Orbital angular momentum densities in the astigmatic transformation of Lissajous geometric laser modes.

Orbital angular momentum densities in the astigmatic transformation of Lissajous geometric laser modes are originally and systematically investigated. The quantum theory of the coherent state is exploited to derive an analytical wave representation for the transformed output beams. The derived wave function is further employed to numerically analyze the propagation dependent orbital angular momentum densities. The parts of the negative and positive regions in the orbital angular momentum density are found to rapidly change in the Rayleigh range behind the transformation.

Effects of backpack and double pack loads on postural stability.

Measurement of postural stability is crucial for identifying predictors of performance, determining the efficacy of physical training and rehabilitation techniques and evaluating and preventing injuries, particularly for heavy load carriage in hikers, mountain search and rescue personnel and soldiers. This study investigated the effect of load distribution on postural stability in an upright stance using backpack and double pack loads under conflicting or impaired somatosensory, visual and vestibular conditions. The sensory organisation tests were conducted on 20 young adults before and after a 10-min level walking exercise. Young adults' ability to use inputs from somatosensory and visual systems to maintain postural stability was significantly reduced following a 10-min walking exercise with a heavy backpack (30% of body weight), whereas no significant changes were observed for double pack carriage. Thus, the distribution of heavy loads to the front and back provides superior balance control compared with back-only loading. Practitioner summary: This study investigated the effects of heavy (30% of body weight) load distribution on postural stability after a 10-min walking exercise. Backpack carriage significantly reduced postural stability, whereas there was no significant effect under double pack loads. Distribution of heavy loads on the front-and-back is desirable for superior balance control.

Gender Differences in Energy Expenditure During Walking With Backpack and Double-Pack Loads.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate gender differences in energy expenditure during walking with backpack and double-pack loads. BACKGROUND: Studies have reported that energy expenditure during walking with double-pack loads is lower compared with backpack carriage. However, the effect of gender on energy expenditure while walking with these two load distribution systems has not been investigated. METHOD: Thirty healthy young adults (15 female and 15 male participants) walked on a treadmill with backpack and double-pack loads weighing 30% of their body weight at a speed of 0.89 m/s for 10 min. The energy expenditure in terms of oxygen consumption (VO2) and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were continuously monitored using a portable gas analyzer throughout each walking exercise. A mixed-design analysis of variance model was adopted to test the effects of gender, pack, and time on VO2 and RER. RESULTS: No time effect was observed on VO2. However, significant gender, pack, and interaction effects were observed. The lowest VO2 was found in female participants under double-pack carriage. No significant gender or pack differences existed in RER. However, RER significantly and incrementally increased in time from the 4th through 6th, 8th, and 10th min. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that heavy double-pack load carriage for healthy young female participants had significantly lower energy expenditure (normalized by the entire system weight, i.e., the participant's weight plus the weight of the pack) than that of the male participants in a 10-min walking exercise. APPLICATION: The findings of this study indicated that healthy young female participants carried a heavy double-pack with less energy cost (normalized by the entire system weight, i.e., the participant's weight plus the weight of the pack) compared with their male counterparts during a 10-min walking exercise.

A charge density study of π-delocalization and intermolecular interactions.

The compound trans-4,4'-azo-1,2,4-triazole (atrz) is a planar molecule with two planar triazole rings bridged by an azo group. The molecule is a good donor ligand and has an interesting π-delocalized character. In addition, intermolecular interactions in the crystalline state through π-π stacking are found between triazole rings with a very short inter-planar distance of 3.17 Å. The electron density distribution is obtained from both high resolution X-ray diffraction data at 100 K and density functional theory (DFT) calculations using the ωB97X-D functional. Bond characterization is performed in terms of the charge density distribution and the associated topological properties. The Laplacian distribution around each atom reveals the shape of the valence-shell charge concentration and demonstrates a sp(2) hybrid orbital shape for each atom in the molecule. The π-delocalization of the planar molecule is further illustrated by the Fermi-hole distribution. The weak intermolecular π-π interactions and hydrogen bonds are further illustrated by the Hirshfeld surface. The energies of weak intermolecular π-π interactions and hydrogen bonds have been calculated using ωB97X-D/6-311++G(3df,2p) at experimental geometry.

Sexual genetic and simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis for molecular marker development on the all hermaphrodite papaya.

