Proteolytic bacteria in the lower digestive tract of poultry may affect avian influenza virus pathogenicity.

Proteolytic cleavage of hemagglutinin is required for cell entry by receptor-mediated endocytosis and plays a key role in pathogenicity of the influenza virus. Despite several studies describing relationships between bacterial proteases and influenza A viral activation in mammals, very little is known about the role of the normal bacterial flora of birds on hemagglutinin activation. We examined the indigenous intestinal microflora of 100 mixed-sex, 27-d-old Ross chickens from a commercial poultry facility for protease-secreting bacteria.

Thought suppression.

Although thought suppression is a popular form of mental control, research has indicated that it can be counterproductive, helping assure the very state of mind one had hoped to avoid. This chapter reviews the research on suppression, which spans a wide range of domains, including emotions, memory, interpersonal processes, psychophysiological reactions, and psychopathology. The chapter considers the relevant methodological and theoretical issues and suggests directions for future research.

Water and carboxyl group environments in the dehydration blueshift of bacteriorhodopsin.

The proton channels of the bacteriorhodopsin (BR) proton pump contain bound water molecules. The channels connect the purple membrane surfaces with the protonated retinal Schiff base at the membrane center. Films of purple membrane equilibrated at low relative humidity display a shift of the 570 nm retinal absorbance maximum to 528 nm, with most of the change occurring below 15% relative humidity.

Electrode coatings based on chitosan scaffolds.

Thin films of a biopolymer chitosan (CHIT) were cast on glassy carbon electrodes, modified by grafting Lucifer Yellow VS dye (LYVS) onto chitosan chains, and cross-linked with glutaric dialdehyde (GDI). The ion-transport and ion-exchange properties of such polymeric structures (CHIT, CHIT-LYVS, CHIT-LYVS-GDI) were studied using cyclic voltammetry, rotating disk electrode, and flow injection analysis. The results showed that the chitosan matrix supported a fast ion transport as demonstrated by aqueous-like values of the apparent diffusion coefficients of Ru(NH3)6(3)+ and dopamine in the films.

The fictively breathing tadpole brainstem preparation as a model for the development of respiratory pattern generation and central chemoreception.

Spontaneous high-frequency, low-amplitude and low-frequency, high-amplitude efferent bursting patterns of cranial and spinal motor nerve activity in the in vitro brainstem preparation of the bullfrog tadpole Rana catesbeiana have been characterized as fictive gill and lung ventilation, respectively (Gdovin MJ, Torgerson CS, Remmers JE). Characterization of gill and lung ventilatory activity in cranial nerves in the spontaneously breathing tadpole Rana catesbeiana, FASEB J 1996;10(3):A642; Gdovin MJ, Torgerson CS, Remmers JE. Neurorespiratory pattern of gill and lung ventilation in the decerebrate spontaneously breathing tadpole, Respir Physiol 1998;113:135 146; Pack AI, Galante RJ, Walker RE, Kubin LK, Fishman AP.

A new model for the K+-induced macromolecular structure of guanosine 5'-monophosphate in solution.

The (31)P NMR spectra of (TMA)(2)(5'-GMP), where TMA is [(CH(3))(4)N](+) and 5'-GMP is guanosine 5'-monophosphate, and K(2)(5'-GMP), containing various amounts of KCl or TMACl, have been obtained at 2 degrees C. Variable-temperature spectra have also been obtained for K(2)(5'-GMP). The TMA(+) ion serves to neutralize the charge on the dianionic 5'-GMP and permits the added K(+) to bond preferentially in structure-forming sites.

Put prevention into practice. Evaluation of program initiation in nine Texas clinical sites.

Introduction: Put Prevention Into Practice (PPIP) is a program designed to improve the delivery of clinical preventive services by primary care providers, through the use of specific office materials for providers and clinic staff, as well as an educational booklet for patients. The purpose of this study was to identify potential predictors of successful initiation of PPIP among 9 Texas public health clinics participating in a demonstration project funded by the Texas Department of Health (TDH).

Methods: The PRECEDE model was utilized as a theoretical framework for the study.

Dispositional and situational goal orientations as discriminators among recreational and competitive league athletes.

