Relative rates of anaplerotic flux in rested and contracted rat skeletal muscle measured by 13C NMR spectroscopy.

Flux through anaplerotic pathways in skeletal muscle has not been evaluated quantitatively during both rest and contraction, nor have fibre type-specific rates of anaplerotic flux been studied. Steady-state analysis using 13C NMR spectroscopy enables calculation of Y (flux rate through anaplerotic pathways relative to tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle flux). Under inhalation anaesthesia, [2,4,6,8-13C4]octanoate was infused into the jugular vein of the intact rat (n = 10) and the sciatic nerve of one limb was stimulated at the voltage required to elicit maximal force output at 0.

Challenging the trade-off model for the evolution of virulence: is virulence management feasible?

Progress in understanding the evolution of infectious diseases has inspired proposals to manage the evolution of pathogen (including parasite) virulence. A common view is that social interventions that lower pathogen transmission will indirectly select lower virulence because of a trade-off between transmission and virulence. Here, we argue that there is little theoretical justification and no empirical evidence for this plan.

Coordination between breathing and mental grouping of pianistic finger movements.

6 pianists (age 22 to 43 years) performed a simple finger exercise at a spontaneously chosen most comfortable tempo on a Yamaha-Disklavier piano. Five versions of the exercise, notated in quarter notes, were presented with different types of meters: (1) 3/4, (2) 4/4, (3) 5/4, (4) 6/4, and (5) 7/4. The onsets of finger strokes were measured while respiration was recorded in parallel by means of a thermistor placed at the front of the dominant nostril.

Isoimmunization against CD36 (glycoprotein IV): description of four cases of neonatal isoimmune thrombocytopenia and brief review of the literature.

Background: Platelet CD36 (glycoprotein [GP] IV) deficiency occurs in 3 to 5 percent of persons of Asian or African ancestry. A subset of these individuals is at risk for immunization against CD36, but the magnitude of this problem and its significance in transfusion medicine have not yet been clarified.

Study Design And Methods: Clinical and laboratory aspects of neonatal thrombocytopenia involving five infants born to four CD36- mothers were characterized.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria in the setting of cystic fibrosis.

Nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infections are increasingly recognized in patients with CF. This may reflect the increasing longevity of this population with increased environmental exposure time, a higher clinical index of suspicion, and/or some as yet unidentified predisposing factor(s). The most common species of NTM in CF is MAC, followed by M abscessus.

Psychotherapy of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults--a pilot study using a structured skills training program.

In clinical practice many adult patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ask for an additional psychotherapeutic intervention besides the medical therapy. In this paper we present a structured skill training program particularly tailored for adult patients with ADHD. The program is based on the principles of cognitive-behavioral treatment for borderline personality disorder developed by M.

A single mutation in the carboxy terminus of reovirus outer-capsid protein sigma 3 confers enhanced kinetics of sigma 3 proteolysis, resistance to inhibitors of viral disassembly, and alterations in sigma 3 structure.

Mammalian reoviruses undergo acid-dependent proteolytic disassembly within endosomes, resulting in formation of infectious subvirion particles (ISVPs). ISVPs are obligate intermediates in reovirus disassembly that mediate viral penetration into the cytoplasm. The initial biochemical event in the reovirus disassembly pathway is the proteolysis of viral outer-capsid protein sigma 3.

Different striatal dopamine D2 receptor occupancy in alcohol dependent patients with or without physical withdrawal symptoms --a study using IBZM-SPECT.

Ten male patients with type I alcohol dependency fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependency were investigated twice using IBZM-SPECT after alcohol withdrawal (day 2 and day 28 after withdrawal). Five patients had a history of physical withdrawal symptoms, 5 patients had no such history. The group with physical withdrawal symptoms showed higher IBZM binding in both scans indicating differences of dopaminergic neurotransmission in different subtypes of alcohol dependency.

Frontoorbital volume reductions in adult patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common psychiatric disorder in childhood and adolescence and in a considerable number of patients it persists into adulthood. A network of brain regions have been shown to be abnormal in ADHD. In the present study we used magnetic resonance volumetry to investigate a possible role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).

Small subunit ribosomal DNA phylogeny of microsporidia that infect Daphnia (Crustacea: Cladocera).

Glugoides intestinalis, Microsporidium sp., Ordospora colligata, Gurleya vavrai, Larssonia obtusa and Flabelliforma magnivora are microsporidian parasites of planctonic freshwater crustaceans Daphnia spp. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of the small subunit ribosomal DNA which revealed their positions as polyphyletic.