The papaya (Carica papaya L.) is one of the most important economic tropical fruits in the world, and the hermaphrodite is the preferred type in field cultures. We analyzed the sexual ratio of offspring from the cultivar 'Taiwan Seed Station No. 7' (T7) by a self-cross and its cross with Taichung Sunrise (TS). Female progeny from the T7 self-crossing were not observed. This finding may be caused by a lethal gene that is linked to females. In this study, we selected 192 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) to analyze the polymorphism between T7 and TS. A total of 37 SSRs were identified for T7 and TS. In addition, 14 SSRs served as the molecular makers for identification of T7, TS and their hybrid offsprings. Thus, the results show that the genetic similarity between T7 and TS is rather high. This suggests that T7 may be a mutant of TS. Phylogenetic analysis from the SSR polymorphisms of the above parent strains and 15 F1 offspring revealed the genetic distance of the F1 offspring located between T7 and TS. The results of this study may provide an opportunity for elucidating the genetic characteristics of all hermaphrodites via identification of molecular makers.

Structural and functional characteristics of oestrogen receptor ß splice variants: Implications for the ageing brain.

Oestrogen receptor (ER)ß is a multifunctional nuclear receptor that mediates the actions of oestrogenic compounds. Despite its well defined role in mediating the actions of oestrogens, a substantial body of evidence demonstrates that ERß has a broad range of physiological functions independent of those normally attributed to oestrogen signalling. These functions can partly be achieved by the activity of several alternatively spliced isoforms that have been identified for ERß. This short review describes structural differences between the ERß splice variants that are known to be translated into proteins. Moreover, we discuss how these alternative structures contribute to functional differences in the context of both healthy and pathological conditions. Our review also describes the principal factors that regulate alternative RNA splicing. The alternatively spliced isoforms of ERß are differentially expressed according to brain region, age and hormonal milieu, emphasising the likelihood that there are precise cell-specific mechanisms regulating ERß alternative splicing. However, despite these correlative data, the molecular factors regulating alternative ERß splicing in the brain remain unknown. We also review the basic mechanisms that regulate alternative RNA splicing and use that framework to make logical predictions about ERß alternative splicing in the brain.

Oral rehabilitation of a patient with scleroderma associated with systematic lupus erythematosus: a case report.

This case report presents a patient who had a limited oral opening due to systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and describes how oral rehabilitation was achieved with a removable partial denture. Various techniques for the delivery of oral health care have been reported for patients who have limited mouth openings as a result of SLE and scleroderma. After a review of the literature, a new approach was required for this patient with SLE who had a very limited mouth opening. The retention for the removable partial denture (RPD) used the undercut in the abutment teeth and a magnet-retained sectional RPD. A set of tweezers was modified to help with the insertion and removal of the sectional RPD by the patient. This paper reports a new clinical and laboratory technique of fabricating a sectional RPD using magnets and customized tweezers for this patient.

Lunatic Fringe is a potent tumor suppressor in Kras-initiated pancreatic cancer.

Notch controls pancreatic differentiation during development and is reactivated in pancreatic cancer. In recent years, the importance of Notch signaling in pancreatic tumorigenesis has become increasingly evident; however, it remains unclear how Notch activities are regulated in this context. Here we report differential regulation of Notch receptors by Lunatic Fringe (Lfng), which encodes an O-fucosylpeptide 3-ß-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase known to modify epidermal growth factor repeats in the Notch extracellular domain, during pathogenesis of Kras-induced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We show that Lfng is uniquely expressed in a subset of acinar cells in the adult pancreas. Deletion of Lfng in the Kras(LSL-G12D/+);Pdx1-Cre mouse model caused increased activation of Notch3 throughout PDAC initiation and progression, and Notch1 after the onset of disease, associated with marked upregulation of Notch target gene Hes1. Deletion of Lfng also resulted in accumulation of Aldh1-positive cell population. We found that loss of Lfng significantly accelerated Kras-initiated PDAC development and shortened survival of the PDAC mice. Interestingly, Lfng-deficient tumors showed a propensity for a poorly differentiated state with features of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Likewise, knockdown of LFNG in human PDAC cell lines caused elevated Notch activation, associated with either accelerated cell proliferation or expanded Aldh1-positive cell population. Deletion of Lfng resulted in downregulation of Tgfb1, Tgfb2 and Tgfbr2 expression in the wild-type pancreas at all ages examined, and in the Kras(LSL-G12D/+);Pdx1-Cre pancreas after PDAC onset, as well as reduced phospho-Smad2 levels in pancreatic tumors. We provide evidence that Lfng regulates transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß signaling through Notch-mediated transcriptional repression of TGF-ß pathway genes. Taken together, our results reveal a potent tumor-suppressive function for Lfng and crosstalk between Notch and TGF-ß pathways in the pancreas, which provides new insight into initiation of PDAC and signals involved in disease progression.

