Biological and phytochemical evaluation of plants. XIV. Antiinflammatory evaluation of 163 species of plants

One hundred and seventy-seven plant extracts, representing 163 species of plants and/or fungi, were evaluated in rats to determine their antiinflammatory activity using the carrageenin-induced pedal edema assay. Of the 163 species of plants and/or fungi tested, 17 exhibited between 30--39 per cent inhibition of inflammation, 21 between 40-49 per cent, 15 between 50--59 per cent, four between 60--69 per cent, and two gave greater than 70 per cent inhibition of carrageenin-induced pedal edema.     

Late manifestations of sickle cell trait (author''s transl)

As a result of a previous trial in which factors influencing swelling of the hand after fasciectomy were studied it was found that unacceptable oedema occurred in hands elevated in a roller towel by night and a high sling by day. An alternative system of elevation in a vacuum splint was investigated and found to reduce post-operative oedema. The advantages and disadvantages of the vacuum splint in the management of the hand after surgery or injury are discussed.     

Damping of multi-modal oscillations in power systems using adual-rate adaptive stabilizer

The ability of a dual-rate adaptive stabilizer to damp multimode oscillations in a power system is investigated. The controller adjusts its parameters to track the dominant frequency of oscillation and damps different modes one by one according to their dominance. The results show that adaptive and conventional stabilizers working on different units within a system can operate cooperatively and mutually support each other     

Voting mechanisms in distributed systems

It is shown how voting mechanisms can be exploited to improve the reliability of decisions in a distributed system. A model of decision making in which several processors (nodes) are assigned to work independently on various aspects of a problem and each returns a binary answer to a coordinator node is assumed. The coordinator combines the answers, using a voting mechanism to arrive at a final answer. Two issues are addressed: (1) if the reliability of each node is known, then by assigning suitable votes to the various nodes it is possible to maximize the probability of a correct decision by the coordinator; and (2) if a cost vs. reliability function for each node is known, then it is possible to determine a best operating point for each node so as to minimize the total cost of the computation. Algorithms for minimizing the cost were designed and tested, and conditions under which savings can be realized were identified     

Hominid thumb strength predicted by high resolution magnetic resonance imaging and force measurements in living subjects

The domestic cat (Felis domesticus) is an important source of indoor allergens, the major allergen being Fel d1 (formerly cat allergen 1). Fel d1 is responsible for cat allergy and has also been established to cause cat-induced asthma. The allergen is a 38 kDa dimer composed of two 19 kDa subunits. Each 19 kDa subunit comprises two disulfide linked polypeptide chains, a light alpha-chain and a heavy beta-chain containing an N-linked oligosaccharide. In this study a variety of endoproteinase digestions of the native allergen in combination with HPLC and matrix-assisted laser desorption mass spectrometry was used to determine the position of the disulfide bridges and to demonstrate that the peptide chains are linked in an anti parallel way. Enzymatic digestion of the reduced and alkylated peptides located the N-glycan to Asn33. Moreover, Fel d1 is found to be partially truncated and to exist in several isoforms. Sequential degradation of the glycosylated peptide with specific glycosidases monitored by mass spectrometry, shows that the glycan is a heterogeneous triantennary complex type structure. The heterogeneity is caused by terminal sialic acid and a fucose residue attached to a beta-galactose residue.     

Intraventricular and brachial artery thrombosis in nephrotic syndrome

PURPOSE: To investigate the influence of hyperthermia up to 45 degrees C on fibrinolysis with recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA). METHODS: Standardized fibrin clots were incubated in a water bath for 5 hr with either rt-PA (test group) or 0.9% sodium chloride (control group) and blood plasma at temperatures of 30-45 degrees C. Concentrations of D-dimer and time to complete clot lysis were measured. RESULTS: The activity of fibrinolysis with rt-PA rose with increasing temperature: time to lysis approximately halved from 30 degrees C to 40 degrees C and the concentration of D-dimer tripled. In the control group clot size did not change. CONCLUSIONS: Activity of rt-PA-induced fibrinolysis rises distinctly with higher temperatures. Since even healthy subjects show a physiologic decline in body temperature in the extremities, in patients with occlusive arterial disease decreased activity of fibrinolysis with rt-PA can be expected. Controlled hyperthermia may improve fibrinolysis with rt-PA and should be investigated in vivo.     