Strong inbreeding depression in a Daphnia metapopulation.

The deleterious effects of inbreeding have long been known, and inbreeding can increase the risk of extinction for local populations in metapopulations. However, other consequences of inbreeding in metapopulations are still not well understood. Here we show the presence of strong inbreeding depression in a rockpool metapopulation of the planktonic freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna, which reproduces by cyclical parthenogenesis.

Cathepsin L and cathepsin B mediate reovirus disassembly in murine fibroblast cells.

After attachment to receptors, reovirus virions are internalized by endocytosis and exposed to acid-dependent proteases that catalyze viral disassembly. Previous studies using the cysteine protease inhibitor E64 and a mutant cell line that does not support reovirus disassembly suggest a requirement for specific endocytic proteases in reovirus entry. This study identifies the endocytic proteases that mediate reovirus disassembly in murine fibroblast cells.

In deep trouble: habitat selection constrained by multiple enemies in zooplankton.

Habitat selection behavior is an important predator-avoidance strategy for many organisms. Its particular expression is often explained as the result of a tradeoff between avoiding antagonists and acquiring resources. However, there is need for a broader perspective on this behavior, as organisms are often simultaneously involved in complex antagonistic relationships with multiple types of enemies.

On the role of quantitative brain imaging in the differential diagnosis of speech disorders.

We present the case of a 71-year-old woman with an 11-year history of slowly progressive decline of motor speech. Normal clinical investigations including routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 7, 8 and 10 years after the onset of speech dysfunction led to the suggestion of a psychogenic disorder. Extensive clinical, neuropsychological and neuroimaging investigations including 18F-desoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (PET), quantitative MRI and MR spectroscopy were performed to look for subtle brain pathology.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria in cystic fibrosis.

The incidence of NTM pulmonary infections increasingly is recognized in patients with CF. This may reflect the increasing longevity of this population with increased environmental exposure time, a high index of suspicion, and/or some as of yet unidentified predisposing factor(s). The most common species of NTM in CF is MAC, followed by M.

Dose-dependent infection rates of parasites produce the Allee effect in epidemiology.

In many epidemiological models of microparasitic infections it is assumed that the infection process is governed by the mass-action principle, i.e. that the infection rate per host and per parasite is a constant.

Amygdala pathology in psychosis of epilepsy: A magnetic resonance imaging study in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Psychosis of epilepsy (POE) has been recognized as a severe complication of chronic intractable epilepsy for more than a century. Most of the clinical symptoms of POE are reminiscent of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, there is general agreement that the phenomenology of POE differs from classical schizophrenia.

A selective advantage to immigrant genes in a Daphnia metapopulation.

Immigrants to habitats occupied by conspecific organisms are usually expected to be competitively inferior, because residents may be locally adapted. If residents are inbred, however, mating between immigrants and residents results in offspring that may enjoy a fitness advantage from hybrid vigor. We demonstrate this effect experimentally in a natural Daphnia metapopulation in which genetic bottlenecks and local inbreeding are common.

Evolution in health and disease: work in progress.

This article surveys progress in Darwinian medicine since 1991. Evolutionary thinking has been providing an increasing flow of fresh ideas into medical science, ideas that would not be suggested by other perspectives. Recent contributions have shed new light on the evolution of virulence, of antibiotic resistance, of oocytic atresia, of menopause, of the timing of the expression of genetic disease, of links between mate choice and disease resistance, and of genomic conflict between mother and fetus over resource provisioning.

Subtle prefrontal neuropathology in a pilot magnetic resonance spectroscopy study in patients with borderline personality disorder.

The authors examined the brains of patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) by using short echo time single voxel spectroscopy and found a significant 19% reduction of absolute N-acetylaspartate concentrations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in BPD (P=0.01) compared with control subjects.

Urinary oxalate excretion in female calcium oxalate stone formers with and without a history of recurrent urinary tract infections.

Therapy with antibiotics in recurrent urinary tract infections may destroy colonies of Oxalobacter formigenes in the intestinal tract. A lack of oxalate degradation caused by the absence of this bacterium is suggested to contribute to the hyperabsorption of dietary oxalate and to the increase in urinary oxalate excretion. The present study was performed to evaluate the effect of recurrent urinary tract infections and subsequent changes induced in the urinary excretion profile in female calcium oxalate stone formers.