Influences of hyperbaric oxygen on blood pressure, heart rate and blood glucose levels in patients with diabetes mellitus and hypertension.

Background: We investigated the influences of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO(2)) on systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR) and blood glucose level (BGL).

Methods: Forty one patients with hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), HTN and DM and/or no HTN or DM underwent HBO(2) sessions (15-40 sessions for each patient). SBP, DBP, HR and BGL (for diabetics) were recorded before and after each session.

The coccolithovirus microarray: an array of uses.

The Coccolithoviridae is a recently discovered family of giant algal viruses. Here, we review the genomic and transcriptomic characterization of this family based on the results generated from a coccolithovirus microarray. The microarray has been used to aid the annotation of the genome, to investigate the infection process at the transcriptional level and to assess the diversity in genomic content within the family.

Structure of a liquid crystalline fluid around a macroparticle: Density functional theory.

The structure of a molecular liquid, in both the nematic liquid crystalline and isotropic phases, around a cylindrical macroparticle, is studied using density functional theory. In the nematic phase the structure of the fluid is highly anisotropic with respect to the director, in agreement with results from simulation and phenomenological theories. On going into the isotropic phase the structure becomes rotationally invariant around the macroparticle with an oriented layer at the surface.

Null mutations in the filaggrin gene (FLG) determine major susceptibility to early-onset atopic dermatitis that persists into adulthood.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common disease with a complex etiology in childhood and adult life. A significant proportion of childhood AD is transient, but in many cases it persists into adulthood. We have recently shown that null mutations in the filaggrin gene (FLG) are an important predisposing factor for childhood eczema and eczema-associated asthma, but persistence to adulthood has not been analyzed.

Heisenberg in the ER: observation appears to reduce involuntary intramuscular injections in a psychiatric emergency service.

Introduction: Chemical restraint is controversial. Appropriate use is ill-defined and chemical restraint may be overutilized. During the period of an unrelated observational study for patients with acute psychomotor agitation in a psychiatric emergency service, we noticed a significant reduction in the number of involuntary intramuscular injections administered.

Direct quantification of N-(3-oxo-hexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone in culture supernatant using a whole-cell bioreporter.

The autoinducer N-(3-oxo-hexanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C6-HSL) plays a significant role in the quorum-sensing system of the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Upon forming a transcriptional activation complex with LuxR, 3-oxo-C6-HSL induces transcription of the luxICDABEG operon, leading to the increased production of both the 3-oxo-C6-HSL synthase (LuxI) and the bioluminescent proteins. In order to quantitatively analyze this regulatory mechanism, a novel approach was developed to measure 3-oxo-C6-HSL concentrations in V.

Structure of molecular liquids: cavity and bridge functions of the hard spheroid fluid.

We present methodologies for calculating the direct correlation function c(1,2), the cavity function y(1,2), and the bridge function b(1,2), for molecular liquids, from Monte Carlo simulations. As an example we present results for the isotropic hard spheroid fluid with elongation e = 3. The simulation data are compared with the results from integral equation theory.

Annotation of environmental OMICS data: application to the transcriptomics domain.

Researchers working on environmentally relevant organisms, populations, and communities are increasingly turning to the application of OMICS technologies to answer fundamental questions about the natural world, how it changes over time, and how it is influenced by anthropogenic factors. In doing so, the need to capture meta-data that accurately describes the biological "source" material used in such experiments is growing in importance. Here, we provide an overview of the formation of the "Env" community of environmental OMICS researchers and its efforts at considering the meta-data capture needs of those working in environmental OMICS.

Subcellular dynamics of protein kinase A activity visualized by FRET-based reporters.

cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) mediates key cellular processes via compartmentalized activity, and the ability to track its activity in living cells should help increase our understanding of this precise regulation. Here, through systematic testing of new fluorescent proteins, we developed a new FRET-based A-kinase activity reporter (AKAR), AKAR3, with a dynamic range of 31-41%, twice that of predecessors. Visualization of PKA activity at plasma membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, and mitochondria was achieved.

Locus-specific gene expression pattern suggests a unique propagation strategy for a giant algal virus.

Emiliania huxleyi virus strain 86 is the largest algal virus sequenced to date and is unique among the Phycodnaviridae since its genome is predicted to contain six RNA polymerase subunit genes. We have used a virus microarray to profile the temporal transcription strategy of this unusual virus during infection. There are two distinct transcription phases to the infection process.

Frequency domain analysis of noise in simple gene circuits.