Sniffing and smelling: separate subsystems in the human olfactory cortex

The sensation and perception of smell (olfaction) are largely dependent on sniffing, which is an active stage of stimulus transport and therefore an integral component of mammalian olfaction. Electrophysiological data obtained from study of the hedgehog, rat, rabbit, dog and monkey indicate that sniffing (whether or not an odorant is present) induces an oscillation of activity in the olfactory bulb, driving the piriform cortex in the temporal lobe, in other words, the piriform is driven by the olfactory bulb at the frequency of sniffing. Here we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that is dependent on the level of oxygen in the blood to determine whether sniffing can induce activation in the piriform of humans, and whether this activation can be differentiated from activation induced by an odorant. We find that sniffing, whether odorant is present or absent, induces activation primarily in the piriform cortex of the temporal lobe and in the medial and posterior orbito-frontal gyri of the frontal lobe. The source of the sniff-induced activation is the somatosensory stimulation that is induced by air flow through the nostrils. In contrast, a smell, regardless of sniffing, induces activation mainly in the lateral and anterior orbito-frontal gyri of the frontal lobe. The dissociation between regions activated by olfactory exploration (sniffing) and regions activated by olfactory content (smell) shows a distinction in brain organization in terms of human olfaction.     

Phenotypic effect of isogenic uspA1 and uspA2 mutations on Moraxella catarrhalis 035E

The UspA surface antigen of Moraxella catarrhalis was recently shown to be comprised of two different proteins (UspA1 and UspA2) which share an internal region containing 140 amino acids with 93% identity (C. Aebi, I. Maciver, J. L. Latimer, L. D. Cope, M. K. Stevens, S. E. Thomas, G. H. McCracken, Jr., and E. J. Hansen, Infect. Immun. 65:4367-4377, 1997). Isogenic uspA1, uspA2, and uspA1 uspA2 mutants were tested in a number of in vitro systems to determine what effect these mutations, either individually or together, might exert on the phenotype of M. catarrhalis 035E. Monoclonal antibodies specific for UspA1 or UspA2 were used in an indirect antibody accessibility assay to prove that both of these proteins were expressed on the surface of M. catarrhalis. All three mutants grew in vitro at the same rate and did not exhibit autoagglutination or hemagglutination properties that were detectably different from those of the wild-type parent strain. When tested for the ability to adhere to human epithelial cells, the wild-type parent strain and the uspA2 mutant readily attached to Chang conjunctival cells. In contrast, the uspA1 mutant and the uspA1 uspA2 double mutant both attached to these epithelial cells at a level nearly 2 orders of magnitude lower than that obtained with the wild-type parent strain, a result which suggested that expression of UspA1 by M. catarrhalis is essential for attachment to these epithelial cells. Both the wild-type parent strain and the uspA1 mutant were resistant to the bactericidal activity of normal human serum, whereas the uspA2 mutant and the uspA1 uspA2 double mutant were readily killed by this serum. This latter result indicated that the presence of UspA2 is essential for expression of serum resistance by M. catarrhalis.     

Estimates of interdialytic sodium and water intake based on the balance principle: differences between nondiabetic and diabetic subjects on hemodialysis

Whether salt or water intake is the primary cause of interdialytic weight gain (deltaW) has important implication for the design of measures to prevent large deltaW. In 17 hemodialysis patients dialyzed against a bath containing 140 mmol/L of sodium, monthly predialysis serum sodium was compared with post dialysis serum sodium. A decrease in serum sodium in the interdialytic period would indicate that primary water consumption accounts for at least part of the deltaW. Interdialytic sodium intake, isotonic fluid gain (deltaW(isotonic)) and net pure water gain (deltaWH2O) were calculated by balance formulae. Serum sodium concentration was corrected in diabetic subjects to the value corresponding to euglycemia (100 mg/dl). Estimated interdialytic sodium intake was compared with the prescribed sodium intake and, in seven subjects, to sodium intake estimated from dietary records. Results for nondiabetic subjects (N = 9): [Na]post 139.3 +/- 1.9 mmol/L, [Na]pre 140.1 +/- 2.1 mmol/L (NS), deltaW 1.15 +/- 0.55 L/24 hr, deltaW(isotonic) 1.33 +/- 0.57 L/24 hr, deltaWH2O -0.20 +/- 0.58 L/24 hr, estimated sodium intake 206 +/- 75 mmol/24 hr, prescribed sodium intake 121 +/- 29 mmol/24 hr (p = 0.028). Results for diabetic subjects (N = 7): [Na]post 140.1 +/- 2.5 mmol/L, [Na]pre 137.7 +/- 3.1 mmol/L (p < 0.01), deltaW 1.26 +/- 0.38 L/24 hr, deltaW(isotonic) 0.59 +/- 0.63 L/24 hr, deltaWH2O 0.66 +/- 0.39 L/24 hr, estimated sodium intake 160 +/- 81 mmol/24 hr, prescribed sodium intake 124 +/- 30 mmol/24 hr (NS), glycosylated hemoglobin 9.7 +/- 2.8% (normal, 4.1-5.7%). In seven subjects, estimates of sodium intake from balance formulae (233 +/- 113 mmol/24 hr) were not different from estimates from dietary records (212 +/- 87 mmol/24 hr). Sodium intake accounted for all the interdialytic weight gain in nondiabetic subjects. In diabetic patients, only approximately half of the interdialytic weight gain was accounted for by sodium intake. The other half was due to pure water gain, probably caused by hyperglycemia.