aldB, an RpoS-dependent gene in Escherichia coli encoding an aldehyde dehydrogenase that is repressed by Fis and activated by Crp.

Escherichia coli aldB was identified as a gene that is negatively regulated by Fis but positively regulated by RpoS. The complete DNA sequence determined in this study indicates that aldB encodes a 56.3-kDa protein which shares a high degree of homology with an acetaldehyde dehydrogenase encoded by acoD of Alcaligenes eutrophus and an aldehyde dehydrogenase encoded by aldA of Vibrio cholerae and significant homology with a group of other aldehyde dehydrogenases from prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

A randomized trial of comprehensive geriatric assessment in the care of hospitalized patients.

Background: Although many studies describe benefits from the comprehensive assessment of elderly patients by an interdisciplinary team (comprehensive geriatric assessment), the most supportive evidence for the process has come from programs that rely on specialized inpatient units and long hospital stays. We examined whether an inpatient geriatric consultation service might also be beneficial in a trial involving four medical centers of a group-practice health maintenance organization (HMO).

Methods: We conducted a randomized clinical trial with 2353 hospitalized patients 65 years of age or older in whom at least 1 of 13 screening criteria were present: stroke, immobility, impairment in any basic activity of daily living, malnutrition, incontinence, confusion or dementia, prolonged bed rest, recent falls, depression, social or family problems, an unplanned readmission to the hospital within three months of a previous hospital stay, a new fracture, and age of 80 years or older.

Elevated serum levels of soluble CD23 (sCD23) precede the appearance ofacquired immunodeficiency syndrome--associated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection-associated B-cell hyperstimulation, in particular, the chronic stimulation of B cells to undergo isotype switching, may play an important role in the pathogenesis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-associated lymphoma (AIDS lymphoma). Isotype switching can be induced by various immune system factors, including cytokines, cell-surface stimulatory molecule interactions, and CD23. CD23 is a B-cell differentiation and activation marker expressed on mature B cells that is lost after isotype switching; soluble CD23 (sCD23) also is a B-cell-stimulatory factor.

Effects of modified pharmacologic stress approaches on hyperemic myocardial blood flow.

Unlabelled: Pharmacologic stress testing with 0.56 mg/kg of intravenous dipyridamole is frequently used to noninvasively detect coronary artery disease (CAD). However, high-dose dipyridamole (0.

Antioxidant function of recombinant human natural killer enhancing factor.

Natural killer enhancing factor (NKEF) is a member of a new class of highly conserved antioxidant proteins. Members of this family have been described as thiol-specific antioxidants. In this study, we show that recombinant proteins encoded by the two human NKEF genes (nkef-A and B) possess antioxidant function in the protection of protein and DNA from oxidative damage.

Prophenin-1, an exceptionally proline-rich antimicrobial peptide from porcine leukocytes.

We purified and characterized an unusual antimicrobial peptide, prophenin-1 (PF-1), from porcine leukocytes. The peptide had a mass of 8,683 and contained 79 residues, including 42 (53.2%) prolines and 15 (19.

Cysteine-string proteins as templates for membrane fusion: models of synaptic vesicle exocytosis.

Cysteine-string proteins are relatively small, cysteine-rich components of synaptic vesicle membranes. Recent investigations demonstrated that at least 11 of the 13 cysteine residues of the Torpedo cysteine-string protein are fatty acylated. This exceptional level of fatty acylation occurs along a short stretch (less than 25 residues) of amino acids which are flanked on either side by very polar amino and carboxy termini.

Determining the role of exercise in patients with chronic pulmonary disease.

Chronic pulmonary diseases are common in the community and their pathophysiology is complex. The principal symptoms are dyspnea and limited exercise capacity. Some, but not all, patients have true ventilatory limitation where the maximal exercise ventilation (VEmax) equals the measured maximal ventilatory volume (MVV).

Magnetic resonance imaging and epilepsy: neurosurgical decision making.

Advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques have had an important impact on the decision-making process leading to surgical resection for chronic seizures. The MRI is now obtained relatively early in the work-up, and, when it shows abnormality, it assumes a crucial role in the detection of specific surgically remediable syndromes. These syndromes, when diagnosed by MR and other confirmatory studies such as electroencephalography (EEG), positron emission tomography (PET), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and neuropsychological testing, define the essential part of the surgical plan; that is, removal of the disease substrate.

Programmed cell death enhances uniformity in rat cerebral hemispheres.

Programmed cell death (apoptosis) in rat cerebral hemispheres (CH) reportedly occurs around postnatal day 7 and kills 15-75% of all cells whose continuing presence would be of disadvantage for the organism: neurons erroneously connected, or supranumerary neurons that do not find targets and are not protected by neurotrophins. In the present paper we report that apoptosis (or a concomitant phenomenon) reduces also variability (coefficient of variation, CV) of CH parameters: weight, DNA content and protein content (presented here as a percent of the mean of each of these parameters). Postapoptotic brains have significantly lower CV of these parameters than the preapoptotic brains.

Maturation of kitten ventral medullary surface activity during pressor challenges.

We used large-array optical recording procedures to examine maturation of regional neural activity within the ventral medullary surface (VMS) of anesthetized kittens during pharmacologically induced blood pressure elevation. Under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, the VMS was exposed in 10, 20 and 30- to 45-day-old kittens and in adult cats. Arterial pressure, costal diaphragmatic EMG, and ECG were continuously monitored.

Negative modulation of nitric oxide synthase by nitric oxide and nitroso compounds.

These observations clearly indicate that NO inhibits NOS activity and that nNOS and eNOS are more sensitive than iNOS to the inhibitory action of NO. Not only exogenously added NO but also enzymatically generated NO inhibits the activity of nNOS and eNOS. The mechanism by which NO inhibits NOS appears to involve the heme iron prosthetic group of NOS.

Acute and chronic effects of marijuana smoking on pulmonary alveolar permeability.

Pulmonary clearance of technetium (99mTc)-labeled diethylene triamine pentaacetate (DTPA), a sensitive test of alveolar epithelial permeability, was measured twice in 34 healthy subjects, including 10 control nonsmokers (NS), 10 habitual smokers of marijuana alone (MS) (> or = 10 joints/wk), 9 regular smokers of tobacco alone (TS) (> or = 15 cigarettes/day) and 4 habitual smokers of both marijuana and tobacco (MTS). In smokers, the first study was performed after > or = 12 hrs of abstinence from smoking to assess chronic effects of marijuana and/or tobacco smoking on alveolar permeability; the second study was performed within 15 min of smoking to assess possible acute effects. TS exhibited abnormally rapid 99mTc-DTPA clearance after > or = 12 hours of abstinence, indicating an increase in pulmonary epithelial permeability, consistent with chronic tobacco-induced lung injury.

The relationship of tobacco and marijuana smoking characteristics.

In an ongoing study of the pulmonary effects of heavy, habitual marijuana smoking, detailed marijuana and tobacco smoking histories were obtained from 467 adult regular smokers of marijuana and/or tobacco. Frequency and cumulative amounts of tobacco and marijuana smoking were similar for smokers and nonsmokers of tobacco, except that pack-years and cigarettes/day at the time of the interview were both significantly less for tobacco smokers who also smoked marijuana compared those who did not. For all subjects who smoked both substances at any time, changes in tobacco and marijuana smoking amounts after commencement of regular smoking of the other substance were similar for tobacco and marijuana; the existing smoking habit decreased in approximately one third of the subjects and remained the same in slightly more than one half of the subjects.