DNA damage distribution in the human brain as shown by in situ end labeling; area-specific differences in aging and Alzheimer disease in the absence of apoptotic morphology.

DNA damage has been proposed to underlie neuronal degeneration in aging and Alzheimer disease (AD). To determine the histological distribution of DNA damage, in situ end labeling (ISEL) was applied as a marker for DNA breaks on 4 differentially affected brain areas. Occipital cortex showed considerable variation between cortical layers and between patients. Temporal cortex displayed little ISEL-labeling in controls, and in AD, surprisingly. In the hippocampus, which is strongly affected in AD, many ISEL-positive nuclei and glialike cells were found in AD as compared with controls. The hypothalamic supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei showed little DNA-damage, whereas the nucleus basalis was often, but not always, labeled by ISEL. In contrast to others, no apoptotic morphology was observed, only necrotic morphology. Our results in relation to postmortem delay indicate that, area dependent, increased DNA vulnerability may occur in AD. Furthermore, the distribution of DNA damage in cortex differs from that of plaques and tangles, suggesting that these 3 phenomena are, in principle, independent. Whether the enhanced level of hippocampal DNA breaks in AD underlies, or rather is a consequence of, previous degenerative changes in this brain area remains to be established.

Microwave-enhanced in situ end-labeling of fragmented DNA: parametric studies in relation to postmortem delay and fixation of rat and human brain.

In situ end-labeling (ISEL) identifies DNA fragmentation in apoptotic or necrotic nuclei in tissue sections. However, application of ISEL on human brain requires conservation of DNA integrity during the postmortem delay (PMD) and good accessibility of fragmented DNA after (prolonged) tissue fixation. We therefore investigated ISEL in relation to PMD and fixation in rat and human brain. Application on a unilateral lesion model in perfused rat brain revealed that prolonged post-fixation strongly diminished ISEL results. However, microwave pre-treatment can counteract these masking effects without inducing nonspecific labeling contralaterally. On the other hand, in briefly post-fixed, perfused brain or immersion-fixed rat and human PMD brain, microwave pre-treatment was deleterious and induced strong nonspecific labeling. In young rat brain, PMD did not influence the low numbers of apoptotic nuclei until 24 hr PMD, when massive nuclear labeling occurred. In human cortex, DNA fragmentation patterns were independent of duration of fixation or PMD and were already present from 4.25 hr PMD onwards. Our data suggest that ISEL on human brain represents antemortem DNA damage rather than PMD artifacts. Furthermore, microwave pre-treatment appears beneficial only in particular fixation conditions.

Experimental infection of Philippine Taenia in domestic animals.

In the present study, six 34-44-day-old Small-Ear-Miniature pigs and one 14-day-old Holstein calf were each fed 10,000 Philippine Taenia eggs and sacrificed 27-43 days after inoculation. The infection rate was 100% for both pigs and calf with cysticerci recovery rates of 11 and 6%, respectively. A total of 6431 cysticerci were recovered only from the livers of the six pigs and 597 only from the liver of the calf; more occurred in the parenchyma (pigs 75%, calf 83%) than on the surface (pigs 25%, calf 17%). Mature cysticerci were found in four of the six pigs. A total of 317 cysticerci recovered from the pig livers were mature and the rest were either immature (926), degenerate or calcified (5188). All 597 cysticerci recovered from the liver of the calf were degenerate or calcified. Measurements of length, width, diameter of protoscolex, rostellum, and sucker and hooklet pattern indicated that Philippine Taenia is very similar to Taenia from Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia and Thailand and very different from classical T. saginata and T. solium.

Poor efficacy of albendazole for the treatment of human taeniasis.

In order to evaluate the efficacy of albendazole for the treatment of taeniasis, regimens of 400 mg x 1 day, 800 mg x 2 days, 800 mg x 3 days, 1200 mg x 2 days, and 1200 mg x 3 days were compared. Of 66 cases treated and investigated 7-14 days after treatment, 52 were still expelling proglottids. Three months posttreatment, these cases were re-treated with atabrine at 1.2 g per case for males and 1.0 g per case for females. Fifty-seven patients expelled worms or parts of tapeworms. The nine negatives may represent the number cured by the treatment with albendazole. The cure rates with albendazole for various regimens were up to 50% for 800 mg x 3 days, 1200 mg x 2 days or 1200 mg x 3 days, 14.3% for 800 mg x 2 days, and 0% for 400 mg x 1 day or 800 mg x 1 day. This study shows that albendazole is not very effective in the treatment for taeniasis.

