Change in permeation rates of acids and bases through limited use protective fabrics after repeated wash cycles

The primary objective of this study was to determine if there is a change in permeation rates when limited use protective fabrics undergo repeated exposure and wash cycles. The null hypothesis of this study was that no substantial change in permeation takes place after the test material is subjected to repeated contact with a strong acid or base and has undergone repeated wash cycles. ^ The materials tested were DuPont Tychem® CPF 3 and CPF 4 fabrics. The challenge chemicals in this study were ninety-eight percent sulfuric acid and fifty percent sodium hydroxide. Permeation testing was conducted utilizing ASTM designation F739-99a Standard Test Method for Resistance of Protective Clothing Materials to Permeation by Liquids or Gases Under Conditions of Continuous Contact. ^ In this study, no change in permeation rates of either challenge chemical was detected for CPF 3 or CPF 4 limited use protective fabrics after repeated exposure and wash cycles. Certain unexposed areas of the fabric suffered structural degradation unrelated to exposure and which may be due to multiple washings.^

PLASMACYTOID DENDRITIC CELLS SENSE SKIN INJURY AND PROMOTE WOUND HEALING THROUGH TYPE I INTERFERONS

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are a rare population of circulating cells, which selectively express intracellular Toll-like receptors (TLR)-7 and TLR-9 and have the capacity to produce large amounts of type I IFNs (IFN-a/b) in response to viruses or host derived nucleic acid containing complexes. pDCs are normally absent in skin but accumulate in the skin of psoriasis patients where their chronic activation to produce IFN-a/b drives the disease formation. Whether pDCs and their activation to produce IFN-a/b play a functional role in healthy skin is unknown. Here we show that pDCs are rapidly and transiently recruited into healthy human and mouse skin upon epidermal injury. Infiltrating pDCs were found to sense nucleic acids in wounded skin via TLRs, leading to the production of IFN-a/b. The production of IFN-a/b was paralleled by a short lived expression of cathelicidins, which form complexes with extracellular nucleic acids and activated pDCs to produce IFN-a/b in vitro. In vivo, cathelicidins were sufficient but not necessary for the induction of IFN-a/b in wounded skin, suggesting redundancy of this pathway. Depletion of pDCs or inhibition of IFN-a/bR signaling significantly impaired the inflammatory response and delayed re-epithelialization of skin wounds. Thus we uncover a novel role of pDCs in sensing skin injury via TLR mediated recognition of nucleic acids and demonstrate their involvement in the early inflammatory process and wound healing response through the production of IFN-a/b.

The relationship between supermarket nutrient movements and the mortality rates from fat-associated and non-fat-associated cardiovascular disease: Development of an ecologic method for determining community food patterns

Supermarket nutrient movement, a community food consumption measure, aggregated 1,023 high-fat foods, representing 100% of visible fats and approximately 44% of hidden fats in the food supply (FAO, 1980). Fatty acid and cholesterol content of foods shipped from the warehouse to 47 supermarkets located in the Houston area were calculated over a 6 month period. These stores were located in census tracts with over 50% of a given ethnicity: Hispanic, black non-Hispanic, or white non-Hispanic. Categorizing the supermarket census tracts by predominant ethnicity, significant differences were found by ANOVA in the proportion of specific fatty acids and cholesterol content of the foods examined. Using ecological regression, ethnicity, income, and median age predicted supermarket lipid movements while residential stability did not. No associations were found between lipid movements and cardiovascular disease mortality, making further validation necessary for epidemiological application of this method. However, it has been shown to be a non-reactive and cost-effective method appropriate for tracking target foods in populations of groups, and for assessing the impact of mass media nutrition education, legislation, and fortification on community food and nutrient purchase patterns. ^

Blood pressure and dietary factors in Mexican-Americans of Starr County, Texas

This study examined the cross-sectional associations between blood pressure, hypertension and dietary factors among 580 Mexican-American adults residing in Starr County, Texas. The data were collected as part of Gallbladder Disease Study between April, 1985 and December, 1986.^ Dietary intake was assessed for the month previous to the interview by means of a 38 food item quantified frequency questionnaire representing foods and mixed dishes commonly consumed in the community. From the dietary information intake of calcium, cholesterol, total kilocalories, and percent of kilocalories contributed by total fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, protein, carbohydrates were calculated. The effect of other factors associated with blood pressure, such as age, body mass index, body fat distribution, smoking, and drinking were controlled.^ Age was the most important predictor of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and hypertension. For both males and females, systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were consistently positively associated with body mass index but were not associated with waist hip ratio. However, a strong positive relationship between hypertension and waist hip ratio but not body mass index was observed.^ After controlling for age and body mass index it was noted that for males there were no significant associations between the dietary variables and systolic blood pressure. For diastolic blood pressure there were significant associations with percent fat, percent monounsaturated fatty acids, percent protein and percent carbohydrates.^ For females, there were significant associations between systolic blood pressure and percent protein, percent carbohydrates and cholesterol. There were no significant associations between dietary variables and diastolic blood pressure.^ After controlling for age and waist hip ratio significant associations between hypertension and percent fat, percent saturated fat, percent monounsaturated fatty acids, percent carbohydrate and percent protein were observed in males. Significant associations between hypertension and percent polyunsaturated fatty acids and percent protein were noted in females. ^

