Demethylation of the progesterone receptor CpG island is not required for progesterone receptor gene expression

In a previous study we have shown that an intravenous infusion of pramlintide (an analogue of human amylin) delayed gastric emptying, but the dose of pramlintide was supraphysiological in relation to the amylin response to food in non-diabetic subjects. The purpose of this study was to examine the dose response relationship of subcutaneous injections of pramlintide on gastric emptying and to determine whether administration of the drug before one meal has an impact on the subsequent meal. Eleven men with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were studied in a double-blind, randomised, four-way crossover design. None had autonomic neuropathy. Euglycaemia was maintained overnight before the study day. At -30 min the patients self-injected their usual morning insulin and at -15 min they injected the study drug (either placebo or 30, 60 or 90 microg pramlintide) subcutaneously. At 0 min they ate a standard meal consisting of a pancake, labelled with 99mTc, and a milkshake containing 3-ortho-methylglucose (3-OMG). Gastric emptying images were obtained for the next 8 h. At 240 min the subjects ate a similar meal, but on this occasion the pancake was labelled with (111)In. All three doses of pramlintide delayed emptying of the solid component of the first meal (p < 0.004) with no significant difference between the drug doses. There were no differences between placebo and pramlintide after the second meal. All three doses of pramlintide resulted in a prolongation in the time to peak plasma 3-OMG level (p < 0.0001) after the first meal but there was no difference after the second meal.     

The regulation of drugs and medicines in horse racing in the United States. The Association of Racing Commissioners International Uniform Classification of Foreign Substances Guidelines

It is proposed that both polar and radical reactions should be considered when discussing radical ion reactivity. The fact that only the polar reactivity has dominated previous discussions is pointed out. It is argued that if the configuration mixing model is applicable for the estimation of radical cation-nucleophile (or cation-nucleophile) combination reaction barriers, the theory should also explain the reactivity of the proton toward anionic nucleophiles. The model severely overestimates reaction barriers for the latter reactions. The discussion is centered around the following hypothesis: In the absence of severe steric effects, the reactivity of radical ions, especially evident in the reactions with radicals (for example very few radical cations react with dioxygen at measurable rates), is dominated by the degree of coupling between charge and radical centers. Evidence from the literature supporting the hypothesis is presented for a number of different classes of radical ion reactions. Further work to test the validity of the hypothesis is proposed for many of the reaction types. Triarylmethyl radicals and carbenium ions are suggested as models to which the radical and polar reactivities of 9,10-diarylanthracene radical cations may be compared. It is concluded that the radical cation/carbenium ion comparison (for the reaction with acetate ion) would show similar reactivities while the radical cation/free radical comparison (for the reaction with dioxygen) would fail, since no reaction at all would be observed with the radical cation while the free radical reacts rapidly.     

A primate model for enteral nutrition by tube

To establish an animal model for the controlled study of enteral nutrition by tube, five adult chair-adapted primates (Macaca fasicularis) had gastrostomy and jejunostomy tubes placed for the delivery of a modified protein isolate diet. Following 7 days of postoperative depletion with a hypocaloric infusion of dextrose (20 kcal, 0 g N/kg/day), the animals were repleted for 10 days with tube feedings (124 kcal, 0.73 g N/kg/day). There was no operative mortality or morbidity and each animal demonstrated conversion to anabolism by significant weight gain, positive nitrogen balance, and net protein synthesis as determined by [15N]glycine protein turnover rates. Significant correlation was found between caloric intake and nitrogen balance at the level of nitrogen provided in this diet (r = 0.88, p less than 0.05). This model was found to be well suited for the surgical and nutritional techniques required for the long-term study of enteral nutrition by tube.     

Effects of albumin and/or furosemide therapy on pulmonary edema induced by hydrochloric acid aspiration in rabbits

Aspiration of hydrochloric acid in rabbits resulted in an increased P(A-a)O2 together with increases in both lung water volume and lung extravascular albumin. This finding suggests lung damage following acid aspiration is related to changes in capillary permeability, with pulmonary edema resulting from the movement of albumin and water into the interstitial space. Therapy with albumin and furosemide together reduced the lung water and albumin accumulation and decreased P(A-a)O2. Treatment with albumin or furosemide alone was ineffective. Caution should be exercised in administering albumin alone for therapy of pulmonary edema when plasma protein is not clearly decreased, or when increased pulmonary capillary permeability is suspected.     

Overselectivity, developmental level, and overtraining in autistic and normal children

Thirteen autistic children were compared to 13 normal children matched to them in mental age, on performance of a visual discrimination task. Form, color, and size were relevant and redundant cues. The groups did not differ significantly in mean trials to reach criterion or in breadth of learning, and both groups increased their breadth of learning after 50 trials of overtraining. Form was preferred to color and size by both autistic and normal children. Within each group, rank on mental age was highly correlated with rank in breadth of learning. Verbal and nonverbal autistic children did not differ in breadth of learning or in dimensional preference. Even nonverbal autistics equaled the performance of their normal controls. Our results suggest that overselective attention is better understood as part of a general developmental lag in cognition in autistic children than as a specific deficit underlying psychotic behavior.     

Evolvable hardware techniques for on-chip automated reconfiguration of programmable devices

While complete automated design is a harder problem than computer-assisted design, automated hardware reconfiguration is an even more challenging problem, because it needs to adjust to limited resources and various factors, such as noise and parasitic capacitance, a resistance and inductance. This paper presents some experimental results of on-chip automated design and reconfiguration using evolvable hardware techniques. It describes a stand-alone board level evolvable system, and its use to demonstrate on-chip synthesis of new circuits in only a few seconds. The experiments presented here indicate a recovery capability in the case of extreme environmental conditions, such as extreme temperatures, that adversely affect electronics. Some of the difficulties of dealing with the real hardware are exposed, as well as challenges more generally related to automated evolution of complex electronic systems.The work described in this paper was performed at the Center for Integrated Space Microsystems, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.     

A study of film formation on aluminum in aqueous solutions using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy

The growth of hydrated surface films on 99.99% pure aluminum in aqueous media at 100°C has been studied with Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). The effects of the inhibitor anions borate, molybdate, nitrate, phosphate, sulfate, silicate and tungstate, and of ethylene glycol on this reaction were observed at concentration levels typical of automotive coolant formulations. The behavior of the inorganic anions studied is classified roughly into three types. In the first, typical of silicate, the inhibitor reacts with the surface to both prevent formation of the aluminum hydroxide layer, as well as limit the uptake of additional species by the surface. In a second mode, characteristic of nitrate and sulfate additions, the surface hydroxide develops, but at lower levels than those obtained in pure water. In yet another mode, characteristic of phosphate, molybdate and tungstate, the inhibitor anions are continually incorporated into a growing film which appears to be a hydrated aluminum salt of the particular anion, rather than pseudo-boehmite. Ethylene glycol is found to act primarily as a diluent in reducing the overall rate of film growth in aqueous solutions.