Diabetes in rat pregnancy alters renal calcium and magnesium reabsorption and bone formation in adult offspring.

Aims/hypothesis: We tested the hypothesis that diabetes in pregnancy can result in the in-utero reprogramming of renal calcium and magnesium handling and of bone formation in the offspring, which persists into adulthood.

Methods: Male offspring of streptozotocin-treated diabetic rats (OD rats) and of control non-diabetic animals (OC rats) were investigated as neonates and at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age.

Results: Compared with OC rats, urinary calcium and magnesium output was significantly reduced in OD rats at every age studied; Na+ and K+ outputs were unaffected.

The addition of the Protonics brace system to a rehabilitation protocol to address patellofemoral joint syndrome.

Study Design: Randomized clinical trial.

Objectives: To investigate the clinical efficacy of the addition of the Protonics system to a standard exercise-based patellofemoral rehabilitation protocol.

Background: The Protonics system has been suggested as an intervention for patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS).

Localization of lanthanum in bone of chronic renal failure rats after oral dosing with lanthanum carbonate.

Background: Lanthanum carbonate has been shown to be a safe, effective phosphate-binding agent. We have shown that an impaired mineralization in chronic renal failure rats treated with high doses of lanthanum carbonate develops secondary to phosphate depletion and is therefore pharmacologically mediated rather than a direct effect of lanthanum on bone. Although bulk bone lanthanum concentrations are low, it is important to consider the localization within a given tissue.

Communicating bioastronautics research to students, families and the nation.

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) is supporting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) education mission through a comprehensive Education and Public Outreach Program (EPOP) that communicates the excitement and significance of space biology to schools, families, and lay audiences. The EPOP is comprised of eight academic institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Texas A&M University, University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, Rice University, and the University of Washington. This paper describes the programs and products created by the EPOP to promote space life science education in schools and among the general public.

Development and validation of an experimental model for the assessment of radiofrequency ablation of pancreatic parenchyma.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and validate an ex vivo model for the assessment of radiofrequency (RF) ablation of the pancreas.

Methods: Porcine pancreata were used within 1 hour of sacrifice. RF was delivered to a premarked area in the center of the pancreatic head using a thermocouple-tipped multiprobe array.

GCK-3, a newly identified Ste20 kinase, binds to and regulates the activity of a cell cycle-dependent ClC anion channel.

CLH-3b is a Caenorhabditis elegans ClC anion channel that is expressed in the worm oocyte. The channel is activated during oocyte meiotic maturation and in response to cell swelling by serine/threonine dephosphorylation events mediated by the type 1 phosphatases GLC-7alpha and GLC-7beta. We have now identified a new member of the Ste20 kinase superfamily, GCK-3, that interacts with the CLH-3b COOH terminus via a specific binding motif.

Osteogenesis imperfecta presenting as simultaneous bilateral tibial tubercle avulsion fractures in a child: a case report.

This is a case report of a unique presentation of a mild form of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) (type IA) in a 9-year-old African-American boy who presented with simultaneous bilateral tibial tubercle avulsion fractures. The boy presented to the authors' emergency room complaining of acute bilateral knee pain. He could not perform a straight leg raise.

Improvements in glucose tolerance in obese males with abnormal glucose tolerance following 10 days of aerobic exercise.

Background: Aerobic exercise training has been shown to produce beneficial changes in glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in obese individuals if performed at high enough intensities and/or durations. We examined the effects of a moderate intensity, short-term exercise training protocol on glucose tolerance in obese males with glucose intolerance.

Methods: Fourteen abdominally obese, sedentary males with normal glucose tolerance (NGT; n = 7) and abnormal glucose tolerance (AGT; n = 7) completed 40 min of exercise bouts for 10 consecutive days at approximately 75% of age-predicted maximum heart rate.

Reality check: using newspapers, police reports, and court records to assess defensive gun use.

Objective: To identify legitimate defensive gun uses (DGUs), and provide a reality check on previous estimates of the rate of DGUs by using a novel approach based on newspaper reports and police and court records. Previous estimates have relied on self report, differ by a factor of 10 or more, and are viewed as highly controversial.

Design And Setting: The reported uses of firearms in a newspaper covering roughly the Phoenix metropolitan area over almost a 3.

