The urinary ratio of 5-hydroxytryptophol to 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid in surgical patients with chronic alcohol misuse

Interactions among growth factors are important in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. The regulation of IGF-I mRNA expression by bFGF was investigated in cultured rat Müller cells and the mechanism of regulation studied. Müller cells from 1- to 3-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were isolated and cultured with Eagle MEM+10% FCS. Cultured cells were identified by immunocytochemistry using antibodies against vimentin, carbonic anhydrase C, and glutamine synthetase. Cells of passage 1-4 were treated with bFGF, the PKC inhibitor H-7, calphostin C, the PKC activator PMA or the PKA inhibitor H-89, as well as the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin, or adenylate cyclase inhibitor SQ22536. IGF-I and bFGF expression levels were assessed by Northern blot analysis. The addition of bFGF to culture medium down-regulated IGF-I expression in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Decrease of IGF-I expression started at a bFGF concentration of 1 ng ml-1. IGF-I mRNA level declined to 44% of baseline level at 10 ng ml-1 of bFGF, and reached a trough of 40% at 50 ng ml-1. At 10 ng ml-1 of bFGF, down-regulation of IGF-I expression was observed as early as 4 hr (60%) after treatment, and reached a trough of 42% by 8 hr. The temporal and concentration dependence of IGF-I expression by addition of the PKC activator PMA, to culture medium was similar to that due to the addition of bFGF. The down-regulation of IGF-I expression by bFGF (10 ng ml-1) and PMA (0.1 microM) was blocked by the PKC inhibitors H-7 (30 microM) and calphostin C (1 microM). Forskolin (5 microM), an adenylate cyclase activator, had activator, had no effect on IGF-I expression. SQ22536 (100 microM), an adenylate cyclase inhibitor, and H-89, a PKA inhibitor, had no inhibitory effect on bFGF-induced down-regulation of IGF-I expression. These results indicate that bFGF down-regulates IGF-I expression in cultured rat M uller cells through PKC activation.     

Lipid determination in fish meal: An investigation of three standard methods applied to stabilised and non-stabilised anchovy meals at increasing stages of maturity

An investigation into the relative merits of three standard laboratory procedures for lipid determination in fish meal is described. It was found that the amount of lipid extracted by these methods from both stabilised and non-stabilised anchovy meals decreased on storage of the meals. The decrease in lipid yield as a function of the storage time may be approximated by straight lines, which reveal clear distinctions between the three methods as well as the two types of meal. The cold Bligh and Dyer method gave consistently higher lipid yields than either the hot hexane or a modified EEC method, and the decrease in the Bligh and Dyer lipid content with storage was less than that found in the hot hexane or the EEC lipid content. This difference was more pronounced in the non-stabilised than in the stabilised meals. No fundamental difference between the hot hexane and the modified EEC lipid extraction method could be established since the hydrolysis step in the EEC procedure does not de polymerise the lipid portion which is unextractable by hot hexane. The effectiveness of the antioxidant ethoxyquin in protecting polyunsaturated fatty acids in anchovy meal from oxidation is demonstrated.     

Seeing and Being Seen: The Effects on Gesture Production

Speakers are argued to adapt their language production to their addressee's needs. For instance, speakers produce fewer and smaller hand gestures when interlocutors cannot see each other. Yet is this because speakers know their addressee cannot see them, or because they themselves do not see their addressee? By means of computer‐mediated communication we manipulated these factors independently. We found that speakers took into account what their addressee saw. They produced more and larger gestures when they knew the addressee could see them. Seeing the addressee increased gesture production only if speakers could readily interpret the addressee's eye gaze, which is not usually the case in mediated interaction. Adding this affordance resulted in gesturing being similar in mediated and unmediated communication.     

Comparative study of protection of AA 2024-T3 exposed to rare earth salts solutions

The inhibitive effects of the dibutyl phosphate anion in cerium dibutylphosphate [Ce(dbp)₃] on AA 2024-T351 immersed in 0·05M NaCl were evaluated by comparison with immersion in cerium chloride (CeCl₃) in 0·05M NaCl as well as 0·05M NaCl alone. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray hyperspectral mapping were used to examine the surfaces after exposure to the different inhibitor solutions. It was found that the dibutylphosphate anion produced additional inhibition for the matrix and the S phase intermetallic particles. The most significant mode of corrosion in the absence of inhibitors was in the form of rings of corrosion product. CeCl₃ largely suppressed the formation of the rings of corrosion product, and the Ce(dbp)₃ entirely eliminated them (for the time scales investigated here), indicating the additional inhibitive action of the dibutylphosphate anion.     

Isolation, structure elucidation, and biological activity of the steroid oligoglycosides and polyhydroxysteroids from the Antarctic starfish Acodontaster conspicuus

A total of 19 steroids, of which 13 steroidal oligoglycosides (nine new and four known) and six polyhydroxylated steroids (four new and two known), has been isolated from the Antarctic starfish Acodontaster conspicuus. The mixture is dominated by glycosides composed of steroidal aglycons having the hydroxyl groups typically disposed on one side of the tetracyclic nucleus, i.e., 3 beta,4 beta,6 alpha,8,15 beta-, with some having a sulfate at C-6, and differing in the side chains and/or in the disaccharide moieties that are usually attached at C-26, with some at C-28 and C-29. Those compounds are accompanied by minute amounts of glycosides with a delta 8(14)-double bond in the steroid, which is a structural feature not previously found among polyhydroxysteroids derived from starfish. Small amounts of six related unglycosidated polyhydroxysteroids and three higher-molecular-weight asterosaponins complete the composition of the mixture. The structures of the new compounds were determined by interpretation of their spectral data and by comparison with spectral data of known compounds. Eighteen of these compounds were evaluated for their ability to inhibit growth in Antarctic marine bacteria isolated from either the water column or the surfaces of benthic marine invertebrates. Of these compounds, 50% were active against at least one Antarctic marine bacterium. This suggests that these compounds may play an important role in deterring microbial fouling.     

A comparative electrochemical study of commercial and model aluminium alloy (AA5050)

A comparative electrochemical study of commercially recycled AA5050 and model AA5050, in their as‐cast state, is carried out to investigate the effect of recycling and furthermore the effect of trace elements like Pb, Cu, etc on electrochemical activation and filiform corrosion (FFC) susceptibility. A systematic combination of surface analytical techniques like scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy (SKPFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) is used to study the composition and electrochemical behaviour of second phase particles. These results, together with localized breakdown measurements using the electrochemical micro‐cell, elucidate the effect of recycling and the role played by trace elements in influencing the electrochemical behaviour of the alloy.