Ascorbic acid is a stimulatory cofactor for mitochondrial glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

We describe in this report a sensitive and direct method for the analysis of tamoxifen (TAM) in microsamples of plasma. The drug and internal standard (quinine bisulfate, I.S.) were separated on a 10-microm particle, 10 cm X 8 mm CN cartridge in conjunction with a radial compression system. The mobile phase was a mixture of 0.1 M sodium acetate in 0.001 M tetrabutylammonium phosphate solution (pH 6) and methanol (30:70, v/v) at a flow-rate of 4 ml/min. After addition of I.S. and o-phosphoric acid in acetonitrile (0.6 M) to the plasma (30 microl), the mixture was placed in an ultraviolet shortwave transluminator for 2 min prior to injection into the chromatograph. The compounds were detected in the effluent fluorometrically at excitation and emission wavelengths of 258 and 378 nm, respectively. Under these conditions, no interference in the assay from any endogenous substance or other concurrently used drugs was observed and the retention times of I.S. and TAM were 4.4 and 10.15 min, respectively. The concentration of TAM in plasma was linearly (r>0.9983) related to the peak height ratio (TAM/I.S.) in the range 0.01-2.0 microg ml(-1) and C.V. at 0.075, 0.4 and 1.2 microg ml(-1) was < or = 4.96%. We are currently using this assay for monitoring TAM in plasma and investigating its pharmacokinetics in cancer patients receiving cytotoxic drugs in addition to TAM as a multi-drug resistance modifier.     

Stereotactic radiosurgery of malignant and benign intracranial lesions utilizing a patient rotator

The objective of this survey was to demonstrate whether a primary care track internal medicine residency program emphasizing community-based health care of the urban sick poor trains physicians who will continue to practice in general internal medicine or similar fields. Thirty-five primary care residents (100% of graduates) who trained from 1976 through 1993 in the Adult Primary Care Track of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York were used as participants.     

Responses of ligamentous fibroblasts to mechanical stimulation

Mechanical stimulation, as provided by physiotherapy or controlled motion is essentially the only factor able to improve anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) healing. We investigate the cellular effects of such stimulus. Two types of stimulations are applied on canine ACL fibroblasts: repetitive stretch of an elastomeric adhesion substrate and a laminar flow of culture media over the culture surface. Cell orientation, proliferation rate, synthesis and type of collagen as well as proteoglycans (PG) synthesis and hydrodynamic characteristics have been studied. According to our results, the fibroblasts tend to align perpendicularly to the deformation axis of their substrate, and along a laminar flow. The shear stress induced by the laminar flow does not modify significantly proliferation rate nor extracellular matrix synthesis. Substrate stretching however, increases proliferation rate, collagen synthesis, mostly type III, and PG synthesis, principally of small sizes. The characteristics of fibroblasts submitted to repeated deformation match those of fibroblasts from ligament scar tissues. Their orientation perpendicular to substratum deformation differs from the one usually encountered in the undamaged tissue: aligned on the ligament axis.     

Homogeneity of fruits and vegetables comminuted in a vertical cutter mixer

The homogeneity of comminuted composites of 20 lb samples of apples, cabbage, and green beans containing field-incurred residues of p, p'-methoxychlor was studied to determine whether a 5 min comminution in a 40 qt vertical cutter mixer produces a homogeneous composite and whether the size of test portions used accurately represents the composite. Duplicate test portions of 100, 50, 25, 10, 5, and 2 g taken from each of 6 separate sections of the mixer were analyzed by standard pesticide residue methodology for p, p'-methoxychlor. Results of this study confirmed that comminution of fresh produce in a 40 qt vertical cutter mixer, according to instructions described in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Pesticide Analytical Manual, Volume I, Section 203B, produces a homogeneous composite. No significant differences were found in the data for the 3 crops taken from the 6 sections of the mixer. Test portion weights of 100, 50, and 25 g produced equivalent results for all 3 crops. Statistically significant differences were observed for cabbage at 2, 5, and 10 g and for green beans at 2 g.     

Effect of intrathecal nimodipine on spinal cord blood flow and evoked potentials in the normal or injured cord

A method was developed for administering intrathecal pharmacotherapy in a rat model of spinal cord injury. The effects of intrathecal administration of nimodipine on spinal cord blood flow (SCBF) and evoked potentials (EPs) were measured in the normal and injured spinal cord. It had previously been shown that systemic nimodipine caused severe hypotension after spinal cord injury. After baseline SCBF and EPs, 15 uninjured rats were blindly allocated to one of three groups: one placebo group (n = 5); and two groups with intrathecal nimodipine, 0.05 mg/kg (n = 5), or 0.2 mg/kg (n = 5). Ten other rats received a 35 g acute clip compression injury of the spinal cord for 1 minute and, were allocated to one of two groups: placebo (n = 5); and intrathecal nimodipine 0.05 mg/kg (n = 5) given 60 min after injury. In the uninjured groups, neither 0.05 nor 0.2 mg/kg of nimodipine increased SCBF during, or 30 min after, intrathecal infusion. However, the mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) decreased significantly to 69.73.1% after the infusion of 0.2 mg/kg nimodipine and did not recover by 98 min. In all three groups of uninjured rats, the amplitude of the cerebellar EP was decreased 30 min after infusion. After spinal cord injury, there were significant decreases in MABP, SCBF and EP amplitude in both placebo and treatment groups, but there was no therapeutic benefit from nimodipine. Thus, intrathecal infusion of nimodipine did not prevent the hypotension encountered with systemic administration and exerted no beneficial effect on SCBF or EPs after acute spinal cord injury.     