The present study examined the relationship between individual goal orientation, motivational team climate, perceived sport competence, and league structure among 216 youth soccer players. It was predicted that competitive league teams would report higher ego-involvement and performance-oriented team climate and lower sport competence than recreational teams. Discriminant analyses indicated that only the mastery-oriented team climate variable differentiated competitive and recreational teams.

Strategic groups and performance in the nursing home industry: a reexamination.

This study further examines the relationship between strategic group membership and performance in the nursing home industry. The results indicate seven strategic groups in the industry with significant between-group differences in operating margin, average profit per patient day, catheterization rate, health deficiencies, life and safety deficiencies, and efficiency in the provision of services. The authors did not, however, find significant between-group differences in pressure sore rate, the use of restraints, or in the percentage of patients with significant unplanned weight changes.

Conformational change in bacterio-opsin on binding to retinal.

The detailed mechanism of retinal binding to bacterio-opsin is important to understanding retinal pigment formation as well as to the process of membrane protein folding. We have measured the temperature dependence of bacteriorhodopsin formation from bacterio-opsin and all-trans retinal. An Arrhenius plot of the apparent second-order rate constants gives an activation energy of 11.

Variation in acid hydrolase enzyme titers in different developmental stages of Aedes togoi.

Genetic mechanisms of filarial nematode susceptibility were studied in Aedes togoi. Acid hydrolases may play an important role in this process, including humoral or cell-mediated defenses. Levels of acid phosphatase, alpha-glucosidase, beta-glucuronidase, and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase were determined for 1st- and 4th-instar larvae, male and female pupae, and 1- and 7-day-old adults using fluorometric and colorimetric assays.

Unmasking a cognitive vulnerability to depression: how lapses in mental control reveal depressive thinking.

This research tested the idea that a cognitive vulnerability to depression can be concealed by thought suppression and revealed when cognitive demands undermine mental control. Depressive, at-risk, and nondepressive participants unscrambled sentences that could from either positive or depressive statements. Half of the participants also received a cognitive load.

Ca2+ channel alpha 1-subunit transcripts are differentially expressed in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells following nerve growth factor treatment.

In this report, we describe the effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on the transcriptional expression of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel alpha 1 subunits, i.e., alpha 1A, alpha 1B, alpha 1C, alpha 1D, and alpha 1E in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells.

Confirmatory factor analyses examining attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and other childhood disruptive behaviors.

Over the past 15 years, three distinct models have been used to characterize the factor structure of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These models correspond to descriptions of the disorder as outlined in DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and now, DSM-IV. Specifically, in DSM-III, inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity were treated as three separate constructs.

p75NTR and Trk receptors are expressed in reciprocal patterns in a wide variety of non-neural tissues during rat embryonic development, indicating independent receptor functions.

The p75 kDa neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) has been detected in a number of non-neural tissues, especially during development. Reports of Trk receptor transcripts in non-neural tissues raise the possibility that the sites of p75NTR expression during development may correlate with Trk receptor expression. Coexpression of p75NTR with the Trk receptors in developing non-neural tissues would support the hypothesis that there is a cooperative function between the two receptor subclasses.

Characterization of new gibberellin-responsive semidwarf mutants of arabidopsis.

Chemical mutagenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. yielded four semidwarf mutants, all of which appeared to be gibberellin (GA)-biosynthesis mutants.

Losartan improves the performance of ethanol-intoxicated rats in an eight-arm radial maze.

Results of previous research demonstrate that angiotensin II (Ang II) inhibits long-term potentiation (LTP) in medial perforant path-dentate gyrus granule cells and that the inhibition is mediated by the AT1 receptor because it can be blocked by losartan, a specific AT1 receptor antagonist. Ang II impairment of retention and ethanol inhibition of LTP can both be blocked by pretreatment with losartan. Because losartan pretreatment also prevents ethanol intoxication measured in terms of the aerial righting reflex, the purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of 2.

A comparison of alcohol, drugs, and aggressive crime among Mexican-American, black, and white male arrestees in Texas.

Few comparative studies exist examining the relationship between substance abuse and aggressive behavior under different social conditions. We studied the relationship between aggressive crime and substance abuse among Mexican-American, black and white male arrestees in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas using existing 1992 Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) data. The aim of the analysis was to predict the outcome of aggressive crime from drug and alcohol-related and ethnic group variables within the total male sample (n = 2,364).

Blockade of hippocampal long-term potentiation following soman pretreatment in the rat.

One of the most potent toxins known is the cholinesterase inhibitor, soman, which produces severe convulsions and cell loss in the central nervous system. In these experiments the effect of multiple low doses of soman on the acquisition and maintenance of long-term potentiation (LTP) was determined in rats. LTP is a form of synaptic plasticity that has been studied as a cellular substrate for learning and memory mechanisms.

Lateral hypothalamic stimulation inhibits dentate granule cell LTP: direct connections.

We discovered that angiotensin II (Ang II) applied directly to the dentate gyrus inhibited LTP induction in medial perforant path-dentate granule cell synapses and that the inhibition can be blocked by losartan, an Ang II AT1 receptor specific antagonist. In the first part of this study we found that electrical stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) inhibits LTP in these synapses and the inhibition can be blocked by pretreating the animals with losartan, indicating that LH angiotensin-containing neurons project to the dentate gyrus. Results of the second part of the study demonstrate clearly that some angiotensin-containing LH neurons project directly to dentate granule cells.

Ethanol affects hypothalamic neurons projecting to the hippocampus and inhibits dentate granule cell LTP.

In previous studies we demonstrated that ethanol inhibition of hippocampal granule cell long-term potentiation (LTP) is mediated by angiotensin II (AII), and the inhibition can be blocked by losartan, a specific AII receptor antagonist. The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate that this low-dose ethanol inhibition of dentate granule cell LTP induction is mediated by lateral hypothalamic (LH) afferents that project to the granule cells. In urethane anesthetized rats, we compared the effects of ethanol infusion, 6.

Glycosylated human growth hormone (hGH): a novel 24 kDa hGH-N variant.

We have identified a human pituitary protein as a novel glycosylated variant of hGH. Isolation of the denatured protein included separation of human pituitary extract by Sephadex G-100 chromatography in ammonium bicarbonate, followed by Sephadex G-100 chromatography in 10% acetic acid, with subsequent DEAE Sephacryl chromatography in ammonium bicarbonate, and finally by preparative SDS PAGE. The pituitary protein has a molecular weight of 24 kDa as determined by SDS PAGE analysis and is thus larger than the normal 22 kDa hGH.

Correspondence between visually evoked voltage-sensitive dye signals and synaptic activity recorded in cortical pyramidal cells with intracellular microelectrodes.

Fast, multiple-site optical recording of voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) signals and intracellular microelectrode recordings were combined to characterize visually evoked neuronal responses in the visual cortex of the pond turtle, Pseudemys scripta. By using an in vitro, eye-brain preparation stained with the merocyanine oxazolone voltage-sensitive dye, NK-2495 or a close analog, NK-2761, large VSD signals relatively free of vibrational noise could be recorded in single trials following a stroboscopic light flash to the contralateral eye. VSD signals recorded from the same cortical location in repeated trials exhibited considerable variability in the onset, duration, and amplitude of secondary depolarizations.

Comparison of retinyl ester hydrolase activities in bovine liver and retinal pigment epithelium.

Various properties of retinyl ester hydrolysis in the liver and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) have been studied, yet the relationship between the retinyl ester hydrolase (REH) activities in these tissues of the same species is not known. In the present study, REH activities in bovine liver and RPE microsomes were compared to explore potential biochemical relationships of retinyl ester metabolism in these tissues. Rates of [3H]all-trans retinyl palmitate hydrolysis by liver and RPE were comparable (i.

Human growth hormone deletion mutant (hGH44-191) binds with high affinity to lactogenic receptors but not to somatogenic receptors.

The carboxyl-terminal hGH fragment, hGH44-191, displays diabetogenic activity. To understand whether this biological activity is mediated through somatogenic or lactogenic receptors, we investigated the ability of hGH44-191 to bind both receptor classes. We found that hGH44-191 could not compete with [125I]hGH or [125I]bGH for bovine liver somatogenic binding sites.