Recent advances in single cell methods have spurred progress in quantifying and analyzing stochastic fluctuations, or noise, in genetic networks. Many of these studies have focused on identifying the sources of noise and quantifying its magnitude, and at the same time, paying less attention to the frequency content of the noise. We have developed a frequency domain approach to extract the information contained in the frequency content of the noise.

2,5-diketopiperazines as potent, selective, and orally bioavailable oxytocin antagonists. 3. Synthesis, pharmacokinetics, and in vivo potency.

A short, efficient, and highly stereoselective synthesis of a series of (3R,6R,7R)-2,5-diketopiperazine oxytocin antagonists and their pharmacokinetics in rat and dog is described. Prediction of the estimated human oral absorption (EHOA) using measured lipophilicity (CHI log D) and calculated size (cMR) has allowed us to rank various 2,5-diketopiperazine templates and enabled us to focus effort on those templates with the greatest chance of high bioavailability in humans. This rapidly led to the 2',4'-difluorophenyl-dimethylamide 25 and the benzofuran 4 with high levels of potency (pK(i)) and good bioavailability in the rat and dog.

Facilitating interpersonal interaction and learning online: linking theory and practice.

Introduction: An earlier study of physicians' perceptions of interactive online learning showed that these were shaped both by program design and quality and the quality and quantity of interpersonal interaction. We explore instructor roles in enhancing online learning through interpersonal interaction and the learning theories that inform these.

Methods: This was a qualitative study using focus groups and interviews.

Evaluation of pressure tensor in constant-volume simulations of hard and soft convex bodies.

A method for calculating the pressure tensor in constant-volume Monte Carlo simulations of convex bodies is presented. In contrast to other approaches, the method requires only an isotropic scaling of the simulation box and the counting of simple geometric quantities characterizing overlapping pairs. Nonsphericity presents no special difficulties.

Propionate challenge tests have limited value for investigating bovine metabolism.

Two experiments were designed to assess the potential utility of the propionate challenge test (PCT) as an index of gluconeogenic capacity. In Expt. 1, the dose-response to jugular propionate infusion was assessed in a duplicated 4 x 4 Latin square experiment with 8 lactating dairy cows.

Between a rock and a hard place: trace element nutrition in Chlamydomonas.

Photosynthetic organisms are among the earliest life forms on earth and their biochemistry is strictly dependent on a wide range of inorganic nutrients owing to the use of metal cofactor-dependent enzymes in photosynthesis, respiration, inorganic nitrogen and sulfur assimilation. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a photosynthetic eukaryotic model organism for the study of trace metal homeostasis. Chlamydomonas spp.

Effects of gender on peak oxygen consumption and the timing of cardiac transplantation.

Objectives: This study examines the gender effects on peak exercise oxygen consumption (VO2) and survival in heart failure (HF) patients and their implications for cardiac transplantation.

Background: The predictive value of peak VO2 in women HF patients is poorly established but is one of the indicators used to optimally time cardiac transplantation in women.

Methods: A total of 594 ambulatory HF patients (mean age 52 +/- 12 years, 28% women, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 26 +/- 12%, 73% on beta-blocker) underwent symptom-limited exercise tests with breath-by-breath expired gas analyses using ramped treadmill protocols.

Differing effects of antipsychotic medications on substance abuse treatment patients with co-occurring psychotic and substance abuse disorders.

This retrospective study of patients treated in a ninety-day, inpatient, dual-diagnosis treatment program examined antipsychotic effectiveness in this population using length of stay in treatment and successful program completion as outcome measures. All patients with co-occurring substance dependence and schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder treated with olanzapine, risperidone, ziprasidone, and typical depot neuroleptics from January 2001 to December 2003 (N = 55) are the subjects of this study. Patients stayed longer in treatment when taking risperidone (82 +/- 19 days) or ziprasidone (74 +/- 21 days) compared with olanzapine (44 +/- 30 days) or typicals (47 +/- 36 days).

Genome comparison of two Coccolithoviruses.

Background: The Coccolithoviridae is a recently discovered family of viruses that infect the marine coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi. Following on from the sequencing of the type strain EhV-86, we have sequenced a second strain, EhV-163.

Results: We have sequenced approximately 80% of the EhV-163 genome, equating to more than 200 full length CDSs.

The response of Escherichia coli to exposure to the biocide polyhexamethylene biguanide.

The global response of Escherichia coli to the broad-spectrum biocide polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) was investigated using transcriptional profiling. The transcriptional analyses were validated by direct determination of the PHMB-tolerance phenotypes of derivatives of E. coli MG1655 carrying either insertionally inactivated genes and/or plasmids expressing the cognate open reading frames from a heterologous promoter in the corresponding chromosomally inactivated strains.