Experimental studies on the pathway for migration and the development of Taiwan Taenia in domestic pigs.

The pig is the most favorable experimental intermediate host of Taiwan Taenia. Cysticerci in infected pigs are located in the liver except for a few extrahepatic ones. The present study was designed to investigate the pathway of migration of the oncospheres of Taiwan Taenia in the pig. In the first group, each of 5 Small-Ear-Miniature (SEM) and one Landrace-Small-Ear-Miniature (L-SEM) pigs were injected with 5000 hatched oncospheres into the ear vein. Three SEM and one L-SEM pigs were found to harbor 88 degenerated or calcified cysticerci only in the liver 51-81 days after injection. In the second group, each of 3 L-SEM pigs were injected with 5000 hatched oncospheres into the jugular vein. One of the 3 pigs was found to have 5 cysticerci (2 mature and 3 degenerated or calcified) only in the liver at 89 days post-injection. In the third group, each of 4 SEM, three L-SEM, and 3 L-SEM pigs were injected with 10,000, 10,000, and 5000 hatched oncospheres, respectively, directly into the portal vein after surgical opening of the abdominal cavity. All 10 pigs were found to be infected with a total of 1088 cysticerci (44 mature and 1044 degenerated or calcified) only in the liver 23-62 days after injection. Although the sites of injection in these three groups were different, the liver was the only final location of the cysticerci. These findings give strong evidence that the oncospheres migrate to the liver through the venous circulation and develop in this organ.

Experimental infection of Thailand Taenia (Chiengmai strain) in domestic animals.

Twenty-five gravid proglottides of a Thailand Taenia were obtained from a patient in Chiengmai, Thailand, and brought to our laboratory. The tapeworm was determined to be T. saginata-like by counting uterine branches (mean number 16, range 12-19 on each side). The eggs from these proglottides remained infective under storage at room temperature for 14 days followed by refrigeration (4-8 degrees C) for 131 days. Eight Small-Ear-Miniature pigs and two Holstein calves were each fed with 3000 eggs and sacrificed 12-76 days afterwards. Six pigs became infected and 16 cysticerci were recovered from the livers. Thirteen degenerated/calcified cysticerci were also recovered from the livers of the two calves. More cysticerci were found in the liver parenchyma (55%) than on the liver surface (45%) of the infected animals. Measurements of length, width, diameters of protoscolex, rostellum and sucker and hooklet pattern show that Thailand Taenia is similar to Taenia from Taiwan, Korea and Indonesia but different from T. saginata and T. solium. These findings indicate that Thailand Taenia, Taiwan Taenia, Korea Taenia, and Indonesia Taenia may be of the same species or sub-species.

In vitro hatched oncospheres of Asian Taenia from Korea and Taiwan develop into cysticerci in the peritoneal cavity of female scid (severe combined immunodeficiency) mice.

In vitro hatched (but not activated) oncospheres of Asian Taenia obtained in Korea and Taiwan, prepared by the sodium hypochlorite method, rinsed with sterile PBS several times and adjusted to 5 x 10(4)/0.5 ml PBS, were injected intraperitoneally or subcutaneously into male or female scid mice of 3 different strains. When these scid mice were sacrificed 4 months later, the females harboured fully developed cysticerci either in the peritoneal cavity or under the back skin, whereas males did not. All cysticerci from the peritoneal cavity were easily recovered by rinsing the abdomen with PBS. Although most cysticerci recovered from pig liver usually become calcified within 1-2 months, in female scid mice they all increased in size and were viable. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of in vitro hatched oncospheres is recommended for easier recovery of Asian Taenia metacestodes in laboratory animals.

Detection of apoptosis in murine scrapie.

In order to determine whether apoptosis contributes to the neuronal loss in scrapie, in situ end labeling was applied on brains of mice showing clinical signs of the disease. Positively labeled, apoptotic neurons were observed in the cerebellum, cerebral cortex and hippocampus, areas known to show characteristic scrapie-related vacuolation, and were absent in the brains of control mice. We conclude that apoptosis plays a role in the neuronal loss that occurs in scrapie. The importance of apoptosis as a predominant cell death mechanism in scrapie, however, remains to be determined.

Eating habits of east Asian people and transmission of taeniasis.