Management of intracapsular femoral neck fractures in the elderly; is it time to rethink our strategy?

We reviewed 100 adult patients who had a traumatic intracapsular femoral fracture internally fixed prior to 1998, with full clinical and radiological data available. End points were complete clinical and radiological union of the fracture, non-union, avascular necrosis or fixation failure. The incidence of non-union and avascular necrosis was found to be 13 and 11%, respectively.

Alternative splicing of N- and C-termini of a C. elegans ClC channel alters gating and sensitivity to external Cl- and H+.

CLH-3 is a meiotic cell cycle-regulated ClC Cl- channel that is functionally expressed in oocytes of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. CLH-3a and CLH-3b are alternatively spliced variants that have identical intramembrane regions, but which exhibit striking differences in their N- and C-termini. Structural and functional studies indicate that N- and C-terminal domains modulate ClC channel activity.

Fatal accidental hanging from a lanyard key chain in a 10-year-old boy.

Lanyard chains are commonly worn around the neck to hold keys and identification badges. A ten-year-old Black male child was home alone jumping and swinging of the raised crossbars on his mother's four-poster bed. He commonly did this.

Anomalous effects of external TEA on permeation and gating of the A-type potassium current in H. aspersa neuronal somata.

The model proposed for external TEA block of Shaker K+ channels predicts a proportional relationship between TEA sensitivity and calculated electrical distance derived from measurements of voltage dependence of TEA block. In the present study, we examined this relationship for the A-type K+ current (IA) of Helix aspersa in neuronal somata using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. External TEA inhibited IA with strong voltage dependence, such that the TEA dissociation constant was increased at depolarized test potentials.

Adipocytic proportion of bone marrow is inversely related to bone formation in osteoporosis.

Aims: Preliminary studies have suggested that there is an increase in adipocytic tissue in osteoporotic (OP) bone, supporting in vitro evidence for a switch in differentiation of stromal cells from the osteoblastic to the adipocytic lineage. To investigate this the variation of the ratio of adipose tissue to haemopoietic/stromal tissue in OP bone was measured.

Methods: The ratio of adipocytic to haemopoietic/stromal tissue (A/H) was measured by semi-automated image analysis in iliac crest biopsies from 127 patients with osteoporosis (84 female patients, 48 male patients; mean age, 55 years; range, 5-80).

Cell cycle- and swelling-induced activation of a Caenorhabditis elegans ClC channel is mediated by CeGLC-7alpha/beta phosphatases.

ClC voltage-gated anion channels have been identified in bacteria, yeast, plants, and animals. The biophysical and structural properties of ClCs have been studied extensively, but relatively little is known about their precise physiological functions. Furthermore, virtually nothing is known about the signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms that regulate channel activity.

Significant enhancements in glucose tolerance and insulin action in centrally obese subjects following ten days of training.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the effects of short-term exercise on glucose tolerance and insulin response to a glucose load in centrally obese individuals.

Design: 75 g oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT) were performed prior to participation and 24 hours after the last exercise session. Exercise bouts were 40 minutes in duration and consisted of treadmill walking and cycle ergometry at 70-80% of age-predicted maximum heart rate (APHR(max)).

Madura foot in the U.K.: fungal osteomyelitis after renal transplantation.

We report the case of an ethnic Asian patient who attended the renal transplant follow-up clinic complaining of pain in the right great toe. He had undergone transplantation nine months earlier and was maintained on triple immunosuppression. Initially, a clinical diagnosis of gout was made and the patient treated with analgesia.

Improving science literacy and education through space life sciences.

The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) encourages open involvement by scientists and the public at large in the Institute's activities. Through its Education and Public Outreach Program, the Institute is supporting national efforts to improve Kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) and undergraduate education and to communicate knowledge generated by space life science research to lay audiences. Three academic institution Baylor College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine and Texas A&M University are designing, producing, field-testing, and disseminating a comprehensive array of programs and products to achieve this goal.

Fluorescent location of malignant cells in fine needle aspirates.

Malignant cells in fine needle aspirates possess a cell surface protease which can be targeted with fluorescent affinity probes. Cells with active GB exhibit cell surface fluorescence when stained with such affinity probes. The nuclei of all cells on the slides can be counterstained with a nuclear fluorescent stain.