Cloning and characterization of the full length cDNA and promoter of mouse tissue transglutaminase

Transglutaminases are a family of enzymes that catalyze the covalent cross-linking of proteins through the formation of $\varepsilon$-($\gamma$-glutaminyl)-lysyl isopeptide bonds. Tissue transglutaminase (Tgase) is an intracellular enzyme which is expressed in terminally differentiated and senescent cells and also in cells undergoing apoptotic cell death. To characterize this enzyme and examine its relationship with other members of the transglutaminase family, cDNAs, the first two exons of the gene and 2 kb of the 5$\sp\prime$ flanking region, including the promoter, were isolated. The full length Tgase transcript consists of 66 bp of 5$\sp\prime$-UTR (untranslated) sequence, an open reading frame which encodes 686 amino acids and 1400 bp of 3$\sp\prime$-UTR sequence. Alignment of the deduced Tgase protein sequence with that of other transglutaminases revealed regions of strong homology, particularly in the active site region.^ The Tgase cDNA was used to isolate and characterize a genomic clone encompassing the 5$\sp\prime$ end of the mouse Tgase gene. The transcription start site was defined using genomic and cDNA clones coupled with S1 protection analysis and anchored PCR. This clone includes 2.3 kb upstream of the transcription start site and two exons that contain the first 256 nucleotides of the mouse Tgase cDNA sequence. The exon intron boundaries have been mapped and compared with the exon intron boundaries of three members of the transglutaminase family: human factor XIIIa, the human keratinocyte transglutaminase and human erythrocyte band 4.1. Tissue Tgase exon II is similar to comparable exons of these genes. However, exon I bears no resemblance with any of the other transglutaminase amino terminus exons.^ Previous work in our laboratory has shown that the transcription of the Tgase gene is directly controlled by retinoic acid and retinoic acid receptors. To identify the region of the Tgase gene responsible for regulating its expression, fragments of the Tgase promoter and 5$\sp\prime$-flanking region were cloned into the chloramphenicol actetyl transferase (CAT) reporter constructs. Transient transfection experiments with these constructs demonstrated that the upstream region of Tgase is a functional promoter which contains a retinoid response element within a 1573 nucleotide region spanning nucleotides $-$252 to $-$1825. ^

Function of GCIP (CCNDBP1), a helix -loop -helix leucine -zip protein, in cell differentiation and tumorigenesis

Cell growth and differentiation are complex and well-organized processes in which cells respond to stimuli from the environment by carrying out genetic programs. Transcription factors with helix-loop-helix (HLH) motif play critical roles in controlling the expression of genes involved in lineage commitment, cell fate determination, proliferation and tumorigenesis. This study has examined the roles of GCIP (CCNDBP1) in cell differentiation and tumorigenesis. GCIP is a recently identified HLH-leucine zipper protein without a basic region like the Id family of proteins. However, GCIP shares little sequence homology with the Id proteins and has domains with high acidic amino acids and leucine-rich regions following the HLH domain like c-Myc. Here we firstly demonstrate that GCIP is a transcription regulator related to muscle differentiation program. Overexpression of GCIP in C2C12 cells not only promotes myotube formation but also upregulates myogenic differentiation biomarkers, including MHC and myogenein. On the other hand, our finding also suggests that GCIP is a potential tumor suppressor related to cell cycle control. Expression of GCIP was significantly down-regulated in colon tumors as compared to normal colon tissues. Overexpression of GCIP in SW480 colon cancer cell line resulted in a significant inhibition on tumor cell colony formation on soft agar assays while silencing of GCIP expression by siRNA can promote cell proliferation and colony formation. In addition, results from transgenic mice specifically expressing GCIP in liver also support the idea that GCIP is involved in the early stage of hepatocarcinogenesis and decreased susceptibility to chemical hepatocarcinogenesis. ^