The duration of capture and restraint during anesthesia and euthanasia influences glucocorticoid levels in male golden hamsters

Deep litter has been shown to decrease stereotypic wire-gnawing in male golden hamsters, suggesting that increased litter depth may be associated with decreased chronic stress levels. To determine the relationship between litter depth and stress levels in hamsters, the authors measured serum levels of corticosterone, cortisol, and ACTH in male golden hamsters kept in cages with three different depths of litter. The duration of handling the hamsters significantly increased the concentrations of corticosterone, cortisol, and the ratio of cortisol/corticosterone. It took longer to catch hamsters housed in cages with deep litter and the ACTH levels were higher in these hamsters. The positive effect of the enrichment (deep litter) was diminished by methodological problems during handling/anesthesia.

Functional polymorphism in ABCA1 influences age of symptom onset in coronary artery disease patients

ATP-binding-cassette-transporter-A1 (ABCA1) plays a pivotal role in intracellular cholesterol removal, exerting a protective effect against atherosclerosis. ABCA1 gene severe mutations underlie Tangier disease, a rare Mendelian disorder that can lead to premature coronary artery disease (CAD), with age of CAD onset being two decades earlier in mutant homozygotes and one decade earlier in heterozygotes than in mutation non-carriers. It is unknown whether common polymorphisms in ABCA1 could influence age of symptom onset of CAD in the general population. We examined common promoter and non-synonymous coding polymorphisms in relation to age of symptom onset in a group of CAD patients (n = 1164), and also carried out in vitro assays to test effects of the promoter variations on ABCA1 promoter transcriptional activity and effects of the coding variations on ABCA1 function in mediating cellular cholesterol efflux. Age of symptom onset was found to be associated with the promoter - 407G > C polymorphism, being 2.82 years higher in C allele homozygotes than in G allele homozygotes and intermediate in heterozygotes (61.54, 59.79 and 58.72 years, respectively; P = 0.002). In agreement, patients carrying ABCA1 haplotypes containing the -407C allele had higher age of symptom onset. Patients of the G/G or G/C genotype of the -407G > C polymorphism had significant coronary artery stenosis (>75%) at a younger age than those of the C/C genotype (P = 0.003). Reporter gene assays showed that ABCA1 haplotypes bearing the -407C allele had higher promoter activity than haplotypes with the -407G allele. Functional analyses of the coding polymorphisms showed an effect of the V825I substitution on ABCA1 function, with the 825I variant having higher activity in mediating cholesterol efflux than the wild-type (825V). A trend towards higher symptom onset age in 825I allele carriers was observed. The data indicate an influence of common ABCA1 functional polymorphisms on age of symptom onset in CAD patients.

The stereochemistry of the amino acid side chain influences the inflammatory potential of muramyl dipeptide in experimental meningitis

Intrathecal injections of 50 to 100 micro g of (N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine) muramyl dipeptide (MDP)/rabbit dose-dependently triggered tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) secretion (12 to 40,000 pg/ml) preceding the influx of leukocytes in the subarachnoid space of rabbits. Intrathecal instillation of heat-killed unencapsulated R6 pneumococci produced a comparable leukocyte influx but only a minimal level of preceding TNF-alpha secretion. The stereochemistry of the first amino acid (L-alanine) of the MDP played a crucial role with regard to its inflammatory potential. Isomers harboring D-alanine in first position did not induce TNF-alpha secretion and influx of leukocytes. This stereospecificity of MDPs was also confirmed by measuring TNF-alpha release from human peripheral mononuclear blood cells stimulated in vitro. These data show that the inflammatory potential of MDPs depends on the stereochemistry of the first amino acid of the peptide side chain and suggest that intact pneumococci and MDPs induce inflammation by different pathways.

Vegetation and hydrologic influences on carbon and nitrogen in subsurface water of a forested riparian wetland

Vegetation communities affect carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the subsurface water of mineral wetlands through the quality of their litter, their uptake of nutrients, root exudation and their effects on redox potential. However, vegetation influence on subsurface nutrient dynamics is often overshadowed by the influences of hydrology, soils and geology on nutrient dynamics. The effects of vegetation communities on carbon and nitrogen dynamics are important to consider when managing land that may change vegetation type or quantity so that wetland ecosystem functions can be retained. This study was established to determine the magnitude of the influences and interaction of vegetation cover and hydrology, in the form of water table fluctuations, on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a northern forested riparian wetland. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+) concentrations were collected from a piezometer network in four different vegetation communities and were found to show complex responses to vegetation cover and water table fluctuations. Dissolved organic carbon, DIC, NO3- and NH4+ concentrations were influenced by forest vegetation cover. Both NO3- and NH4+ were also influenced by water table fluctuations. However, for DOC and NH4+ concentrations there appeared to be more complex interactions than were measured by this study. The results of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not correspond in relationship to the significance of vegetation communities. Dissolved inorganic carbon was influenced by an interaction between vegetation cover and water table fluctuations. More hydrological information is needed to make stronger conclusions about the relationship between vegetation and hydrology in controlling carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a forested riparian wetland.