Advantages of CDMA and spread spectrum techniques over FDMA andTDMA in cellular mobile radio applications

A unified theoretical method for the calculation of the radio capacity of multiple-access schemes such as FDMA (frequency-division multiple access), TDMA (time-division multiple access), CDMA (code-division multiple access) and SSMA (spread-spectrum multiple access) in noncellular and cellular mobile radio systems is presented for AWGN (additive white Gaussian noise) channels. The theoretical equivalence of all the considered multiple-access schemes is found. In a fading multipath environment, which is typical for mobile radio applications, there are significant differences between these multiple-access schemes. These differences are discussed in an illustrative manner revealing several advantages of CDMA and SSMA over FDMA and TDMA. Novel transmission and reception schemes called coherent multiple transmission and coherent multiple reception are briefly presented     

Structural plasticity in RNA and its role in the regulation of protein translation in coliphage Q beta

We have analyzed both conformational and functional changes caused by two large cis-acting deletions (delta 159 and delta 549) located within the read-through domain, a 850 nucleotide hairpin, in coliphage Q beta genomic RNA. Studies in vivo show that co-translational regulation of the viral coat and replicase genes has been uncoupled in viral genomes carrying deletion delta 159. Translational regulation is restored in deletion delta 549, a naturally evolved pseudorevertant. Structural analysis by computer modeling shows that structural features within the read-through domain of delta 159 RNA are less well determined than they are in the read-through domain of wild-type RNA, whereas predicted structure in the read-through domain of evolved pseudorevertant delta 549 is unusually well determined. Structural analysis by electron microscopy of the genomic RNAs shows that several long range helices at the base of the read-through domain, that suppress translational initiation of the viral replicase gene in the wild-type genome, have been destabilized in delta 159 RNA. In addition, the structure of local hairpins within the read-through region is more variable in delta 159 RNA than in wild-type RNA. Stable RNA secondary structure is restored in the read-through domain of delta 549 RNA. Our analyses suggest that structure throughout the read-through domain affects the regulation of viral replicase expression by altering the likelihood that long-range interactions at the base of the domain will form. We discuss possible kinetic and equilibrium models that can explain this effect, and argue that observed changes in structural plasticity within the read-through domain of the mutant genomes are key in understanding the process. During the course of these studies, we became aware of the importance of the information contained in the energy dot plot produced by the RNA secondary structure prediction program mfold. As a result, we have improved the graphical representation of this information through the use of color annotation in the predicted optimal folding. The method is presented here for the first time.     

Effects of various post-treatments on carbon nanotube films for reliable field emission

In this report, the FE characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) treated using both thermal annealing and mechanical coatings on the as-grown CNTs systematically studied. It was found that in the high temperature annealed samples, CNTs were attacked at its root during annealing due to a small amount of oxygen, and were pulled out of the substrate in places after FE measurements because of the contact resistance. However, for the mechanically coated samples both with spin on glass (SOG) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), CNTs were found to be nearly intact after FE measurements and showed reliable FE characteristics over repeatable voltage scan. The reliability of CNTs during FE could be owing to the strong adhesion of CNTs to the substrate both by SOG and PMMA coatings.     

Acidogenic fermentation of blended food‐waste in combination with primary sludge for the production of volatile fatty acids

The performance of a laboratory‐scale anaerobic acidogenic fermenter fed with a mixture of blended kitchen food‐waste and primary sludge from a sewage treatment plant was investigated for the production of volatile fatty acids (VFA). The operating variables for acidogenic fermentation were kitchen food‐waste content (10 and 25 wt %), hydraulic retention time (HRT: 1, 3 and 5 days), temperature (ambient: 18 ± 2 °C, and mesophilic: 35 ± 2 °C) and pH (varied from 5.2 to 6.7). The experimental results indicated that effluent VFA concentrations and VFA production rates were higher at ambient temperature than at mesophilic conditions. The net amount of VFA with 10 wt % food‐waste increased up to 920 mg dm^?3 with an increase of HRT, but contrasting results (a decrease of 2610 mg dm^?3) were found due to the conversion of VFA into biogas in the case of 25 wt % food‐waste, which increased significantly at HRT of 3–5 days. In terms of biogas composition (CO₂ and CH₄), the organic matter was converted into CO₂ through the oxidative pathway by facultative species at low temperature while mesophilic temperature and optimum pH (6.3–7.8) played a pivotal role in increasing rate of conversion of VFA into biogas by methanogenesis. Rates of VFA production and their conversion are dependent on the food‐waste content in the mixture. Yet, the higher concentration of food‐waste (25% compared with 10%) did not produce VFA proportionally due to the increased rate of conversion of VFA into gaseous products. The maximum VFA production rate (0.318 g VFA_produced g^?1 VS_fed day^?1) was achieved in the 10 wt % food‐waste at ambient temperature and at a 5‐day HRT. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry