Comparison of Flutter device and chest physical therapy in the treatment of cystic fibrosis pulmonary exacerbation.

Chest physiotherapy (CPT) is recommended for the clearance of bronchial secretions in the management of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The Flutter valve (Scandipharm, Birmingham, AL) has been introduced as an alternative method to CPT for airway mucus clearance. The objective of this study was to compare the short-term effects of CPT and the Flutter valve on pulmonary function and exercise tolerance in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Thermodynamics of stabilization of RNA pseudoknots by cobalt(III) hexaammine.

Equilibrium unfolding (folding) studies reveal that the autoregulatory RNA pseudoknots derived from the bacteriophage T2 and T4 gene 32 mRNAs exhibit significant stabilization by increasing concentrations of divalent metal ions in solution. In this report, the apparent affinities of exchange inert trivalent Co(NH(3))(3+)(6) have been determined, relative to divalent Mg(2+), for the folded, partially folded (K(f)), and fully unfolded (K(u)) conformations of these molecules. A general nonspecific, delocalized ion binding model was developed and applied to the analysis of the metal ion concentration dependence of individual two-state unfolding transitions.

Tetracycline sclerotherapy for the treatment of recurrent pooling of plasma in the submandibular tissue space: case report.

We present an unusual case of recurrent swelling after removal of the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands which was found to be the result of a collection of plasma. This was successfully treated by an injection of tetracycline to induce sclerosis.

Glucose loading precipitates acute encephalopathy in thiamin-deficient rats.

A rat model of glucose-precipitated Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) has been developed in which glucose loading (10 g/kg, i.p.) of ataxic thiamin-deficient (TD) rats induced episodes of gross neurological dysfunction and sometimes death.

Aspartate-27 and glutamate-473 are involved in catalysis by Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase.

Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.

Properties and functions of the thiamin diphosphate dependent enzyme transketolase.

This review highlights recent research on the properties and functions of the enzyme transketolase, which requires thiamin diphosphate and a divalent metal ion for its activity. The transketolase-catalysed reaction is part of the pentose phosphate pathway, where transketolase appears to control the non-oxidative branch of this pathway, although the overall flux of labelled substrates remains controversial. Yeast transketolase is one of several thiamin diphosphate dependent enzymes whose three-dimensional structures have been determined.

Modulation of quantum yield of primary radical pair formation in photosystem II by site-directed mutagenesis affecting radical cations and anions.

Pigment-protein interactions play a significant role in determining the properties of photosynthetic complexes. Site-directed mutants of Synechocystis PCC 6803 have been prepared which modify the redox potential of the primary radical pair anion and cation. In one set of mutants, the environment of P680, the primary electron donor of Photosystem II, has been modified by altering the residue at D1-His198.

Identification of the catalytic glutamate in the E1 component of human pyruvate dehydrogenase.

The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA. The first component (E1) converts pyruvate to bound acetaldehyde using thiamine diphosphate (ThDP) and Mg2+ as cofactors. There is no 3D structure of E1 available but those of other ThDP-dependent enzymes show some similarities including a glutamate residue that assists in ThDP activation.

Equilibrium unfolding (folding) pathway of a model H-type pseudoknotted RNA: the role of magnesium ions in stability.

In T2 and related T-even bacteriophages, the upstream autoregulatory mRNA leader sequence of gene 32 folds into a simple tertiary structural motif, a hairpin (H)-type pseudoknot. This pseudoknot is derived from 32 contiguous nucleotides which form two coaxially stacked helical stems that adopt a pseudocontinuous A-form helical structure. These stems are connected by two nonequivalent single-stranded loops.

The chloroplast-encoded alpha subunit of cytochrome b-559 is required for assembly of the photosystem two complex in both the light and the dark in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

The role of cytochrome b-559 in the photosystem two (PSII) complex has been investigated through the construction of a psbE null mutant by transformation of the chloroplast genome of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. No PSII activity could be detected in this mutant either in oxygen evolution assays or by analysis of variable chlorophyll fluorescence. Immunoblotting experiments showed that the absence of PSII activity in the mutant was due to the loss of the PSII complex in both light-grown and dark-grown cultures.

Physical activity epidemiology applied to children and adolescents.

Physical activity epidemiology is central to establishing the importance of physical activity to public health. However, epidemiologic research applied to children and adolescents is still in its infancy. For example, in the studies we reviewed, many instances could be found where samples were inadequately described or where response rates and completion rates suggest that the final sample may no longer be representative of the population of interest.

The striatum and self-paced movements.

