Ultrastructure of nerve plexus in flatworms. III. The infra-epithelial nervous system

In addition to a submuscular and subepithelial nerve plexus an infra-epithelial nerve-net also occurs in Notoplana acticola. It contains naked nerve cells which lie between the bases of epithelial cells. Individual neurites occur separately or in small tracts. Synapses contain clear spherical vesicles and are polarized. Post-synaptic neurites tend to be flat and ribbon-like. Rhabdite and mucus secreting cells in the epithelium have synapses associated with them. Neurites ending on the rhabdites appear to originate in the subepithelial plexus. The "sensory-free nerve endings" of earlier workers are reinterpreted as being motor terminals on epithelial secretory cells.     

Physical, Mental, and Social Catastrophic Cognitions as Prognostic Factors in Cognitive-Behavioral and Pharmacological Treatments for Panic Disorder.

The authors explored the prognostic value of 3 different types of catastrophic cognitions in the treatment of panic disorder with and without mild-to-moderate agoraphobia using a sample of 143 participants who received either cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or imipramine in a randomized controlled trial. Stronger fears of social catastrophes both prior to and following treatment with CBT or imipramine were associated with a poorer outcome. In contrast, cognitions involving physical or mental catastrophes were unrelated to outcome, regardless of whether these thoughts were measured prior to or following treatment. These findings are consistent with the notion that although the intensity of physical catastrophe cognitions may best discriminate between panic disorder and other anxiety disorders, it is the intensity of social catastrophe cognitions that is most closely tied to success in treating this disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Magnetic separation studies on ferruginous chromite fine to enhance Cr:Fe ratio

The Cr:Fe ratio (chromium-to-iron mass ratio) of chromite affects the production of chrome-based ferroalloys. Although the lit-erature contains numerous reports related to the magnetic separation of di...     

Developments Affecting the Practice of Architecture Specialization of Practice

Abstract

Solar technology is burdened with a stigma that contradicts a sense of proportion and beauty in building. Arbitrarily attached to new or existing construction, the technology is often associated with a small clique of individuals disenfranchised from the mainstream. This project is designed to challenge these perceptions and reestablish the ideals of solar energy by integrating architecture and technology. It pushes existing paradigms by proposing architectural form that celebrates solar power while obtaining a high level of system integration. As each technical decision was measured against its contribution to spatial effect, the project attained a simultaneous sense of the sustainable and the beautiful.     

Effects of molecular oxygen on multiphoton-excited photochemical analysis of hydroxyindoles

We have examined the effects of dissolved molecular oxygen on multiphoton-excited (MPE) photochemical derivatization of serotonin (5HT) and related cellular metabolites in various buffer systems and find that oxygen has a profound effect on the formation efficiency of visible-emitting photoproducts. Previously, end-column MPE photoderivatization provided low mass detection limits for capillary electrophoretic analysis of hydroxyindoles, but relied on the use of Good's buffers to generate high-sensitivity visible signal. In the present studies, visible emission from 5HT photoderivatized in different buffers varied by 20-fold under ambient oxygen levels but less than 2-fold in the absence of oxygen; oxygen did not significantly alter the photoproduct excited-state lifetime (approximately 0.8 ns). These results support a model in which oxygen interferes with formation of visible-emitting photoproducts by quenching a reaction intermediate, an effect that can be suppressed by buffer molecules. Deoxygenation of capillary electrophoresis separation buffers improves mass detection limits for 5-hydroxyindoles fractionated in 600-nm channels by approximately 2-fold to < or =30000 molecules and provides new flexibility in identifying separation conditions for resolving 5HT from molecules with similar electrophoretic mobilities, such as the catecholamine neurotransmitters.     

Cytolysis and piecemeal degranulation as distinct modes of activation of airway mucosal eosinophils

In contrast to the protective effect of chronic caloric restriction on tumor development, we have shown that fasting sustained tumor initiation in rat liver by a noninitiating dose of diethylnitrosamine. Here we investigated whether fasting had a similar favorable effect on initiation in the colorectal mucosa in 80 male F344 rats. Animals fasted for 4 days were given a single s.c. dose of azoxymethane (AOM) (20 mg/kg) on the first day of re-feeding, and rates of kinetic proliferative parameters, and development of the pre-neoplastic lesions such as aberrant crypt foci (ACF), were evaluated. Starvation before AOM treatment enhanced the growth of ACF, as shown by the significantly higher crypt multiplicity of fasted/re-fed rats as compared with fully fed rats (3.97 +/- 0.50 vs. 2.64 +/- 0.20, p < or = 0.025). This difference was associated with perturbations in cell death and cell proliferation. Fasting induced apoptosis and depressed cell division, while re-feeding had opposite effects, resulting in a higher percentage of S-phase cells at the time of AOM injection and 2 days thereafter. Starvation-induced apoptosis may represent the mitogenic stimulus to an increase in the number of cells susceptible to AOM damage, and may favor its fixation, leading to enhanced growth of ACF. Our data therefore suggest that fasting/re-feeding enhances colon cancer.     

Menin, the product of the MEN1 gene, is a nuclear protein

The MEN1 gene, mutations in which are responsible for multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), encodes a 610-amino acid protein, denoted menin. The amino acid sequence of this putative tumor suppressor offers no clue to the function or subcellular location of the protein. We report herein, based on immunofluorescence, Western blotting of subcellular fractions, and epitope tagging with enhanced green fluorescent protein, that menin is located primarily in the nucleus. Enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged menin deletion constructs identify at least two independent nuclear localization signals (NLS), both located in the C-terminal fourth of the protein. Among the 68 known independent disease-associated mutations, none of the 22 missense and 3 in-frame deletions affect either of the putative NLS sequences. However, if expressed, none of the truncated menin proteins resulting from the 43 known frameshift/nonsense mutations would retain both the NLSs. The precise role(s) of menin in the nucleus remain to be understood.     

Specific binding of L-triiodothyronine modulates Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity in adult rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes

Interactions of L-triiodothyronine (T3) in adult rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes were studied in vitro. Scatchard plot analysis revealed two sets of T3 binding sites. The degree of saturation of T3 binding sites (putative receptor) correlated well with the dose-dependent inhibition of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity in synaptosomes. The relative binding affinities and relative inhibition of enzyme activities for different TH analogues were L-T3 > T3-amine > TRIAC = L-T4 > r-T3 > T2 and L-T3 > T3-amine > TRIAC > L-T4 > r-T3 > T2, respectively. The present study demonstrates the nature of inhibition of synaptosomal Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity may be as a function of T3 occupancy of synaptosomal receptor sites in adult mammalian brain.