Natural and synthetic podolactones with potential use as natural herbicide models.

A collection of 11 natural and synthetic podolactones have been tested as allelochemicals in a range between 10(-4) and 10(-9) M, and their potential use as natural herbicide models is discussed. Their effects on the germination and growth of the dicots Lactuca sativa (cv. Nigra and cv.

ESR and optical absorption studies of gamma- and electron-irradiated sugar crystals.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) studies of the free radicals induced in gamma- or electron-irradiated sugar crystals were performed. The number of radicals increases linearly, pointing out that this material can be used as a dosimeter. The optical absorption studies show the presence of several distinctive bands in the infrared and UV region, whose intensity changes with the irradiation dose.

[Subcutaneous heparin during the first trimesters of pregnancy in women with prosthetic heart valves].

Background: Oral anticoagulation therapy in pregnant women with prosthetic heart valves is associated with a greater risk of abortion, fetal malformations and thromboembolic complications.

Aim: To assess the use of subcutaneous heparin in women with pregnancies of less than 12 weeks as an alternative to oral anticoagulation therapy.

Material And Methods: Pregnant women were admitted to the hospital and coumarinics were replaced with not fractionated subcutaneous heparin in a dose of 10,000 IU every 12 hours, aiming at prolonging partial thromboplastin time, 2 or 2 1/2 times.

Synthesis of 11,12-epoxydrim-8,12-en-11-ol, 11,12-diacetoxydrimane, and warburganal from (-)-sclareol.

The first syntheses are reported for recently isolated drimanes 11, 12-epoxydrim-8,12-en-11-ol (2) and 11,12-diacetoxydrimane (3), from (-)-sclareol (1). Furthermore, two efficient new routes to the potent bioactive warburganal (4) starting also from 1 are described.

[Effect of antiinflammatory agents on the accumulation of ofloxacin in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes].

The uptake of quinolones is a recently defined pharmacokinetic parameter which is increasing in importance in clinical practice, especially for immunocompromised patients whose polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) have their bactericidal systems impaired, or in infections due to bacteria able to survive in the phagocytes. In both situations, antibiotics able to penetrate and be active in the phagocytes are required. The simultaneous administration of an antibiotic and an antiinflammatory drug is frequent, and previous studies have described interactions between the intracellular activity of the quinolones and the presence of phenylbutazone.

Killing of gram-negative bacteria by ciprofloxacin within both healthy human neutrophils and neutrophils with inactivated O2-dependent bactericidal mechanisms.

The intraphagocytic killing of Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Salmonella typhi by ciprofloxacin (0.1, 1 and 5 microg/ml) within human neutrophils with intact and impaired (by phenylbutazone treatment) O2-dependent killing mechanisms was studied and compared with the extracellular killing in the same medium of the intraphagocytic killing, but omitting neutrophils. The MIC/MBC of ciprofloxacin in vitro (assays performed according to NCCLS specifications) were: 0.

[Effect of fluconazole and itraconazole on human polymorphonuclear leukocyte oxidative metabolism and phagocytosis].

The effect of pretreatment of human polymorphonuclear leukocites (PMNs), for 30 min with fluconazole (0.1, 1, 5 and 50 microgram/ml) and itraconazole (0.05, 0.

Oxidative stress in diabetic rats induced by streptozotocin: protective effects of melatonin.

We have studied the effect of the administration of two doses of melatonin (melatonin 100 and melatonin 200 microg/kg bw) on diabetes and oxidative stress experimentally induced by the injection of streptozotocin (STZ) in female Wistar rats. STZ was injected as a single dose (60 mg/kg i.p.

Characterization of transgenic tilapia lines with different ectopic expression of tilapia growth hormone.

The transfer of growth hormone (GH) genes has opened new possibilities for the manipulation of growth in economically important fish species. However, the ectopic GH levels to optimize growth acceleration in fish, and specially in tilapia, are not known and must be determined experimentally. The tilapia GH (tiGH) cDNA was used to construct chimeric genes expressing different levels of tiGH in vitro and in vivo.

Hydrogenase genes from Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae are controlled by the nitrogen fixation regulatory protein nifA.

Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae expresses an uptake hydrogenase in symbiosis with peas (Pisum sativum) but, unlike all other characterized hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria, cannot express it in free-living conditions. The hydrogenase-specific transcriptional activator gene hoxA described in other species was shown to have been inactivated in R.

An analysis of automatic teller machine usage by older adults: a structured interview approach.

It is often assumed that automatic teller machines (ATMs) are inherently easy to use and require no training. However, there is evidence to suggest that ATM users do experience difficulty when learning to use the system. The purpose of the present study was to conduct an in-depth analysis of ATM usage by older adults.

[Acute myeloid leukemia MO: clinical and laboratory characteristics].

Background: A recent update of FAB classification has included a myeloid leukemia subtype with a minimal degree of differentiation, that has been denominated LMA-MO.

Aim: To report the clinical, morphological and immunophenotypic features of patients with LMA-MO.

Patients And Methods: Eight patients, out of 368, with acute myeloid leukemia that were studied in the Hematology Laboratory of a public hospital in Santiago, were classified as LMA-MO.

Effect of irradiation dose, storage time and temperature on the ESR signal in irradiated oat, corn and wheat.

Results obtained for electron-irradiated oat, corn and wheat kernels are discussed. The applied irradiation doses were up to 160 kGy. For doses up to approx.

Training older adults to use automatic teller machines.

The present study assessed the success of several instructional programs in teaching the use of automatic teller machines (ATMs). Fifty-six older adults (aged 61 to 81) participated in the study, randomly assigned to each of four, 14-member groups. The description group received only a general overview of an ATM; the text guide group received written instructions for performing various transactions on an ATM; the pictorial guide group received written instructions accompanied by pictures of corresponding ATM screens; and the online tutorial group completed a step-by-step tutorial on a simulated ATM.