Monkeys (Macacca fascicularis) were tested for their ability to perform learned, self-initiated arm movements for reward, both before and after receiving bilateral putamen lesions. The rate at which they made the movements was significantly reduced postoperatively, but their performance on a visually cued control task was normal. It is argued that the impairment was not a consequence of poor motor control or motivation, but that it reflected a reduced capacity to recall learned movements in the absence of external cues.

Drug-induced bladder and urinary disorders. Incidence, prevention and management.

The bladder is vulnerable to the adverse effects of drugs because of its complex control and the frequent excretion of drug metabolites in the urine. Incontinence results when bladder pressure exceeds sphincter resistance. Stress incontinence because of sphincter weakness occurs with antipsychotics and alpha-blockers, especially in women.

The chloroplast Ndh complex mediates the dark reduction of the plastoquinone pool in response to heat stress in tobacco leaves.

We have examined the effects of heat stress on electron transfer in the thylakoid membrane of an engineered plastid ndh deletion mutant, delta1, incapable of performing the Ndh-mediated reduction of the plastoquinone pool in the chloroplast. Upon heat stress in the dark, the rate of PSII-independent reduction of PSI after subsequent illumination by far-red light is dramatically enhanced in both delta1 and a wild-type control plant (WT). In contrast, in the dark, only the WT shows an increase in the reduction state of the plastoquinone pool.

Mutation of residue threonine-2 of the D2 polypeptide and its effect on photosystem II function in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

The D2 polypeptide of the photosystem II (PSII) complex in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is thought to be reversibly phosphorylated. By analogy to higher plants, the phosphorylation site is likely to be at residue threonine-2 (Thr-2). We have investigated the role of D2 phosphorylation by constructing two mutants in which residue Thr-2 has been replaced by either alanine or serine.

Changes in the hippocampus induced by glucose in thiamin deficient rats detected by MRI.

Using T2-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in a pyrithiamin-treated, thiamin deficient (TD) rat model of Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE), we have observed hyperintensity in the thalamus, hypothalamus, collicular bodies and hippocampus which was enhanced 40 min after a glucose load. Hyperintensity was not evident in these structures in thiamin replete rats receiving glucose nor was it enhanced in TD rats administered 2-deoxyglucose. Residual hyperintensity was still evident in the hippocampus as long as 30 days after thiamin administration and was increased by repeat glucose challenge at that time.

Hypometria in Parkinson's disease: automatic versus controlled processing.

Objectives: The aim was to investigate whether patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) make movements that are of smaller amplitude when required to attend to a secondary task at the same time as performing a motor task.

Methods: Thirteen patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (mean age, 67.1 yrs) and 14 healthy control subjects (mean age, 66.

Heterologous expression of human transketolase.

Transketolase belongs to the family of thiamin diphosphate dependent enzymes. The aim of this study was to establish a bacterial expression system for human transketolase in order to investigate the functional characteristics of mammalian transketolases. The level of recombinant human enzyme expressed in Escherichia coli was modest.

The left hemisphere and the selection of learned actions.

The left hemisphere's dominance for movement is well known. The basis of its dominance is less clear. We have tested 16 left hemisphere (LH) patients, 17 right hemisphere (RH) patients and 12 neurologically normal controls on a battery of five tasks.

Identification of a functional respiratory complex in chloroplasts through analysis of tobacco mutants containing disrupted plastid ndh genes.

The plastid genomes of several plants contain homologues, termed ndh genes, of genes encoding subunits of the NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase or complex I of mitochondria and eubacteria. The functional significance of the Ndh proteins in higher plants is uncertain. We show here that tobacco chloroplasts contain a protein complex of 550 kDa consisting of at least three of the ndh gene products: NdhI, NdhJ and NdhK.

The plastid ndh genes code for an NADH-specific dehydrogenase: isolation of a complex I analogue from pea thylakoid membranes.

The plastid genomes of several plants contain ndh genes-homologues of genes encoding subunits of the proton-pumping NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, or complex I, involved in respiration in mitochondria and eubacteria. From sequence similarities with these genes, the ndh gene products have been suggested to form a large protein complex (Ndh complex); however, the structure and function of this complex remains to be established. Herein we report the isolation of the Ndh complex from the chloroplasts of the higher plant Pisum sativum.

Parietal cortex and movement. II. Spatial representation.

Lesions in the two divisions of parietal cortex, 5/7b/MIP and 7a/LIP, produce dissociable reaching deficits. Monkeys with 5/7b/MIP removals were tested on reaching in the dark under two different conditions. All the reaches made on any day were from the same starting position to the same target position in the control condition.