Investigation of Lake Hévíz Mineral Water Balneotherapy and Hévíz Mud Treatment in Murine Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Models.

Arthritic diseases are the most frequent causes of chronic pain and disability. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by synovial inflammation and progressive structural joint damage. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative process of the articular cartilage associated with hypertrophic changes in the bone. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Hévíz thermal water and mud in monosodium iodoacetate- (MIA-) (25 mg/ml, 20 µl i.a.) induced osteoarthritis and Complete Freund's adjuvant- (CFA-) (1 mg/ml, 50-50 µl s.c) induced rheumatoid arthritis murine models. The mechanonociceptive threshold of female NMRI mice (n=6- 8 mice/ group) was measured by aesthesiometry, and paw volume was monitored with plethysmometry, knee joint diameter with digital micrometer, and dynamic weight bearing on the hind limbs with a Bioseb instrument. Periarticular bone destruction was assessed by SkyScan 1176 in vivo micro-CT. Inflammatory cytokines were detected by ELISA in plasma samples. Treatments (30 min, every working day) with tap water, sand, and a combined therapy of tap water and sand served as controls. Hévíz medicinal water and combined treatment with water and mud significantly decreased the mechanical hyperalgesia and knee oedema in MIA-induced osteoarthritis model. However, balneotherapy did not influence mechanical hyperalgesia, weight bearing, or oedema formation induced by CFA. Neither medicinal water nor mud treatment ameliorated deep structural damage of the bones or the joints in the animal models. On the basis of the present findings, we conclude that balneotherapy is an effective complementary treatment to reduce the pain sensation and swelling in degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis. Our experimental data are in agreement with the previous human studies that also confirmed antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of thermal water and Hévíz mud treatments.

Octet-line node structure of superconducting order parameter in KFe2As2.

In iron-pnictide superconductivity, the interband interaction between the hole and electron Fermi surfaces (FSs) is believed to play an important role. However, KFe(2)As(2) has three zone-centered hole FSs and no electron FS but still exhibits superconductivity. Our ultrahigh-resolution laser angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy unveils that KFe(2)As(2) is a nodal s-wave superconductor with highly unusual FS-selective multi-gap structure: a nodeless gap on the inner FS, an unconventional gap with "octet-line nodes" on the middle FS, and an almost-zero gap on the outer FS. This gap structure may arise from the frustration between competing pairing interactions on the hole FSs causing the eightfold sign reversal. Our results suggest that the A(1g) superconducting symmetry is universal in iron-pnictides, in spite of the variety of gap functions.

[Anesthesia in endourological and robot-assisted interventions]. / Anästhesie bei endourologischen und roboterassistierten Eingriffen.

The improved drug therapy leads to increasingly older patients with complex comorbidities in the discipline of operative urology. Today, improved technical equipment provides new operational capabilities in the field of urology. The prone and lithotomy position during surgery leads to physiological changes that affect anesthesia management. The surgical risk of procedures such as transurethral surgery of the prostate or bladder is being altered by laser surgery and other new technologies. Although the incidence of transurethral resection (TUR) syndrome has been reduced in recent years, the intrusion of irrigation fluid still has to be considered during anesthesia. Robot-assisted surgery has successfully completed the experimental stage and is widely used so that new targets have to be challenged. Ureterorenoscopy is performed with flexible, small caliber ureteroscopes which even allow treatment of renal calculi under analgosedation within short time periods. Percutaneous nephrostomy and litholapaxy are still frequently performed in the prone position. With respect to the risks arising from patient positioning, supine or lateral positioning should be considered in individual cases. A good communication between the surgeon and anesthetist allows deviation from daily routine procedures if special indications require a modified approach. In conclusion, a profound knowledge of the (patho-)physiology of general anesthesia and endourological diseases enables anesthetists to provide a prospective type anesthesia, which should prevent the occurrence of life-threatening incidents.

From systems biology to dynamical neuropharmacology: proposal for a new methodology.

The concepts and methods of systems biology are extended to neuropharmacology in order to test and design drugs for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Computational modelling by integrating compartmental neural modelling techniques and detailed kinetic descriptions of pharmacological modulation of transmitter-receptor interaction is offered as a method to test the electrophysiological and behavioural effects of putative drugs. Even more, an inverse method is suggested as a method for controlling a neural system to realise a prescribed temporal pattern. In particular, as an application of the proposed new methodology, a computational platform is offered to analyse the generation and pharmacological modulation of theta rhythm related to anxiety.

