source of prostacyclin forming activity was incubated in serum in which the complement system was activated (CVF, LPS, zymosan), the tissue produced significantly more PGI2, when compared with appropriate controls, indicating that by activation of the complement, factors were generated that stimulated PGI2 biosynthesis. Further results indicated that tryptic cleavage products of complement factor C3 and C5 also led to the appearance of PGI2 releasing principles with a molecular weight of about 7000-11000. The stimulation of PGI2 biosynthesis was explained by enhanced release of AA, and not due to increased activity of cyclo-oxygenase or PGI2 synthetase. Our results suggest that complement-derived products may promote the supply of prostaglandins at the site of inflammation.     

Apparent regression of the CGG repeat in FMR1 to an allele of normal size

The fragile X syndrome is the result of amplification of a CGG trinucleotide repeat in the FMR1 gene and anticipation in this disease is caused by an intergenerational expansion of this repeat. Although regression of a CGG repeat in the premutation range is not uncommon, regression from a full premutation (>200 repeats) or premutation range (50–200 repeats) to a repeat of normal size (<50 repeats) has not yet been documented. We present here a family in which the number of repeats apparently regressed from approximately 110 in the mother to 44 in her daughter. Although the CGG repeat of the daughter is in the normal range, she is a carrier of the fragile X mutation based upon the segregation pattern of Xq27 markers flanking FMR1. It is unclear, however, whether this allele of 44 repeats will be stably transmitted, as the daughter has as yet no progeny. Nevertheless, the size range between normal alleles and premutation alleles overlap, a factor that complicates genetic counseling.     

Founder effect in a Belgian-Dutch fragile X population

For many years, the high prevalence of the fragile X syndrome was thought to be caused by a high mutation frequency. The recent isolation of the FMR1 gene and identification of the most prevalent mutation enable a more precise study of the fragile X mutation. As the vast majority of fragile X patients show amplification of an unstable trinucleotide repeat, DNA studies can now trace back the origin of the fragile X mutation. To date, de novo mutations leading to amplification of the CGG repeat have not yet been detected. Recently, linkage disequilibrium was found in the Australian and US populations between the fragile X mutation and adjacent polymorphic markers, suggesting a founder effect of the fragile X mutation. We present here a molecular study of Belgian and Dutch fragile X families. No de novo mutations could be found in 54 of these families. Moreover, we found significant (P < 0.0001) linkage disequilibrium in 68 unrelated fragile X patients between the fragile X mutation and an adjacent polymorphic microsatellite at DXS548. This suggests that a founder effect of the fragile X mutation also exists in the Belgian and Dutch populations. Both the absence of new mutations and the presence of linkage disequilibrium suggest that a few ancestral mutations are responsible for most of the patients with fragile X syndrome.     

Fully automated measurements by light microscopy of tissue sections using a cellular array computer

Software was developed for the acquisition, segmentation and analysis of microscopic OD-images on a VICOM digital image processor, extended with a VISIOMORPH morphoprocessor board. The delineation algorithms for peroxisomes, lysosomes, and nuclei in liver, kidney, and adrenal gland sections start by thresholding the difference between the original image and a low pass filtered version. The resulting binary mask is then processed by morphological operations in order to produce an object overlay. The efficiency of the programs is evaluated by comparing delineated objects at different OD-levels, created by varying the stain or by multiplying the original pixel values with constant factors. Manual delineation on some images is also used as a reference. More complex algorithms are used for the delineation of muscle fibres in ATP-ase-stained sections and immunocytochemically labelled cells in monolayer preparations. Muscle images from parallel sections with different stainings are matched with a coordinate transform, enabling the transfer of the object mask from a single delineated image to the unprocessed images and thus obtain all necessary information for fibre classification. After segmentation, the OD-images and their object overlays are fed into a data extraction program, measuring for each delineated object user-selected features. Data are sent to a VAX for statistical interpretation.