Reuse water: Exposure duration, seasonality and treatment affect tissue responses in a model fish.

Partially remediated gray (reuse) water will likely find increasing use in a variety of applications owing to the increasing scarcity of freshwater. We aimed to determine if a model fish, the goldfish, could sense reuse water using olfaction (smell), and if 30min or 7d (acute) and 60d (sub-chronic) exposures would affect their olfactory responses to natural odorants. We examined olfaction as previous studies have found that numerous chemicals can impair the olfactory sense, which is critical to carrying out numerous life-sustaining behaviors from feeding to mating.

Sensory and Behavioral Responses of a Model Fish to Oil Sands Process-Affected Water with and without Treatment.

If oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) is to be returned to the environment, a desire is that it not adversely affect aquatic life. We investigated whether a relevant model fish (rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss) could detect OSPW using its olfactory sense (smell) and whether exposure to it would result in behavioral changes. We also investigated whether ozonation of OSPW, which lowers the concentration of organic compounds attributed with toxicity (naphthenic acids), would ameliorate any observed adverse effects.

Sublethal toxicity of chlorpyrifos to salmonid olfaction after hypersaline acclimation.

Salmonid habitats can be impacted by several environmental factors, such as salinization, which can also affect salmonid tolerance to anthropogenic stressors, such as pesticides. Previous studies have shown that hypersaline acclimation enhances the acute toxicity of certain organophosphate and carbamate pesticides to euryhaline fish; however, sublethal impacts have been far less studied. The current study aims to determine how hypersaline acclimation and exposure to the organophosphate chlorpyrifos (CPF) impact salmonid olfaction.

Advanced analytical mass spectrometric techniques and bioassays to characterize untreated and ozonated oil sands process-affected water.

Oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) is a toxic and poorly biodegradable mixture of sand, silt, heavy metals, and organics. In this study, qualitative and quantitative comparisons of naphthenic acids (NAs) were done using ultraperformance liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC TOF-MS), Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) MS, and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). The unique combination of these analyses allowed for the determination and correlation of NAs, oxidized NAs, and heteroatom (sulfur or nitrogen) NAs.

Supporting mothers in recovery: parenting classes.

Drug addiction is a serious issue in today's society. Women are giving birth to infants who are born addicted to illicit drugs, and these mothers are not able to care for their infants safely and competently without training and support. This article examines the prevalence of the problem.

H2O2 activation of HSP25/27 protects desmin from calpain proteolysis in rat ventricular myocytes.

Ischemia-reperfusion-induced Ca(2+) overload results in activation of calpain-1 in the heart. Calpain-dependent proteolysis contributes to myocardial dysfunction and cell death. Previously, preischemic treatment with low doses of H(2)O(2) was shown to improve postischemic function and reduce myocardial infarct size.

Acute modulation of PP2a and troponin I phosphorylation in ventricular myocytes: studies with a novel PP2a peptide inhibitor.

The present study demonstrates that acute activation with either beta-adrenergic receptor agonists or H(2)O(2) treatment increases protein phosphatase 2a (PP2a) activity in ventricular myocytes. PP2a activation occurs concomitant with an increase in methylation of PP2a, changes in localization of a PP2a targeting subunit PP2aB56alpha, and a decrease in phosphorylation of PP2a substrates, such as troponin I (TnI) and ERK in ventricular myocytes. Okadaic acid, a well-established pharmacological inhibitor of PP2a, and the peptide Thr-Pro-Asp-Tyr-Phe-Leu (TPDYFL) were used to block PP2a methylation, localization, and phosphorylations.

Modulation of myosin phosphatase targeting subunit and protein phosphatase 1 in the heart.

Myosin light chain 2 (LC2) phosphorylation is of both physiological and pathological importance to myocardial function. The phosphatase that directly dephosphorylates LC2 is a type 1 protein phosphatase (PP1) that contains a catalytic subunit that complexes with a myosin-binding phosphatase targeting subunit (MYPT). The goal of the present study was to examine the role of MYPT in the regulation of PP1 in ventricular myocytes.

Life-cycle exposure of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) to an ethinylestradiol concentration below 1 ng/L reduces egg fertilization success and demasculinizes males.

Forty-eight hours after fertilization, fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) eggs were exposed to the synthetic estrogen 17alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) at nominal concentrations of 0.32 and 0.96 ng/L and measured concentrations of 3.

Modest actomyosin energy conservation increases myocardial postischemic function.

We have proposed that pharmacological preconditioning, leading to PKC-epsilon activation, in hearts improves postischemic functional recovery through a decrease in actomyosin ATPase activity and subsequent ATP conservation. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether moderate PKC-independent decreases in actomyosin ATPase are sufficient to improve myocardial postischemic function. Rats were given propylthiouracil (PTU) for 8 days to induce a 25% increase in beta-myosin heavy chain with a 28% reduction in actomyosin ATPase activity.

Good clinical practice and audits for dual X-ray absorptiometry and X-ray imaging laboratories and quality assurance centers involved in clinical drug trials, private practice, and research.

Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines, with an emphasis on quality and validation of processes and data, must be applied to the use of imaging in clinical drug development. All participants, including the sponsor, principal investigator, site staff, quality assurance centers, and contract research organizations, must be cognizant of the need for application of these principles to their activities related to the imaging programs. This article discusses the various aspects of GCP as they need to be applied to the use of dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for bone densitometry and X-rays for vertebral fracture assessment in clinical trials for osteoporosis, as well as research and private practice settings.

