Epithalamin effects on carbohydrate metabolism and cardiovascular system in patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus

Epithelamine made in Russia (Samson, St. Petersburg) was tried for effects on carbohydrate metabolism and cardiovascular system in 33 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Adjuvant use of epithelamine in combined treatment of NIDDM promoted a stable compensation of carbohydrate metabolism, lowering of glycosylated hemoglobin, immunoreactive insulin. There was also a moderate hypotensive effect and improvement of left ventricular diastolic function.     

Using the normal quantile plot to explore meta-analytic data sets.

In a meta-analysis, graphical displays can be used to check statistical assumptions for numerical procedures and they can be used to discover important patterns in the data. The authors propose the normal quantile plot as a preferred alternative to the funnel plot for such purposes. The normal quantile plot, like the funnel plot, can be used to investigate whether all studies come from a single population and to search for publication bias. However, the normal quantile plot is easier to interpret than the funnel plot, especially when it includes 95% confidence bands. In addition, the normal quantile plot can be used to check the normality assumption for numerical procedures. The funnel plot cannot be used for this latter purpose. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional complementation by electroporation of human BACs into mammalian fibroblast cells

Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BACs) have been used to complement a metabolic defect and to transfer a drug resistance marker into mammalian cells by electroporation. The selectable markers are stable and the recipient cells have BAC DNA integrated into the chromosomes as shown by fluorescent in situ hybridization, PCR and Southern hybridization.     

The Veterans Affairs Implantable Insulin Pump Study: effect on cardiovascular risk factors

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether implantable insulin pump (IIP) and multiple-dose insulin (MDI) therapy have different effects on cardiovascular risk factors in insulin-requiring patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A randomized clinical trial was conducted at seven Veterans Affairs medical centers in 121 male patients with type 2 diabetes between the ages of 40 and 69 years receiving at least one injection of insulin per day and with HbA1c, levels of > or =8% at baseline. Weights, blood pressures, insulin use, and glucose monitoring data were obtained at each visit. Lipid levels were obtained at 0, 4, 8, and 12 months, and free and total insulin levels were obtained at 0, 6, and 12 months. All medications being taken were recorded at each visit. RESULTS: No difference in absolute blood pressure, neither systolic nor diastolic, was seen between patients receiving MDI or IIP therapy, but significantly more MDI patients required anti-hypertensive medications. When blood pressure was modeled against weight and time, IIP therapy was significantly better than MDI therapy for systolic blood pressure in patients with BMI <33 and for diastolic blood pressure in patients with BMI >34 kg/m2. Total cholesterol levels decreased in the overall sample, but IIP patients exhibited significantly higher levels than MDI patients. Triglyceride levels increased over time for both groups, with IIP patients having significantly higher levels than patients in the MDI group. BMI was a significant predictor of, and inversely proportional to, HDL cholesterol level. No difference in lipid-lowering drug therapy was seen between the two groups. Free insulin and insulin antibodies tended to decrease in the IIP group as compared with the MDI group. C-peptide levels decreased in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: IIP therapy in insulin-requiring patients with type 2 diabetes has advantages over MDI therapy in decreasing the requirement for antihypertensive therapy and for decreasing total and free insulin and insulin antibodies. Both therapies reduce total cholesterol and C-peptide levels.     

Defective transfer RNA-queuine modification in C3H10T1/2 murine fibroblasts transfected with oncogenic ras

tRNA isoacceptors for aspartic acid, asparagine, histidine, and tyrosine are modified in the anticodon wobble position with the deazaguanine analogue queuine. Queuine modification is defective in many tumors and transformed cell lines, and the extent of hypomodification correlates with staging and outcome in numerous human tumors. The molecular role of queuine modification in normal cells and the mechanisms of queuine hypomodification in tumors are unknown. We have characterized nontransformed C3H10T1/2 murine fibroblasts (C3H) and their ras-transfected counterparts (RasC4) with respect to the causes and effects of queuine hypomodification. RasC4 cells are hypomodified for queuine compared with C3H cells, despite increase tRNA-guanine ribosyltansferase activity. Excess exogenous queuine can cause repletion of tRNA queuine levels in RasC4 cells. Queuine modification of both C3H and RasC4 cells can be decreased by treatment with 7-methylguanine. This treatment does not affect growth in monolayer culture but enhances anchorage-independent growth of RasC4 cells greatly. These cell lines may be useful systems for the study of queuine function in normal cells and the causes and consequences of hypomodification for queuine in tumors.     

An electron microprobe study of the influence of beam current density on the stability of detectable elements in mixed-salts (isoatomic) microdroplets

This paper shows that a means of accurately measuring beam current during microprobe analysis of inorganic fluid microdroplets is essential, since certain elements were sublimated from such specimens under easily achieved beam current densities, i.e. S at 1·8 nA/μm², K at 2·5 nA/μm², Na at 3·5 nA/μm², P at 5·3 nA/μm². In comparison, Cl was volatilized even under the mildest conditions used (0·35 nA/μm²), and Ca, Mg and Co were stable under the severest operating conditions (7·1 nA/μm²). Elements were less stable in large (3 μm diameter) droplets than in small (1 μm) droplets under identical irradiation conditions. The onset of volatilization is a direct function of the current delivered per unit area and not of the total integrated dose. The addition of 50 g/l of urea to the mixed-salts (isoatomic) solution, or (a) the mounting of the droplets so that the carbon-celloidin support film was interposed between them and the electron source, and (b) top-coating the droplets with carbon, did not, in general, raise the threshold of volatilization of a given element, but did effectively retard the rate of loss at current densities above the volatilization threshold. A literature survey confirmed that similar losses can occur from biological tissue specimens, albeit at higher beam current densities. Finally, the possibility that local specimen heating during electron/specimen interaction is a cause of element loss during microprobe analysis is discussed.