Extraocular muscle activity, rapid eye movements and the development of active and quiet sleep.

Rapid eye movements (REMs), traditionally measured using the electrooculogram (EOG), help to characterize active sleep in adults. In early infancy, however, they are not clearly expressed. Here we measured extraocular muscle activity in infant rats at 3 days of age (P3), P8 and P14-15 in order to assess the ontogeny of REMs and their relationship with other forms of sleep-related phasic activity.

Chromatographic characterization of substance P endopeptidase in the rat brain reveals affected enzyme activity following heat stress.

This paper describes a study of substance P endopeptidase (SPE)-like activity in various regions of the brain from male rats subjected to heat stress (HS). The enzyme activity was found to be affected in several brain areas including cerebellum, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus[sol ]thalamus and the spinal cord following HS. Significant increases in SPE activity were observed in, for example, hippocampus and the spinal cord.

In vitro glucose-induced cataract in copper-zinc superoxide dismutase null mice.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the involvement of the superoxide radical in glucose-induced cataract using lenses from mice lacking the cytosolic copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1). Lenses from wild-type mice and SOD1 null mice were kept in organ culture with either 5.6 or 55.

Quantitative LC-ESI-MS analyses of microcystins and nodularin-R in animal tissue--matrix effects and method validation.

The matrix effects and signal response in LC-MS analysis of six microcystins and nodularin-R were studied in mussels and liver samples from the common eider and rainbow trout. The instrumentation used in the study was a triple quadrupole MS with electrospray ionization. The results from the spiked tissue samples showed that both signal suppression and enhancement occurred.

Intensive treatment and stem cell transplantation in chronic myelogenous leukemia: long-term follow-up.

In the present study we combined interferon (IFN) and hydroxyurea (HU) treatment, intensive chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) in newly diagnosed chronic myelogenous leukemia patients aged below 56 years, not eligible for allogeneic SCT. Patients who had an HLA-identical sibling donor and no contraindication went for an allogeneic SCT (related donor, RD). After diagnosis, patients not allotransplanted received HU and IFN to keep WBC and platelet counts low.

Derivatization using dimethylamine for tandem mass spectrometric structure analysis of enzymatically and acidically depolymerized methyl cellulose.

Structure analysis of partially depolymerized methyl cellulose was performed by nanoelectrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (nano-ESI-MS/MS) and by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS/MS). Dimethylamine (DMA) was used for the first time as a reducing end derivatization reagent for oligosaccharides. This is an attractive reagent since it could be easily removed from the reaction mixture.

Autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation in adult ALL: the Swedish Adult ALL Group experience.

Adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) have been treated according to national protocols in Sweden since 1986. Stem cell transplantation (SCT) has been recommended in first remission for patients with risk factors for relapse, and for standard risk patients only after relapse. In this retrospective study, the results of autologous and allogeneic SCT in these populations were evaluated.

Heterogeneity of nodularin bioaccumulation in northern Baltic Sea flounders in 2002.

The cyanobacterial hepatotoxin nodularin is abundantly produced by the cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena in the Baltic Sea during July-August. Nodularin is a potent hepatotoxin and a tumour promoter, distributed in various Baltic Sea environmental compartments, especially food webs involving mussels. Flounders receive nodularin through consumption of blue mussels.

The neural substrates of infant sleep in rats.

Sleep is a poorly understood behavior that predominates during infancy but is studied almost exclusively in adults. One perceived impediment to investigations of sleep early in ontogeny is the absence of state-dependent neocortical activity. Nonetheless, in infant rats, sleep is reliably characterized by the presence of tonic (i.

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with mutated VH genes presenting with Binet stage B or C form a subgroup with a poor outcome.

Background And Objectives: The immunoglobulin VH gene mutation status is a strong prognostic indicator in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), since unmutated VH genes are correlated with short survival. However, the traditional cut-off level dividing mutated and unmutated cases, i.e.

Mortality during the first 24 months after delivery in relation to CD4 T-lymphocyte levels and viral load in a cohort of breast-feeding HIV-1-infected women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The objective of this study was to analyze the mortality during the first 24 months after delivery in relation to CD4 T-lymphocyte levels and viral load at enrollment (36 weeks of gestation) in a cohort of HIV-1-seropositive breast-feeding women at the Dar es Salaam site of the multicenter Petra trial (a mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission intervention trial using antiretroviral therapy). Antiretroviral treatment was not available in this setting apart from the short treatment given within the trial around delivery to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. T-lymphocyte subsets were determined by flow cytometry.

Telomere length as a prognostic parameter in chronic lymphocytic leukemia with special reference to VH gene mutation status.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) consists of 2 prognostic entities where cases with mutated immunoglobulin V(H) genes have better outcome than unmutated cases. V(H)-mutated CLLs display longer telomeres compared with unmutated cases and telomere length has been indicated to predict outcome, although the prognostic value of telomere length has not been fully established in CLL. We analyzed telomere length, V(H) gene mutation status, and clinical parameters in a large series of CLL.

Novel binding epitope for Helicobacter pylori found in neolacto carbohydrate chains: structure and cross-binding properties.

Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium that colonizes the stomach of a majority of the global human population causing common gastric diseases like ulcers and cancer. It has an unusually complex pattern of binding to various host glycoconjugates including interaction with sialylated, sulfated, and fucosylated sequences. The present study describes an additional binding epitope comprising the neolacto internal sequence of GlcNAcbeta3-Galbeta4GlcNAcbeta.

The ontogeny of mammalian sleep: a response to Frank and Heller (2003).