Experimental evidence for the p-d hybridization in the Cd-Ca quasicrystal: origin of the pseudogap.

Ca 2p-3d resonant photoemission spectroscopy of a Cd6Ca crystalline approximant unambiguously demonstrates that the low-lying unoccupied 3d levels of calcium are lowered below the Fermi energy by the formation of the approximant, as suggested from electronic structure calculations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 206408 (2001)]]. Moreover, the Ca 3d partial density of states (DOS) obtained near the Fermi energy is in reasonable agreement with theoretical Ca 3d DOS. These results verify the unconventional picture that the origin of the pseudogap in the Cd-based quasicrystals is due to hybridization of the Ca 3d band with the Cd 5p band.

[Polysaccharides of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. and Glycyrrhiza echinata L. Medicinal plants II]. / A Glycyrrhiza glabra L. és a Glycyrrhiza echinata L. poliszacharidjainak vizsgálata. Gyógynövény poliszacharidok II.

Comparative study was carried out among the polysaccharides of Chinese, Lithuanian and Hungarian origin Glycyrrhiza glabra root samples as well as the Hungarian origin Glycyrrhiza echinata, which has not been studied earlier. The plant material was extracted with boiling water and the yield, the carbohydrate and the uronic acid content was measured by the alpha-naphtol and the Bitter method [21], respectively. Although the yield of Hungarian origin species was found lower than the yield of eastern species, the uronic acid content was similar. (Table I.) Our results show that to extract polysaccharides containing uronic acids needed longer extraction time, about 4 hours. The stem of Glycyrrhiza echinata might be useful from a practical point of view because of its large size and easy of access. (Table I. II.) Some fractions containing uronic acid in higher amount were separated on DEAE Sepharose CL-6B anion exchange column. After hydrolysis, reduction and acetylation the monosaccharide composition of this fractions was analysed by GC. (Table IV.).

Speciation of aluminum in biological systems.

As a "hard", trivalent metal ion, Al3- binds strongly to oxygen-donor ligands such as citrate and phosphate. The aqueous coordination chemistry of Al is complicated by the tendency of many Al complexes to hydrolyze and form polynuclear species, many of which are sparingly soluble. Thus there is considerable variation among the Al stability constants reported for several important ligands. The complexity in the aqueous chemistry of Al has also affected Al toxicity studies, which have often utilized poorly characterized Al stock solutions. Serum fractionation studies show that most Al is protein bound, primarily to the serum iron transport protein transferrin. Albumin appears to play little, if any, role in serum transport. There is little agreement as to the speciation of the remaining low-molecular mass fraction of serum Al. The lability of the Al3+ion precludes the simple separation and identification of individual Al complexes. Computational methods are available for detailed computer calculations of the Al speciation in serum, but efforts in this area have been severely hampered by the uncertainties regarding the stability constants of the low molecular mass Al complexes with citrate, phosphate, and hydroxide. Specific recommendations for further research on Al speciation include: (1) Determine more accurate Al stability constants with critical low molecular mass ligands such as citrate and phosphate; (2) supplement traditional potentiometric studies on Al complexes with data from other techniques such as 27Al-NMR and accelerator mass spectrometry with 26Al; (3) develop new methods for generating reliable linear free energy relationships for Al complexation; (4) determine equilibrium and rate constants for Al binding to transferrin at 37 degrees C; (5) confirm the possible formation of low-molecular-mass Al-protein complexes following desferrioxamine therapy; (6) continue research efforts to incorporate kinetic considerations into the present equilibrium speciation calculations; (7) improve methods for preparing chemically well-defined stock solutions for toxicological studies; (8) incorporate more detailed speciation data into studies on Al toxicity and pharmacokinetics; and (9) incorporate more detailed speciation data into future epidemiological studies on the relationship between Al toxicity and various water quality parameters.

[The role of autotransfusion in vascular surgery]. / Autotransfusio alkalmazása érmütétek alkalmával.

Use of autotransfusion has recently come into the limelight of clinical practice especially because of the AIDS-risk and financial considerations. Authors have analysed data of 20 patients with peripheral arterial disease at whom hemodilution were carried out before the operation with the aim of using autotransfusion. Attention is called to the importance of autotransfusion and its applicability in the practice of other sorts of surgery.

