Validity, reliability, and the contributing physical characteristics of a modified 15m prone Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level-1 test in elite female rugby league players.

This study aims to establish the validity and reliability of the prone Yo-YoIRL1 in elite female rugby league players (part one) and determine the anthropometric and physical characteristics contributing to 15m prone Yo-YoIRL1 performance (part two). Part one, 21 subjects completed one Yo-YoIRL1, one 20m and two 15m prone Yo-YoIRL1 tests over four sessions, with 7-14 days in-between. Part two, ten subjects completed a testing battery, including body mass, height, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, isometric mid-thigh pull, isometric bench-press, 10m and 20m sprints and an incremental treadmill test ([Formula: see text]).

Regulation of mu opioid receptor expression in developing T cells.

We have previously reported that functionally active μ-opioid receptors (MOR) are constitutively expressed at relatively low levels by developing T cells in the thymus. However, very little is known about the regulation of MOR expression by immature T cells. In this report, we first attempted to determine the effect of T cell receptor-induced T cell activation on the expression of MOR.

Modulated Raman spectroscopy for enhanced identification of bladder tumor cells in urine samples.

Standard Raman spectroscopy (SRS) is a noninvasive technique that is used in the biomedical field to discriminate between normal and cancer cells. However, the presence of a strong fluorescence background detracts from the use of SRS in real-time clinical applications. Recently, we have reported a novel modulated Raman spectroscopy (MRS) technique to extract the Raman spectra from the background.

Review of pramlintide as adjunctive therapy in treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Pramlintide (Symlin), a synthetic analog of a neurohormone amylin, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use along with premeal insulin in patients with type 1. In patients with type 2 diabetes, pramlintide is approved for addition to pre-meal insulin in those patients who are either only on pre-meal insulin or those receiving the combination of insulin and metformin and/or a sulfonylurea. This article reviews the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, dosing, clinical trials, safety, contraindications, and drug interactions of pramlintide therapy.

Strawberry polyphenols are equally cytotoxic to tumourigenic and normal human breast and prostate cell lines.

The cytotoxic effects of strawberry polyphenols were investigated on normal cells and tumour cells derived from the same patient. A human prostate epithelial cell line (P21) and two tumour cell lines (P21 tumour cell line 1 and 2) derived from the same patient, and a normal human breast epithelial cell line (B42) and a tumour line derived from it (B42 clone 16) were used. A polyphenol-rich extract derived from strawberry or anthocyanin or tannin-rich sub-fractions were applied to the cell lines in doses varying from 50 to 1.

Natural language processing in aid of FlyBase curators.

Background: Despite increasing interest in applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) to biomedical text, whether this technology can facilitate tasks such as database curation remains unclear.

Results: PaperBrowser is the first NLP-powered interface that was developed under a user-centered approach to improve the way in which FlyBase curators navigate an article. In this paper, we first discuss how observing curators at work informed the design and evaluation of PaperBrowser.

BDNF increases survival of retinal dopaminergic neurons after prenatal compromise.

Purpose: Chronic placental insufficiency (CPI) severe enough to cause growth restriction (GR) results in alterations to the retina, including a reduction in tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive (TH-IR)-dopaminergic amacrine cells. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in the development of the retinal dopaminergic network and may therefore be an appropriate therapy for restoring dopaminergic cells after prenatal compromise. This study was conducted (1) to establish whether BDNF and its receptor NTRK2 (Trk B) are altered in the retina after CPI and (2) to explore the potential of BDNF to enhance dopaminergic cell survival in organotypic retinal cultures from prenatally compromised animals.

Passive optical separation within a 'nondiffracting' light beam.

A passive, optical cell sorter is created using the light pattern of a 'nondiffracting' beam-the Bessel beam. As a precursor to cell sorting studies, microspheres are used to test the resolution of the sorter on the basis of particle size and refractive index. Variations in size and, more noticeably, refractive index, lead to a marked difference in the migration time of spheres in the Bessel beam.

Bootstrapping the recognition and anaphoric linking of named entities in Drosophila articles.

This paper demonstrates how Drosophila gene name recognition and anaphoric linking of gene names and their products can be achieved using existing information in FlyBase and the Sequence Ontology. Extending an extant approach to gene name recognition we achieved a F-score of 0.8559, and we report a preliminary experiment using a baseline anaphora resolution algorithm.

Prenatally compromised neurons respond to brain-derived neurotrophic factor treatment in vitro.

Prenatal hypoxia affects neuronal survival and process outgrowth. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which influences neural growth, is decreased in these conditions. We tested whether addition of brain-derived neurotrophic factor enhances growth of neurons cultured from guinea pig fetuses (n=7) compromised by chronic placental insufficiency from 30-52 days gestation (term approximately 67 days).

