Circadian changes in levels of magnesium in serum of healthy individuals]

Circadian changes in blood serum magnesium levels in healthy individuals. We examined circadian changes of the serum magnesium in 20 healthy subjects. Blood samples were taken every second hour during the 24 hours. Male serum magnesium concentrations increased from the lowest level (0.810 +/- 0.035 mmol/l) observed at 8.00 am to the highest level (1.028 +/- 0.084 mmol/l) at 6.00 pm. Female-we observed two peaks of serum magnesium concentrations: first at 8.00 pm (0.992 +/- 0.103 mmol/l) and second at 4.00 am. (0.982 +/- 0.094 mmol/l) with the lowest level at noon) 0.789 +/- 0.043 mmol/l. Differences between extreme levels were statistically significant.     

Second Language as an Exemptor from Sociocultural Norms. Emotion-Related Language Choice Revisited

Bilinguals often switch languages depending on what they are saying. According to the Emotion-Related Language Choice theory, they find their second language an easier medium of conveying content which evokes strong emotions. The first language carries too much emotional power, which can be threatening for the speaker. In a covert experiment, bilingual Polish students translated texts brimming with expletives from Polish into English and vice versa. In the Polish translations, the swear word equivalents used were weaker than in the source text; in the English translations, they were stronger than in the original. These results corroborate the ERLC theory. However, the effect was only observed for ethnophaulisms, i.e. expletives directed at social groups. It turns out that the main factor triggering the language choice in bilinguals is not necessarily the different emotional power of both languages, but social and cultural norms.     

The design and discovery of novel amide CCR5 antagonists

The synthesis of a range of novel amine-containing structures and their primary potency as inhibitors of HIV-1 fusion via blocking of the CCR5 receptor is described. The development of the medicinal chemistry strategy and SAR’s which led to the identification of the piperidine amide compounds 33 and 36 as excellent leads for further evaluation is described, along with key physicochemical data which highlighted their lead potential.     

On the taste of stereoisomeric cyclic dipeptides containing a proline residue

An investigation of the taste character and intensity of sixproline-containing cylic dipeptides demonstrates that thesecompounds are differentiated largley on the basis of their chemicalconfiguration. ^x/ Permanent address: Technical University, 80–952 Gdask,Poland     

Biochemical Conservation of Recombinant Drosophila Tyrosine Hydroxylase with its Mammalian Cognates

Dopamine modulates several behavioral and developmental events; in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a neuromodulator, and a developmental signal. Studies in mammals suggest that these diverse roles for dopamine have been evolutionarily conserved. Fundamental regulation of dopamine occurs via tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the first and rate-limiting enzyme in the catecholamine biosynthetic pathway. Mammalian TH is acutely regulated via phosphorylation–dephosphorylation mechanisms, which occur as a direct consequence of nerve stimulation. We have shown that the Drosophila homolog of TH, DTH, shares over 50% sequence identity with mammalian TH, and the serine residue corresponding to the major site of phosphorylation is conserved. We demonstrate using recombinant DTH protein generated in E. coli that its regulatory biochemical mechanisms closely parallel those from mammals. Drosophila thus provides a highly conserved and tractable model system in which to test the functional consequences of perturbing TH activity by acute regulatory mechanisms.