One- and two-year change in body composition as measured by DXA in a population-based cohort of older men and women.

Changing body composition has been suggested as a pathway to explain age-related functional decline. No data are available on the expected changes in body composition as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in a population-based cohort of older persons. Body composition data at baseline, 1-yr follow-up, and 2-yr follow-up was measured by DXA in 2,040 well-functioning black and white men and women aged 70-79 yr, participants of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

What is the role of serial bone mineral density measurements in patient management?

The ability of dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to monitor bone mineral density (BMD) has been well documented in epidemiologic and pharmaceutical trials. However, its application to monitoring of patients in clinical practice has been subject to recent controversies. Despite these controversies, most clinical centers rely on DXA for monitoring of patients, and therefore guidance is needed.

QDR 4500A DXA overestimates fat-free mass compared with criterion methods.

This study evaluated the accuracy with which the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometer (Hologic QDR 4500A) measured fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass (FM), and hydration of FFM. In a study of 58 men and women (ages 70-79 yr), the QDR 4500A was found to provide a systematically higher estimate of FFM and lower estimate of FM than a four-component model of body composition. A correction factor from this study was developed and applied to two other samples (n = 13 and 37).

Neurogenic hypotension in patients with severe head injuries.

Objective: To examine the occurrence of hypotensive episodes in patients with severe traumatic brain injuries that are not of hypovolemic origin and to investigate possible neurogenic or iatrogenic causes of such episodes.

Methods: We reviewed Traumatic Coma Data Bank (TCDB) records of the 248 patients with early hypotension. We attempted to eliminate episodes related to hemorrhagic hypovolemia by excluding patients with (1) extracranial injuries of Abbreviated Injury Scale scores > 3 (n = 99, 40%); (2) postresuscitation hematocrit levels < 35% (n = 76, 30.

Dual X-ray absorptiometry quality control: comparison of visual examination and process-control charts.

Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is widely used to monitor treatment efficacy in reducing the rate of bone mineral loss. In order to assure the validity of these measurements, instrument quality control of the DXA scanners becomes very important. This paper compares five quality control procedures (visual inspection, Shewhart chart with sensitizing rules, Shewhart chart with sensitizing rules and a filter for clinically insignificant mean changes, moving average chart and standard deviation, and cumulative sum chart [CUSUM]) in their ability to identify scanner malfunction by means of (1) an analysis of five longitudinal phantom data sets that had been collected during a clinical trial and (2) an analysis of simulated data sets.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the calcaneus: preliminary assessment of trabecular bone-dependent regional variations in marrow relaxation time compared with dual X-ray absorptiometry.

Rationale And Objectives: Marrow transverse relaxation time (T2*) in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging may be related to the density and structure of the surrounding trabecular network. We investigated regional variations of T2* in the human calcaneus and compared the findings with bone mineral density (BMD), as measured by dual X-ray absorpiometry (DXA). Short- and long-term precisions were evaluated first to determine whether MR imaging would be useful for the clinical assessment of disease status and progression in osteoporosis.

Current methods and advances in bone densitometry.

Bone mass is the primary, although not the only, determinant of fracture. Over the past few years a number of noninvasive techniques have been developed to more sensitively quantitate bone mass. These include single and dual photon absorptiometry (SPA and DPA), single and dual X-ray absorptiometry (SXA and DXA) and quantitative computed tomography (QCT).

Accurate assessment of precision errors: how to measure the reproducibility of bone densitometry techniques.

Assessment of precision errors in bone mineral densitometry is important for characterization of a technique's ability to detect longitudinal skeletal changes. Short-term and long-term precision errors should be calculated as root-mean-square (RMS) averages of standard deviations of repeated measurements (SD) and standard errors of the estimate of changes in bone density with time (SEE), respectively. Inadequate adjustment for degrees of freedom and use of arithmetic means instead of RMS averages may cause underestimation of true imprecision by up to 41% and 25% (for duplicate measurements), respectively.

Early, routine paralysis for intracranial pressure control in severe head injury: is it necessary?

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of early, routine use of neuromuscular blocking agents for intracranial pressure management in patients with severe head injury.

Design: Retrospective review of data from the Traumatic Coma Data Bank. The Traumatic Coma Data Bank was a collaborative project of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke that involved four Level I trauma centers.

Correlates of bone mineral density in the postmenopausal estrogen/progestin interventions trial.

We assessed the cross-sectional relationship of age, menopausal years, body mass, previous estrogen use, and ethnic background to bone mineral status in a sample of 875 healthy postmenopausal women at the time they were recruited from the community to participate in a multicenter clinical trial. The women were 1-10 years postmenopause, 45-64 years of age, and had not received estrogen replacement therapy within 3 months of enrollment. Of the participants, 89% were white, 69% had a spontaneous menopause, and 53% had a history of previous estrogen replacement therapy.

Sex differences in bone mineral density in 1653 men and women in the sixth through tenth decades of life: the Rancho Bernardo Study.

This cross-sectional population-based study examined the effect of age and sex on bone mineral density (BMD) in the elderly. BMD was measured at the spine and hip using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and at midshaft and ultradistal radius using single-photon absorptiometry in 672 men and 981 women aged 50-98 years. In both sexes, mean BMD levels decreased significantly with age at all sites except the male spine.