A comparative diuretic and tissue distribution study of bumetanide and furosemide in the dog

Intravenous dose-response data obtained from renal clearance studies in anesthetized dogs indicated that bumetanide was approximately 30-fold more potent than furosemide in enhancing sodium excretion. After the administration of 0.01 mg/kg of bumetanide or 1.0 mg/kg of furosemide, the relationship between i.v. diuretic activity and tissue distribution was evaluated. In dog renal clearance experiments, bumetanide and furosemide significantly enhanced urine flow, sodium and potassium excretion. Inulin clearance as an estimate of glomerular filtration rate was not altered by either drug, but sodium reabsorption was decreased with bumetanide (13%) and furosemide (12%). At these diuretic doses, both compounds were bound to dog plasma protein to about the same extent (86-91%), although total plasma levels were 100-fold higher for furosemide. Within 1/2 hour after the i.v. administration of 14C-bumetanide or 14C-furosemide, 86 to 99% of the 14C in urine, plasma, kidney, and liver appeared as unchanged drug. One minute after maximal diuresis bumetanide was found to have a higher affinity (3-fold) for kidney compared to furosemide. These data offer a possible explanation for the i.v. diuretic potency difference between these two compounds. Furthermore, the lack of significant difference in plasma protein binding and the absence of urinary metabolites of either drug suggest that other factors may also contribute to the marked differences in diuretic activity between bumetanide and furosemide.     

Seroepidemiologic investigations of human hepatitis caused by A, B, and a possible third virus

The results of magnet implantation in the upper and lower eyelids of 29 patients suffering from Keratopathia due to lagophthalmos due to facial palsy as well as the surgical techniques involved are described. Contrary to a lateral tarsorrhaphy - still popular today - this method does not alter the form or the size of the palpebral fissure nor does it hinder the visual field. It is technically simple to perform and easily reversible should nerve function recover. The subjective results were also good.     

Effect of dry‐salt processing on the textural properties and cell wall polysaccharides of cv. Thasos black olives

BACKGROUND: Thasos is an olive variety cultivated mainly in Greece used to produce ‘naturally black dry‐salted olives’. This process consists in placing the olives in disposed layers with coarse sodium chloride. The loss of water and other solutes gradually debitters and wrinkles the fruits. In this study, the effect of dry‐salt processing on the texture and cell wall polysaccharide composition was investigated. RESULTS: This type of processing affected primarily the mechanical properties of the olive flesh. In processed olives, this tissue was approximately 4.5 times stronger and also more deformable up to failure and stiffer than that from the raw olives. The dry‐salt processing had its strongest effect on pectic polysaccharides. This included the increment of solubilization of arabinose‐rich polymers in aqueous solutions, and thus their partial loss to the soak medium during dry‐salting. Contrarily, galacturonic acid‐rich polymers were further retained in the processed olives, probably by their stabilization within the cell walls by reduction of the electrostatic repulsion between the acidic groups of these polysaccharides due to sodium ions. CONCLUSION: The texture improvement of olive flesh by dry‐salt processing seems to be correlated with the reorganization of the galacturonic acid‐rich pectic polysaccharides into the cell wall of the fruit. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

A signal-detection theory based perspective on design of warning

The effects of warnings are analyzed using a distributed signal-detection theory model. It is established that selectivity always increases effectiveness. The implications to optimal warning design for intermittent versus continuous hazards are discussed. The changes in the behavior of the 6 human subjects in response to changes in the warning levels are consistent with the predictions of the model.     

Prostaglandins suppress an outward potassium current in embryonic rat sensory neurons

One of the challenges in understanding ciliary and flagellar motility is determining the mechanisms that locally regulate dynein-driven microtubule sliding. Our recent studies demonstrated that microtubule sliding, in Chlamydomonas flagella, is regulated by phosphorylation. However, the regulatory proteins remain unknown. Here we identify the 138-kD intermediate chain of inner arm dynein I1 as the critical phosphoprotein required for regulation of motility. This conclusion is founded on the results of three different experimental approaches. First, genetic analysis and functional assays revealed that regulation of microtubule sliding, by phosphorylation, requires inner arm dynein I1. Second, in vitro phosphorylation indicated the 138-kD intermediate chain of I1 is the only phosphorylated subunit. Third, in vitro reconstitution demonstrated that phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of the 138-kD intermediate chain inhibits and restores wild-type microtubule sliding, respectively. We conclude that change in phosphorylation of the 138-kD intermediate chain of I1 regulates dynein-driven microtubule sliding. Moreover, based on these and other data, we predict that regulation of I1 activity is involved in modulation of flagellar waveform.     

Study of the vertical transport in <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-doped superlattices based on group III-V semiconductors

The electrical conductivity σ has been calculated for p-doped GaAs/Al_0.3Ga_0.7As and cubic GaN/Al_0.3Ga_0.7N thin superlattices (SLs). The calculations are done within a self-consistent approach to the theory by means of a full six-band Luttinger-Kohn Hamiltonian, together with the Poisson equation in a plane wave representation, including exchange correlation effects within the local density approximation. It was also assumed that transport in the SL occurs through extended minibands states for each carrier, and the conductivity is calculated at zero temperature and in low-field ohmic limits by the quasi-chemical Boltzmann kinetic equation. It was shown that the particular minibands structure of the p-doped SLs leads to a plateau-like behavior in the conductivity as a function of the donor concentration and/or the Fermi level energy. In addition, it is shown that the Coulomb and exchange-correlation effects play an important role in these systems, since they determine the bending potential.