Topographic and meteorological influences on spatial scaling of heavy convective rainfall in mountainous regions

Characterizing the spatial scaling and dynamics of convective precipitation in mountainous terrain and the development of downscaling methods to transfer precipitation fields from one scale to another is the overall motivation for this research. Substantial progress has been made on characterizing the space-time organization of Midwestern convective systems and tropical rainfall, which has led to the development of statistical/dynamical downscaling models. Space-time analysis and downscaling of orographic precipitation has received less attention due to the complexities of topographic influences. This study uses multiscale statistical analysis to investigate the spatial scaling of organized thunderstorms that produce heavy rainfall and flooding in mountainous regions. Focus is placed on the eastern and western slopes of the Appalachian region and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Parameter estimates are analyzed over time and attention is given to linking changes in the multiscale parameters with meteorological forcings and orographic influences on the rainfall. Influences of geographic regions and predominant orographic controls on trends in multiscale properties of precipitation are investigated. Spatial resolutions from 1 km to 50 km are considered. This range of spatial scales is needed to bridge typical scale gaps between distributed hydrologic models and numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecasts and attempts to address the open research problem of scaling organized thunderstorms and convection in mountainous terrain down to 1-4 km scales.

Calvin et le calvinisme. Cinq siècles d influences sur l église et la société

Que reste-t-il de Calvin et du calvinisme aujourd’hui ? Treize spécialistes du Réformateur s’intéressent dans cet essai à l’influence de cette figure centrale dans toutes sortes de domaines: sur la tolérance religieuse, le capitalisme, la démocratie moderne et l’éthique, dans les mentalités et les pays où sa pensée s’est traduite (Suisse, Etats-Unis, Europe), sur la foi chrétienne, la manière d’appréhender la Bible ou de définir le lien du religieux et du politique. L’actualité de Calvin reste éminemment prégnante dans le monde aujourd’hui, même si le bilan du calvinisme présente les ombres et les lumières du contraste, ce que les meilleurs connaisseurs actuels de sa pensée s’attachent ici à démontrer.�Une photographie stimulante de Calvin, né il y a 500 ans.

Femoral morphology due to impingement influences the range of motion in slipped capital femoral epiphysis

Femoroacetabular impingement due to metaphyseal prominence is associated with the slippage in patients with slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE), but it is unclear whether the changes in femoral metaphysis morphology are associated with range of motion (ROM) changes or type of impingement. We asked whether the femoral head-neck junction morphology influences ROM analysis and type of impingement in addition to the slip angle and the acetabular version. We analyzed in 31 patients with SCFE the relationship between the proximal femoral morphology and limitation in ROM due to impingement based on simulated ROM of preoperative CT data. The ROM was analyzed in relation to degree of slippage, femoral metaphysis morphology, acetabular version, and pathomechanical terms of "impaction" and "inclusion." The ROM in the affected hips was comparable to that in the unaffected hips for mild slippage and decreased for slippage of more than 30 degrees. The limitation correlated with changes in the metaphysic morphology and changed acetabular version. Decreased head-neck offset in hips with slip angles between 30 degrees and 50 degrees had restricted ROM to nearly the same degree as in severe SCFE. Therefore, in addition to the slip angle, the femoral metaphysis morphology should be used as criteria for reconstructive surgery.

Influences of Discriminatory Incidents on Immigrants’ Attitudes Toward German Society

This article presents findings from a quantitative survey (N = 301) to evaluate the impact discriminatory incidents have on the attitudes of immigrants towards the majority society in Germany.The findings show that there is a strong relationship between experiences of discrimination and a hostile or alienated attitude towards German society. As an attempt to explain this generalization from single incidents to the macro relation between immigrants and autochthonous Germans in general a theory of framing, taken from developments in the field of rational choice theory, is applied. The reasoning is that a generalizing and rather hostile framing in terms of the attitude towards Germans can minimize psychic, emotional and social costs resulting from acts of discrimination.