Does topical minoxidil increase skin blood flow? A laser Doppler flowmetry study.

Cutaneous blood flow was measured by Laser Doppler Flowmetry after topical application of minoxidil lotion, in 9 healthy males with androgenetic alopecia, and other volunteers. No reaction in the cutaneous blood flow was seen after application of 2%, 5%, or placebo minoxidil lotion.

The reaction of nitric oxide with copper proteins and the photodissociation of copper-NO complexes.

The reactivity with nitric oxide was investigated for a number of type-1, type-2 and type-3 copper proteins azurin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (type-1 copper); bovine superoxide dismutase, diamine oxidase from pig kidney and galactose oxidase from Dactylium dendroides (type-2 copper); haemocyanin from Helix pomatia (type-3 copper); the blue oxidases ceruloplasmin from pig serum, and ascorbate oxidase from Cucurbita pepo medullosa. Type-1 copper formed complexes with NO in the oxidised state, which complexes were only fully formed at low temperatures and could be photodissociated at 77K. Complex formation led to the disappearance of the EPR signal of type-1 copper and of the optical absorbance band in the 600 nm region.

Vanadium containing bromoperoxidase: An example of an oxidoreductase with high operational stability in aqueous and organic media.

The conversion is described of phenolsulphonephtalein (phenol red) to 3,3',5,5'-tetrabromophenolsulphonephthalein (bromophenol blue) by bromoper-oxidase from the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum. This reaction provides a convenient assay for the detection of bromoperoxidase activity in vitro. Bromoperoxidase was shown to be stable under turnover conditions for three weeks at room temperature, catalyzing the bromination of phenol red into bromophenol blue.

Cochlear power flux as an indicator of mechanical activity.

The question of whether one can conclude just from basilar membrane (BM) vibration data that the cochlea is an active mechanical system is addressed. To this end, a method is developed which computes the power flux through a channel cross section of a short-wave cochlear model from a given BM vibration pattern. The power flux is an important indicator of mechanical activity because a rise in this function corresponds to creation of mechanical energy.

Chorionic villi sampling: cytogenetic and clinical findings in 500 pregnancies.

The cytogenetic findings were analysed in a series of 500 pregnancies in which chorionic villi sampling was performed. In all cases a direct method was used, karyotyping being successful in 481 cases (96.2%).

[The microbiological status of dry sausage in East Netherlands].

Dry fermented sausage (dfs) was the food most suspected in a number of outbreaks of salmonellosis and staphylococcal enterotoxaemia. Data on formulation and processing showed that over 75 per cent of 76 producers still manufactured dfs in a traditional manner: fermentation and drying at ambient temperature for ten days on an average, green room facilities not present. 'Modern' processes were characterised by fermentation in green rooms at elevated temperatures, thus limiting production time to six days on an average.

Microbiological Quality of Commercial Tempeh in The Netherlands.

A survey of the microbiological quality of commercial tempeh was done in The Netherlands. A total of 110 samples were examined. Most (98%) of the samples had an aerobic plate count above 10 CFU/g.

Matching impedance of a nonuniform transmission line: application to cochlear modeling.

A generalization of the concept of characteristic impedance to nonuniform transmission lines leads to an impedance having a local character. This matching impedance depends on the solution of the transmission line equations, and cannot generally be obtained in analytical form. However, when the propagation properties of the line vary only slowly (as is the case in cochlear macromechanics), a convenient analytical approximation of the matching impedance can be derived by means of the Liouville-Green method.

Auditory psychophysics: spectrotemporal representation of signals.

The study of audition has widened: Having been concentrated in the 1960s on a few topics like pitch perception, binaural hearing, and fatigue, it now spans many more subjects. In the present paper we have emphasized the following topics: frequency analysis--this topic includes spectral integration and resolution, auditory excitation patterns, and processing of spectral information; temporal analysis--this topic refers mainly to studies in which abstract and stylized temporal variations in stimuli are used; binaural hearing--a subfield that still attracts a great deal of attention because of its unique character; pitch perception--of particular interest is this field for the perception of prosodic features of speech, but it also addresses fundamental questions of how the auditory system works; and pathology of hearing--in particular the effects of impaired hearing on speech perception and the relations among various hearing-test results. (This section was written in collaboration with W.

The regulation of expression of human beta-globin genes.

We have analyzed the regulation of expression of the human beta-globin gene by DNA mediated gene transfer in MEL cells and microinjection in fertilized mouse eggs. The results show that the beta-globin gene contains two regulatory elements: one element in the promoter, that is required for full transcriptional activity and, secondly, a tissue and developmental specific enhancer 3' to the gene.

Are active elements necessary in the basilar membrane impedance?

This article is motivated by the current hypothesis [Kim et al., Psychological, Physiological and Behavioural Studies in Hearing (Delft U. P.

Basal cell nevus syndrome and webbed neck.

A patient is reported with the basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS) in combination with a webbed neck. This symptom might be considered as an expression of the BCNS.

Time course of suppression.

The time course of suppression was studied by shortening the length of the suppressor tone burst in a forward masking paradigm and observing the decrease in magnitude of the compound action potential. The time course was found to be slower than expected on the basis of peripheral filtering.

Forward and reverse waves in the one-dimensional model of the cochlea.

Consideration of a source of oto-acoustic emission in a cochlear model implies consideration of the types of waves that such a source can emit. One wave travels in the normal, forward, direction. As any other forward wave it undergoes little or no reflection and it eventually disappears completely because of dissipation.

The photoreactivity of the copper-NO complexes in cytochrome c oxidase and in other copper-containing proteins.

The complexes of NO with CuB of cytochrome c oxidase in which cytochrome a3 may or may not be ligated to cyanide or fluoride are photodissociable. NO does not appear to react with CuB in complexes of cytochrome c oxidase in which sulphide or mercaptans are ligated to the haem iron of cytochrome a3. A comparison is made between the photoreactivity of the complexes of NO with cytochrome c oxidase and those with ceruloplasmin, ascorbate oxidase, and haemocyanin.

Fat distribution of overweight persons in relation to morbidity and subjective health.

The association between fat distribution, morbidity and subjective health was studied in 95 overweight adult men and 210 overweight adult women. Retrospective morbidity data were taken from a continuous morbidity registration made by general practitioners over a period of maximally 17 years. In addition information about subjective health and weight history was obtained from a self-administered questionnaire.

Acrokeratoelastoidosis: a spectrum of diseases.

Two familial cases of acrokeratoelastoidosis (AKE) are reported. As a quite uncommon feature, both showed a distinct violaceous hue in addition to the characteristic clinicopathological changes. Furthermore a case of keratoelastoidosis marginalis of the hands, also showing involvement of the feet, is described.

Wave propagation and dispersion in the cochlea.

Insight into cochlear mechanics can be obtained from semi-analytical and asymptotic solution methods of which the Liouville -Green (LG) method - in another context known as the WKB method - is the most important one. This paper describes the dispersion properties of fluid waves in general terms and develops the LG formulation on that basis. The eikonal equation of the LG method is shown to be identical to the dispersion relation in dispersive-wave theory.

[Campylobacter jejuni, Yersinia enterocolitica and Salmonella in game and poultry].

Samples of various sorts of game and poultry (other than chicken), obtained from poulterers, hunters, rearing-farms and slaughterhouses, were surveyed for the presence of Campylobacter jejuni, Yersinia enterocolitica and Salmonella. These pathogens were isolated from hare, wild boars, pheasants, guinea-fowl, turkeys, mallards and domestic ducks. Yersinia enterocolitica and Salmonella were also cultured from wild and domestic rabbits.