Circadian rhythm sleep disorders as a possible side effect of fluvoxamine.

Sleep problems, day somnolence, and fatigue as a result of psychotropic drugs are very common. Psychiatrists usually consider these effects a result of insomnia and treat them by prescribing sleeping pills or other benzodiazepine agents. We describe here 10 cases of circadian rhythm sleep disorders (CRSD)--and not merely insomnia--as a possible side effect of fluvoxamine (FVA).

Blood lactate recovery and perceived readiness to start a new run in middle-distance runners during interval training.

The aim of this study was to establish to what extent ratings of perceived readiness to start a new run are dependent on recovery of blood lactate and heart rate during passive recovery between interval runs (4 x 2000 m) of increasing intensity by 15 male college-level middle-distance runners. The Perceived Readiness Rating scale was administered at each minute of recovery. Blood lactate concentration was measured immediately after runs at Min.

Pupillography as an objective indicator of fatigue.

Purpose: To determine whether parameters calculated from pupillary activity can identify subjects with sleep deprivation, and whether the objective values correlate with a subjective feeling of fatigue.

Methods: pupil size in the dark was recorded continuously for 10 minutes in 12 healthy volunteers using an infrared video camera. Two recordings were made for each subject: after a full night's sleep, and after 24 hours of sleep deprivation.

Relationship between perceived readiness to run and physiological variables during repeated 2000 m bouts in middle-distance runners.

The aim of this study was to investigate how heart rate (HR) and blood lactate (LA) concentrations are associated with perceived readiness ratings (PRR) to begin a new run during recovery after four different intensity steady-state 2000 m runs in college-level male middle-distance runners (n=15). A typical 4x2000 m run test with stepwise increasing speed was used on the indoor track (150 m lap). A new PRR scale was administered at each minute of recovery.

Conditional transformation of a pancreatic beta-cell line derived from transgenic mice expressing a tetracycline-regulated oncogene.

Conditional oncogene expression in transgenic mice is of interest for studying the oncoprotein requirements during tumorigenesis and for deriving cell lines that can be induced to undergo growth arrest and enhance their differentiated functions. We utilized the bacterial tetracycline (Tet)-resistance operon regulatory system (tet) from Tn10 of Escherichia coli to control simian virus 40 (SV40) large tumor (T) antigen (TAg) gene expression and to generate conditionally transformed pancreatic beta cells in transgenic mice. A fusion protein containing the tet repressor (tetR) and the activating domain of the herpes simplex virus protein VP16, which converts the repressor into a transcription activator, was produced in beta cells of transgenic mice under control of the insulin promoter.