Toddlers' speech and cognitive effort.

Two-year-olds were videotaped while engaged in free play and problem-solving play. The periods in which they were actively manipulating objects were analyzed as to level of engagement, distinguishing between periods of intense engagement, in which the children were concentrating on the nonverbal activity, and periods of casual engagement, in which they conducted the nonverbal activity in a more leisurely fashion. A micro-analysis of the children's spontaneous speech revealed that they spoke less at moments of intense engagement than at moments of casual engagement.

Growth enhancement in transgenic tilapia by ectopic expression of tilapia growth hormone.

The generation of transgenic fish with the transfer of growth hormone (GH) genes has opened new possibilities for the manipulation of growth in economically important fish species. The tilapia growth hormone (tiGH) cDNA was linked to the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) enhancer-promoter and used to generate transgenic tilapia by microinjection into one-cell embryos. Five transgenic tilapia were obtained from 40 injected embryos.

A survey of automatic teller machine usage across the adult life span.

The purpose of this study was to analyze automatic teller machine (ATM) usage across the adult life span. We conducted an extensive survey of 9000 people in the Memphis and Atlanta metropolitan areas. Approximately 17% of those people responded.

t(1;5)(q23;q33) in a patient with high-risk B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The t(1;5)(q23;q33) is a rare genetic anomaly that was reported previously in two infants with a myeloproliferative disorder and eosinophilia and in one adult patient with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL). A 13-year-old boy with high-risk early pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who presented to our institution carried the t(1;5)(q23;q33). He had an initial blast count of 230 X 10(9)/L and responded poorly to prednisone.

Gibberellin biosynthesis in gib mutants of Gibberella fujikuroi.

The Ascomycete Gibberella fujikuroi synthesizes gibberellins, fujenal, carotenoids, and other terpenoids. Twelve gib mutants, isolated through the modified gibberellin fluorescence of their culture media, were subjected to chemical and biochemical analyses. Two mutants were specifically defective in the hydroxylation of carbon 13; their total gibberellin production was normal, but their main gibberellin was GA7 instead of GA3.

Dermatoglyphics in insulin-dependent diabetic patients with limited joint mobility.

Hand and palm dermatoglyphics were studied in 158 insulin-dependent diabetic children and adolescents [85 with limited joint mobility (LJM) and 73 without]. The findings in this group were compared with those in 400 control subjects, with a similar racial distribution. The main dermatoglyphics alterations found in diabetic patients with LJM, as compared with non-LJM diabetic patients and controls, may be summarized as follows: (a) decrease in digital total ridges count (TRC); (b) higher frequency in the number of arches; (c) decrease in the sum of a line and cubital loops, particularly in the women; (d) increase in the number of t'-axial triradii.

Molecular analysis of a microaerobically induced operon required for hydrogenase synthesis in Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae.

The nucleotide sequence (6138 bp) of a microaerobically inducible region (hupV/VI) from the Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae hydrogenase gene cluster has been determined. Six genes, arranged as a single operon, were identified, and designated hypA, B, F, C, D and E based on the sequence similarities of all of them, except hypF, to genes from the hydrogenase pleiotropic operon (hyp) from Escherichia coli.

Left ventricular function changes during pharmacological and physiological interventions and routine activities monitored in healthy volunteers by a portable radionuclide probe (VEST).

A miniaturized radionuclide cardiac probe incorporated in a semi-rigid plastic chest garment has made ambulatory left ventricular (LV) function evaluation possible, with gated nuclear data being stored on tape together with electrocardiographic data, for subsequent off-line processing. After red blood cell labelling with 555 MBq (15 mCi) 99mTc and standard gated blood pool imaging in 45 degrees LAO, we performed a continuous monitoring of LV function in 20 healthy male volunteers (age range: 22-25 years), in resting control conditions as well as during activities (standing, walking, climbing stairs) and after interventions (isosorbide dinitrate intake, Trendelenburg position, inflation of cuffs around the thighs). VEST-monitoring proved to be a reliable method that gave reproducible results: changes of ejection (EF) in basal conditions were lower than 5% in 95% of the patients.

Effects of muscarinic and beta-adrenergic blockade on the aortic elastic response to epinephrine induced acute hypertension in conscious dogs.

To determine the effects of parasympathetic blockade and beta-blockade on the elastic response of aortic stiffness to vasopressive interventions, we studied 5 unanesthetised adult mongrel dogs by means of a pressure microtransducer and two ultrasonic crystals positioned at opposing sites in the proximal descending thoracic aorta which were used for diameter measurements. Systolic and diastolic changes in pressure and diameter were used to calculate Peterson and incremental elastic moduli. Acute hypertension was induced using infusions of epinephrine during the control period and later propranolol (1.

Isolation of the replication DNA region from a Rhizobium plasmid and examination of its potential as a replicon for Rhizobiaceae cloning vectors.

The DNA region essential for replication and stability of a native plasmid (pTM5) from Rhizobium sp. (Hedysarum) has been identified and isolated within a 5.4-kb PstI restriction fragment.

[Visco-elastic characteristics of the aorta in conscious dogs in a model of experimental calcinosis].

Effects of experimental calcinosis induced by daily overdose of 500.000 IU Vit D3 during 10 days were studied in 6 mongrel conscious dogs chronically instrumented with intra-aortic Konigsberg microtransducer and two ultrasonic piezo-electric crystals diametrically opposed in the adventitia of the descending thoracic aorta. Simultaneous recording of instantaneous aortic pressure and diameter waves in basal state and during transient acute hypertension induced by intravenous angiotensin bolus (0.