Plant small nuclear RNAs. V. U4 RNA is present in broad bean plants in the form of sequence variants and is base-paired with U6 RNA.

U4 RNA, which is known to play an indispensable role in pre-mRNA splicing, is present in plant nuclei, has a canonical m3 2,2,7 G cap at its 5' end and is associated with U6 RNA in snRNP particles. It occurs in broad bean in the form of a number of sequence variants. Two of these were sequenced: U4A RNA is 154 and U4B RNA is 152 nucleotides long. Sequence similarity of broad bean U4B RNA is 94 per cent to broad bean U4A RNA, 65 per cent to rat U4A RNA, 61 per cent to Drosophila U4A RNA and 50 per cent to snR14, the U4 RNA equivalent of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sequence conservation is much more pronounced in the 5' half of the molecule than in its 3' half. The secondary structure of both variants of broad bean U4 RNA perfectly fits with that of all other U4 RNAs sequenced so far. Nucleotide changes between broad bean U4A and U4B RNAs are restricted to molecular regions that affect the thermodynamic stability of these molecules. A model is proposed for the base pairing interaction of broad bean U4 RNA with broad bean U6 RNA. This is the first report on the structure of a plant U4 RNA.

Plant small nuclear RNAs. II. U6 RNA and a 4.5SI-like RNA are present in plant nuclei.

Two small nuclear RNA species (U6 RNA and a 4.5SI-like RNA) not described so far for plants were detected in broad bean (Vicia faba L.) nuclei. U6 RNA is 98 nucleotides long, contains psi and methylated nucleotides and shows a surprisingly high degree of sequence homology (80%) with its rat counterpart, particularly in the middle part (a 57 nucleotide-long stretch) of the molecule, where it amounts to 98%. The 4.5SI-like RNA, similar in its structure to 4.5SI RNA detected so far only in rodent nuclei, is 94 nucleotides long, contains psi and an unidentified nucleotide and exhibits 52% overall sequence homology with rat 4.5SI RNA. A block of 20 consecutive nucleotides at the 5' end of the molecule is conserved between broad bean 4.5SI-like RNA and rat 4.5SI RNA. The presence of the two RNA polymerase III internal promoter consensus sequences in 4.5SI-like RNA suggests that it is an RNA polymerase III transcript.

Isolation of high molecular weight plant nuclear DNA suitable for use in recombinant DNA technology.

Nuclei isolated from leaf cells of broad bean (Vicia faba L) by a newly developed method based on the use of citric acid in the isolation medium and flotation on a Percoll cushion yielded high molecular weight plant nuclear DNA which was suitable for (i) analysis by restriction endonucleases, (ii) molecular cloning and (iii) genomic blot hybridization. Starting from nuclear preparations obtained by this method, U2 small nuclear RNA-specific DNA sequences were detected in Vicia faba L. This is the first report on the demonstration of small nuclear RNA-specific DNA sequences in plant material.

Plant small nuclear RNAs. Nucleolar U3 snRNA is present in plants: partial characterization.

Nuclei, isolated from a number of plant species by either of two independent, newly developed methods, regularly contained a common set of low-molecular-mass RNAs. Partial characterization of these RNAs, based on cell fractionation, polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic and chemical sequencing techniques, as well as comparison with literature data, revealed that, in addition to tRNA, 5S RNA and 5.8S RNA, plant nuclei contain two families of low-molecular-mass RNAs, that are counterparts of vertebrate U1 and U5 RNAs respectively, and three individual low-molecular-mass RNA species. One of these may be related to vertebrate U6 RNA. The two others are true eukaryotic U2 and U3 RNAs, respectively, on the basis of the following lines of evidence obtained from analyses of broad bean nuclear RNAs. The 3'-end portion (121 nucleotides sequenced) of broad bean U2 RNA shows a nearly perfect sequence homology with that of authentic pea U2 RNA. Broad bean U3 RNA is localized in the nucleolus and its 3'-end portion (164 nucleotides sequenced) (a) shows sequence homology with that of both rat U3 RNA (48%) and Dictyostelium D2 RNA (39%), (b) has a secondary structure which fits perfectly that proposed for both rat U3 RNA and Dictyostelium D2 RNA, and (c) contains the specific sequence which, in a model based on the primary structure of rat U3 RNA, is supposed to be involved in the processing of eukaryotic 32S pre-ribosomal RNA. This is the first report on the occurrence in plants of nucleolar U3 RNA.