Retinal vessel dilatation and elongation precedes diabetic macular oedema

Rolandic discharge (RD), noted in the electroencephalography (EEG) of patients with benign epilepsy in childhood with centrotemporal spikes (BECCT) has several unique features. One feature is that the amount or frequency of RDs does not correlate well with the incidence of seizures in BECCT although it is a key finding in the diagnosis of this epileptic syndrome. In this study, we examined the efficacy of antiepileptic drugs focusing on the disappearance of RDs in relationship with seizure control. Forty patients with BECCT who were not medically treated prior to this study were randomly sorted into three groups. Twenty patients were assigned for clonazepam (CZP) treatment, 10 patients for valproate (VPA) and the remaining 10 patients for carbamazepine (CBZ). Each drug was administered for 4 consecutive weeks. EEGs were recorded twice during the study, before and 4 weeks after the medication trial. The effects of each treatment on RDs were assessed. RDs disappeared in 15 of the 20 cases treated with CZP (75%) within 4 weeks while the same was observed in only one of the 10 cases treated with VPA (10%). CBZ failed to demonstrate any effect on RD. In the group treated with CZP, there were no differences in seizure incidence, seizure type and blood concentration of CZP between the patients whose RDs disappeared and those whose RDs remained.     

Association of INAD with NORPA is essential for controlled activation and deactivation of Drosophila phototransduction in vivo

Visual transduction in Drosophila is a G protein-coupled phospholipase C-mediated process that leads to depolarization via activation of the transient receptor potential (TRP) calcium channel. Inactivation-no-afterpotential D (INAD) is an adaptor protein containing PDZ domains known to interact with TRP. Immunoprecipitation studies indicate that INAD also binds to eye-specific protein kinase C and the phospholipase C, no-receptor-potential A (NORPA). By overlay assay and site-directed mutagenesis we have defined the essential elements of the NORPA-INAD association and identified three critical residues in the C-terminal tail of NORPA that are required for the interaction. These residues, Phe-Cys-Ala, constitute a novel binding motif distinct from the sequences recognized by the PDZ domain in INAD. To evaluate the functional significance of the INAD-NORPA association in vivo, we generated transgenic flies expressing a modified NORPA, NORPAC1094S, that lacks the INAD interaction. The transgenic animals display a unique electroretinogram phenotype characterized by slow activation and prolonged deactivation. Double mutant analysis suggests a possible inaccessibility of eye-specific protein kinase C to NORPAC1094S, undermining the observed defective deactivation, and that delayed activation may similarly result from NORPAC1094S being unable to localize in close proximity to the TRP channel. We conclude that INAD acts as a scaffold protein that facilitates NORPA-TRP interactions required for gating of the TRP channel in photoreceptor cells.     

ACAT inhibitors derived from hetero-Diels-Alder cycloadducts of thioaldehydes

Acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is the enzyme largely responsible for intracellular cholesterol esterification. A systemic inhibitor of ACAT is believed to be able to slow or even reverse the atherosclerotic process. Towards that goal, a series of cyclic sulfides, derived from the hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of thioaldehydes with 1,3-dienes, and bearing carboxamide substituents, were prepared and evaluated for in vitro (in several tissues and species) and ex vivo ACAT inhibition. Minor changes in subsequent structure were found to have a significant effect in optimization of the biological activity of this series of compounds.     

Development of an animal model for across-herd genetic evaluation of number born alive in swine

An animal model and computer software were developed to conduct across-herd genetic evaluations using data from producers participating in the Sow Productivity Index program of the American Yorkshire Club. The final data set consisted of 61,596 litter records from 1986 to early 1990. The animal model included fixed contemporary group effects and random additive direct, service sire, permanent environmental, and residual effects. Additive genetic relationships among animals were included. A separate relationship matrix for service sires and their sires was also included. A data set similar to the Yorkshire field data was simulated to use in testing the animal model. The simulated data set consisted of 40 herds, each with 120 reproducing dams and either four or five sires. Six generations of simulated data were produced, resulting in 20,605 litter records. These records were then evaluated using the animal model for number of pigs born alive. Finally, correlations between the true breeding values from the simulation and the predicted breeding values were computed. The correlation between the 918 true and predicted sire breeding values was considerably lower for the animal model without a service sire effect than when it was included (.53 vs .74, respectively). However, the difference was cut in half (.66 vs .77) when only sires with greater than five daughter records were included. The high accuracy of the animal model with a random service sire effect indicates that the proposed model adequately accounts for the variation found in records for number of pigs born alive.     

Polarity control of GaN epilayers grown on ZnO templates

We report the successful growth of Ga-polar GaN epilayers on O-polar ZnO templates pre-deposited on c-sapphire. Prior to GaN growth, NH₃ is exposed onto the ZnO template. The polarity of the GaN layers is confirmed by etching of the surface and by conversion beam electron diffraction (CBED), while the O-polar ZnO is confirmed by CBED. It is suggested that the NH₃ pre-exposure helps form a Zn₃N₂ layer, which possesses inversion symmetry and inverts the crystal from anion polar to cation polar.