In a recent review, Frank and Heller (2003) provided support for their 'presleep theory' of sleep development. According to this theory, rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (Non-REM) sleep in rats emerge from a common 'dissociated' state only when the neocortical EEG differentiates at 12 days of age (P12). Among the assumptions and inferences associated with this theory is that sleep before EEG differentiation is only 'sleep-like' and can only be characterized using behavioral measures; that the neural mechanisms governing presleep are distinct from those governing REM and Non-REM sleep; and that the presleep theory is the only theory that can account for developmental periods when REM and Non-REM sleep components appear to overlap.

Oxidation of the cyanobacterial hepatotoxin microcystin-LR by chlorine dioxide: reaction kinetics, characterization, and toxicity of reaction products.

Cyanobacteria are known producers of cytotoxins, hepatotoxins, and neurotoxins. The main toxins are microcystins, cyclic heptapeptide hepatotoxins, produced by strains of several cyanobacterial genera frequently found in eutrophied freshwaters. Due to the acute and chronic toxicity of microcystins, successful removal of these toxins in drinking water treatment processes is of increasing concern.

Active medullary control of atonia in week-old rats.

Muscle atonia is a central feature of adult REM sleep which has recently been demonstrated to be a component of sleep in rats as young as 2 days of age (P2). The neural generation of atonia, which depends on mesopontine and medullary structures, is not fully understood in adults and has never been described in infants. In the present experiments we used electrical stimulation in decerebrated pups to identify an inhibitory area within the medial medulla of P7-10 rats.

Assimilation and depuration of microcystin-LR by the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha.

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are an important component of the foodweb of shallow lakes in the Netherlands, amongst others in Lake IJsselmeer, an international important wetland. Large numbers of ducks feed on these mussels in autumn and winter. The mussels are filter feeders and are exposed to high densities of cyanobacteria in summer and autumn.

Subsets with restricted immunoglobulin gene rearrangement features indicate a role for antigen selection in the development of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

We recently identified a chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) subgroup using the immunoglobulin variable heavy-chain (V(H)) gene V(H)3-21 with almost identical heavy-chain complementarity determining region 3s (HCDR3s) and preferential variable light-chain (V(L)) gene usage, suggesting recognition of a common antigen epitope in this subset. To further explore the B-cell receptors (BCRs) in CLL, we characterized 407 V(H) rearrangements amplified from 346 CLLs regarding V(H), diversity (D), and joining (J(H)) gene usage and performed multiple alignment of the HCDR3 sequences. These analyses revealed 3 small subsets (2 V(H)1-69 groups, 7 cases; and 1 V(H)1-2 group, 5 cases) with highly restricted HCDR3 features including identical V(H)/D/J(H) usage, HCDR3 lengths, and shared N-sequences, in addition to the V(H)3-21 group (22 cases).

Eiders (Somateria mollissima) obtain nodularin, a cyanobacterial hepatotoxin, in Baltic Sea food web.

Nodularin (NODLN) is a cyclic pentapeptide hepatotoxin produced by the cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena, which occurs regularly in the Baltic Sea during the summer season. Nodularia blooms have caused several animal kills in the Baltic Sea area, and NODLN has been found in mussels and fish caught from the northern Baltic Sea in 1996 to 2002. We analyzed liver samples of common eider (Somateria mollissima) for NODLN by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS).

Focus formation of DNA repair proteins in normal and repair-deficient cells irradiated with high-LET ions.

To investigate the repair of clustered lesions within the DNA/chromatin, the focus formation and persistence of foci of the phosphorylated histone protein H2AX and the repair protein MRE11 were studied in normal cells and in cells lacking DNA-PKcs (M059J) or ATM (GM2052D) after irradiation with high-LET nitrogen ions or low-LET photons. There was a rapid formation of MRE11 and gamma-H2AX foci, and 0.5 h after high-LET irradiation, the number of foci in normal cells correlated well with the number of particle hits per cell nucleus.

Dental anxiety in Iceland: an epidemiological postal survey.

In this study, we examined the prevalence of specific (dental) phobia among a sample of the Icelandic population. In addition to dental anxiety we explored factors that could be related to dental anxiety. In the period 1972-73, a stratified sample of 1641 schoolchildren in Reykjavík was selected for a study on malocclusion, dental maturation and other factors.

Hypothalamic contribution to sleep-wake cycle development.

Infant mammals cycle rapidly between sleep and wakefulness and only gradually does a more consolidated sleep pattern develop. The neural substrates responsible for this consolidation are unknown. To establish a reliable measure of sleep-wake cyclicity in infant rats, nuchal muscle tone was measured in 2-, 5-, and 8-day-old rats, as were motor behaviors associated with sleep (i.

Studies on gangliosides with affinity for Helicobacter pylori: binding to natural and chemically modified structures.

Helicobacter pylori, like many other microbes, has the ability to bind to carbohydrate epitopes. Several sugar sequences have been reported as active for the bacterium, including some neutral, sulfated, and sialylated structures. We investigated structural requirements for the sialic acid-dependent binding using a number of natural and chemically modified gangliosides.

Increased remissions from one course for intermediate-dose cytosine arabinoside and idarubicin in elderly acute myeloid leukaemia when combined with cladribine. A randomized population-based phase II study.

Cladribine has single-drug activity in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), and may enhance the formation of the active metabolite (ara-CTP) of cytosine arabinoside (ara-C). To evaluate the feasibility of adding intermittent cladribine to intermediate-dose ara-C (1 g/m2/2 h) b.i.