Migraine: Calcium Channels and Glia

Migraine is a common neurological disease that affects about 11% of the adult population. The disease is divided into two main clinical subtypes: migraine with aura and migraine without aura. According to the neurovascular theory of migraine, the activation of the trigeminovascular system (TGVS) and the release of numerous neuropeptides, including calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) are involved in headache pathogenesis. TGVS can be activated by cortical spreading depression (CSD), a phenomenon responsible for the aura. The mechanism of CSD, stemming in part from aberrant interactions between neurons and glia have been studied in models of familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM), a rare monogenic form of migraine with aura. The present review focuses on those interactions, especially as seen in FHM type 1, a variant of the disease caused by a mutation in CACNA1A, which encodes the α1A subunit of the P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channel.     

Influence of To?pa Peat Preparation on the phagocytic activity and bactericidal properties of granulocytes in healthy volunteers

It was found, that To?pa Peat Preparation (TPP) administered to healthy volunteers in doses of 100-300 mg/day during 14 days evoked the stimulation of the phagocytic and bactericidal activity of the granulocytes. The dose of 600 mg/day causes only a transient and insignificant increase of phagocytic and bactericidal properties of the granulocytes.     

Influence of geosynthetic reinforcement on the load-settlement characteristics of two-layer subgrade

The possibility of realistic prediction of two-layer subgrade load-settlement characteristics is discussed. The case of improvement of the soft subgrade properties using the geosynthetic reinforcement placed at the boundary between two different subgrade layers is analysed. In the first part of the paper, a short review of the main conclusions from experimental results dealing with the influence of geosynthetic reinforcement on the load-settlement characteristics of subgrade is presented. Then, the results of using the selected analytical membrane-action model to describe the reinforcement action in soil are discussed. The model is verified on the basis of data obtained from previously published laboratory tests. Particular attention is devoted to influencing some basic initial parameters on the accuracy of obtained results. Important problems which need intensive investigations are identified.     

Isolation and amino acid sequence of a serine proteinase inhibitor from common flax (Linum usitatissimum) seeds

LUTI (Linum usitatissimum trypsin inhibitor), a member of the potato inhibitor I family, has been isolated from seeds of flax by ethanol fractionation, ion exchange chromatography on CM-Sephadex C-25, affinity purification on immobilized methylchymotrypsin (alpha-chymotrypsin in which His57 has been converted to 3-methylhistidine) in the presence of 5M NaCl, and finally by reversed-phase HPLC. The 7655 Da inhibitor consists of a single polypeptide chain of 69 residues with one disulfide bridge. The molecule is acetylated at the N terminus. Its primary structure has been determined after limited proteolysis of the native molecule with trypsin at the reactive site, cleavage with cyanogen bromide or arginyl endopeptidase (Arg-gingipain), and alcoholytic deacetylation of the N-terminally blocked serine. The association constants (K(a)) of LUTI with bovine beta-trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin are 3.58x10(10) M(-1) and 5.02x10(5) M(-1), respectively. High NaCl concentration (3M) increased the association constant of LUTI with alpha-chymotrypsin to 6.64x10(7) M(-1). To our knowledge, LUTI is the first serine-proteinase-type inhibitor isolated from a plant of the Linaceae family.     

Transport of reactants during scale formation on copper in SO2+O2 atmosphere at 973 and 1073 K

The reaction between copper and a mixture of SO₂+O₂ was studied at 973 and 1073 K. The experimental methods included optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and radiotracer. It is concluded that the inward transport of oxidants through the scale as well as oxygen and sulfur dioxide liberation in the reactions taking place at phase boundaries suggest that secondary processes occur inside the oxide-sulphate layer. Therefore, Cu₂O and CuOCuSO₄ appear inside this layer. In the metal-consumption zone, a Cu₂O layer forms, which contains small amounts of a sulfide phase near the metal-scale interface.     

CVD diamond layers for electrochemistry

Diamond electrodes of different morphologies and qualities were manufactured by hot filament chemical deposition (HF CVD) techniques by changing the parameters of diamond growth process. The estimation of diamond quality and identification of different carbon phases was performed by Raman spectroscopy measurements. The effect of diamond quality and amorphous carbon phase content on the electrochemical response of an obtained diamond electrode in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ as supporting electrolyte was investigated by cyclic voltammetry with [Fe(CN)₆]^4?/3? as a redox probe. The kinetic parameters such as catalytic reaction rate constant k₀ and electron transfer coefficient α were determined. The obtained results show that the analytical performance of undoped diamond electrodes can be implemented just by the change of diamond layers quality.     

Preparation of lead (Pb) X-ray fluorescence reference materials for the EPA Pb monitoring program and the IMPROVE network using an aerosol deposition method

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a commonly used analytical method to quantify lead (Pb), a toxic element, in atmospheric aerosol. The commercially available reference materials used for calibrating XRF do not mimic the concentrations and filter materials of particulate matter (PM) monitoring networks. In this study, we described an aerosol deposition method to generate Pb reference materials (RMs) over a range of concentrations to serve several purposes for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) monitoring networks including laboratory auditing, federal equivalency method evaluation, and calibration and quality control of XRF instruments. The RMs were generated using a laboratory-built aerosol chamber equipped with a federal reference sampler at concentration levels ranging from 0.0125 to 0.70 μg/m³. XRF analysis at UC Davis was demonstrated to be equivalent to a US and EU reference method, inductively coupled plasma—mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), for measuring Pb on RMs following a methodology described in the United States and international standards. The Pb concentrations on subsets of the RMs were verified by three other XRF laboratories with different analyzers and/or quantification methods and were shown to be equivalent to the UC Davis XRF analysis. The generated RMs were demonstrated to have short and long-term stability, satisfying an additional requirement of reference materials.

Copyright © 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Enzymatically Modified Fats Based on Mutton Tallow and Rapeseed Oil Suitable for Fatty Emulsions

The aim of this work was to develop a new fat by enzymatic interesterification of mutton tallow with rapeseed oil. It was assumed that by inducing hydrolysis of fats by addition of water to the enzymatic preparation (8, 10, 15 wt%) natural emulsifiers would be produced in the reaction environment. Fat blends obtained from the enzymatic reactions were evaluated as a fat base for emulsion systems. It was found that the fat resulting from interesterification in the presence of Lipozyme RM IM (immobilized lipase from Rhizomucor miehei, Novozymes Bagsvaerd, Denmark) with 15 wt% of water possessed the highest content of polar fraction (MAG and DAG), and served as the most suitable blend for emulsification, producing emulsions that exhibited the highest stability.