The hook effect: a need for constant vigilance.

The hook effect is a well-recognized problem that can occur in assays of most tumour markers, including alpha feto-protein (AFP). We present a case of hepatoblastoma in a baby. The diagnosis was delayed as a result of unrecognized 'hooking' of a very high AFP concentration in the automated immunoassay method used.

Activation of NF-kappaB transcription factor in the preterm ovine brain and placenta after acute LPS exposure.

Intrauterine infection may be causally related to inflammation and injury of the fetal brain, however the mechanisms by which this occurs are unclear. We have investigated whether nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB, a transcription factor for proinflammatory cytokines, is activated in the fetal brain after acute LPS-exposure. At 95 days of gestation (term = approximately 147 days), 5 fetuses received a single intravenous bolus dose of LPS (1 microg/kg); 6 fetuses served as controls.

The pattern of cerebral injury in a primate model of preterm birth and neonatal intensive care.

Survivors of very premature birth face an increased risk of adverse motor, cognitive, and behavior sequelae. In order to understand the pathogenesis of these adverse outcomes, an animal model of premature birth and neonatal care in a species with a close similarity to the human infant is sought. In this histological and immunohistochemical study we have defined the pattern of cerebral injury in a premature baboon model undergoing similar neonatal intensive care to that of the human premature infant.

An animal model of chronic placental insufficiency: relevance to neurodevelopmental disorders including schizophrenia.

Evidence now suggests that compromised prenatal brain development may increase the risk for the manifestation of neurological disorders such as schizophrenia. We present a guinea-pig model which mimics a condition of human pregnancy, namely, chronic placental insufficiency. Previously we reported that at term there are changes in the brains of these offspring which are relevant to changes in patients with schizophrenia.

Cardiovascular and renal disease in the adolescent guinea pig after chronic placental insufficiency.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the long-term effects of chronic placental insufficiency on the metabolic state and organ structure in the fetal and adolescent guinea pig.

Study Design: The maternal uterine artery was ligated at day 28-30 to reduce placental function and restrict fetal growth. Whole body and tissue weights and plasma metabolites were determined at 60 days of gestation and 8 weeks of age; tissue structure was determined at the latter age in restricted and control offspring.

Chronic placental insufficiency affects retinal development in the guinea pig.

Purpose: Very low birth weight (VLBW) and fetal growth restriction are associated with increased risks of long-term visual impairments, including alterations to contrast sensitivity, a parameter mediated in part by dopaminergic amacrine cells. This study was conducted to determine whether chronic placental insufficiency (CPI), sufficient to cause growth restriction, results in neurochemical alterations to retinal interneurons, specifically amacrine and horizontal cell populations near term.

Methods: CPI was induced just before midgestation (term approximately 67 days of gestation, dg) in guinea pigs through unilateral ligation of the uterine artery.

Is there an association between level of adult blood pressure and nephron number or renal filtration surface area?

Background: Reductions in renal filtration surface area (FSA) have been linked to development of hypertension. This study investigated whether there are direct relationships, in the adult rat, between levels of blood pressure and nephron number or total renal FSA.

Methods: F1 and F2 offspring were generated from a spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)/Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat cross.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in adult hypertensive rats: a stereological study of renal filtration surface area.

1. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor treatment leads to beneficial effects on kidney function. The aim of the present study was to determine whether ACE inhibition at high or low doses affects glomerular capillary surface area and length, glomerular number or total renal filtration surface area in rats with established hypertension and, if so, to determine whether these effects are mediated through bradykinin potentiation.

X chromosome effect on maternal recombination and meiotic drive in the mouse.

We observed that maternal meiotic drive favoring the inheritance of DDK alleles at the Om locus on mouse chromosome 11 was correlated with the X chromosome inactivation phenotype of (C57BL/6-Pgk1(a) x DDK)F(1) mothers. The basis for this unexpected observation appears to lie in the well-documented effect of recombination on meiotic drive that results from nonrandom segregation of chromosomes. Our analysis of genome-wide levels of meiotic recombination in females that vary in their X-inactivation phenotype indicates that an allelic difference at an X-linked locus is responsible for modulating levels of recombination in oocytes.

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition on renal filtration surface area in hypertensive rats.

Background: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor treatment leads to protective effects on the cellular structure of the glomerulus and the kidney. The aim of this study was to determine whether ACE inhibition increases renal filtration surface area in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR).

Methods: SHR were treated with the ACE inhibitor perindopril at a high dose (3 mg/kg/day) or a low dose (0.