In order to understand the role of raw meat and viscera eating habits in the transmission of taeniasis in Asian countries, 1502 infected aborigines in ten mountainous districts/towns of six counties in Taiwan, 58 infected persons in two villages on Cheju Island, Korea, and 97 cases in Ambarita District on Samosir Island, North Sumatra, Indonesia were studied during the field surveys. All infected Taiwan aborigines had the habit of eating raw meat and viscera of wild and/or domestic animals. Among these aborigines, 73% ate wild boar, 66% flying squirrel, 65% wild goat, 56% muntjac, 49% wild rats, 46% monkey, 38% hare, 20% civet-cats, 18% weasel, 17% pheasant, 14% squirrel, 4% grouse, 1% deer, 1% snake, less than 1% bamboo partridge, less than 1% frog, less than 1% bear, less than 1% dog, and less than 1% fox. Of the 58 infected persons with Taenia on Cheju Island, Korea, 72% ate raw meat and/or viscera of pig and cattle, 19% raw pork only, and 9% raw beef only. Among 12 infected persons infected with T. saginata-like tapeworms, 7 had eaten raw pork, 2 raw beef and pork and 3 raw pork. Almost all of the 97 cases of taeniasis on Samosir Island of North Sumatra, Indonesia, had eaten only undercooked pork. Eleven of 15 cases were found to be infected with T. saginata-like tapeworms. Eating habits observed suggest an unusual way of transmission of Taenia in East Asia.

Direct determination of sinigrin in mustard seed without desulfatation by reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatography.

Reversed-phase ion-pair liquid chromatography has been investigated for directly analyzing sinigrin in mustard seed without desulfatation. After extraction by phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) from the grind-pastes of inactivated-myrosinase mustard seeds, sinigrin was first isolated through deproteinization and centrifugation, followed by filtration and injection into the chromatographic system. A reversed-phase C18 column was used to separate the sinigrin with an eluent of acetonitrile (ACN)-water (20:80) containing 0.02 M tetrabutylammonium (TBA) as the counter ion at pH 7.0. Detection was carried out with an UV detector operated at 227 nm. Factors affecting the chromatographic separation and quantitative determination, such as concentrations of TBA and ACN, and pH, were studied. The linear dynamic range is larger than three orders of magnitude and the detection limit is 0.045 mg/L. The RSD is around 3% and the recovery is 85% (3% RSD, n = 3).

Taenia saginata asiatica: epidemiology, infection, immunological and molecular studies.

The taeniasis in East Asia has a special epidemiological pattern: people eat meat and/or viscera of pigs and acquire infection of Taenia saginata-like tapeworms. However, cysticercosis is more often found in pigs than cattles. In order to elucidate the taxonomic status of this parasite, we have conducted extensive field surveys, experimental infections, and morphological as well as immunological studies since 1981. After obtaining sufficient information from our studies, we finally came to the conclusion that the T. saginata-like tapeworm in Asia is a new subspecies of T. saginata and was named as T. saginata asiatica. The classical T. saginata was renamed as T. saginata saginata. In this paper, we provide the history of T. s. asiatica in Asia.

Experimental studies on physiological and morphological aspects of Cysticercus cellulosae in pigs.

Three Small-Ear-Miniature, 3 Landrace-Small-Ear-Miniature, and one Douc-Yorkshire-Landrace pigs were inoculated orally with 100 000 eggs of Zhengzhou strain or 10 000 eggs of Harbin strain of Taenia solium. A total of 3739 cysticerci were recovered from 3 Small-Ear-Miniature and 3 Landrace-Small-Ear-Miniature pigs, giving an infection rate of 85.7% and a cysticercus recovery rate of 1.1%. The predilection sites of Cysticercus cellulosae in descending order were leg muscles, abdominal muscles, thoracic muscles, liver, head muscles, diaphragm, tongue, heart, trachea, and omentum/testes. Except 2 calcified cysticerci in the tongue, 2 in the heart, and 176 in the liver, the remaining cysticerci were all alive. The greatest number of cysticerci per 100 g of muscles or viscera was found in the head muscles, followed by the leg, diaphragm, heart, tongue, thoracic, abdominal, omentum, testes, and trachea. All cysticerci were evaginated in pig's bile after fluid was drawn out from cysticerci, whereas evagination occurred in only 83.2% of those without fluid drawing. In 364 evaginated cysticerci, the mean length and width of scolex, proglottid, and bladder, and diameter of rostellum and sucker were 826 x 747 microm, 5,370 x 1,734 microm, 2,885 x 3,002 microm, 155 microm, and 253 microm, respectively. In the protoscolex, the mean number of segments was 33. Each cysticercus had 2 rows of rostellar hooks on the scolex, and the mean length and width of inner and outer hooks were 151 x 18 microm and 117 x 14 microm, respectively. The number of paired hooks ranged from 10 to 18.