Identification of World War II bone remains found in Ukraine using classical anthropological and mitochondrial DNA results

International Journal of Legal Medicine - Gyula Ágner was a Royal Hungarian First Lieutenant (1st Lt.) during the World War II and died at 30 years old due to a mine shrapnel injury...     

Identical Mr 70,000 S6 kinase is activated biphasically by epidermal growth factor: a phosphopeptide that characterizes the late phase.

Mitogenic stimulation of quiescent mouse 3T3 cells with epidermal growth factor leads to biphasic S6 kinase activation. The kinases present in both phases of the response have been purified from 32P-labeled cells and shown to contain a phosphoprotein of equivalent Mr 70,000. Chromatographic analysis of the purified S6 kinases on a Mono Q column reveals that (i) all 32P-labeled protein coelutes with S6 kinase activity, (ii) only those fractions containing S6 kinase autophosphorylate, (iii) autophosphorylation is restricted to a single Mr 70,000 protein, and (iv) the extent of autophosphorylation directly parallels the degree of S6 kinase activation. Analysis of the two autophosphorylated S6 kinases by two-dimensional tryptic phosphopeptide mapping indicates that they are the same protein. Both in vivo 32P-labeled S6 kinases contain phosphoserine and phosphothreonine but no detectable phosphotyrosine. Two-dimensional tryptic peptide maps of the in vivo 32P-labeled S6 kinases are essentially identical, except for a single qualitative change in the late-phase S6 kinase.     

Increase in serum ceruloplasmin with aging is not observed in type 2 diabetes

Changes of serum ceruloplasmin (Cp) levels have been reported in many conditions including diabetes mellitus (DM), in which the serum Cp levels were increased. In this study, we have examined the influence of aging on serum Cp levels in normal individuals and in individuals with DM. Serum Cp levels were measured in 85 outpatients with type 2 diabetes (type 2 DM group) as well as in 71 healthy individuals (control group). All patients recruited for this study were negative for the glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibody. The subjects were sub-grouped based on their ages (<55 and 55 < or =). The serum Cp levels in the control group increased significantly with aging (r=0.325, p<0.0055), while levels in the type 2 DM group did not (r=0.091, p=0.4079). The levels in the type 2 DM group (<55) were significantly higher than those in the control group (<55) (p = 0.0029), while the Cp levels in the type 2 DM group (55 < or =) were not different from those in the control group (55 < or =) (p=0.4187). An age-related increase of serum Cp levels was observed in normal individuals, but this change was not observed in type 2 DM patients since serum Cp levels in type 2 DM patients of all ages were similar to the levels in normal elderly individuals.     

Heterogeneity of apex-to-base dispersion in diastolic lengthening is related to impaired global left ventricular relaxation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Background  

The presence of apex-to-base disparity in diastolic left ventricle (LV) endocardial lengthening, based on an electromechanical activation sequence, has been recognized as an important determinant of LV diastolic properties. However, the behavior of LV apical and basal diastolic lengthening and its relationship to LV filling in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are unknown.     

Comparison of four diagnostic methods using clinical blood by measuring (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan

Using Amebocyte lysate of horseshoe crab to measure (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan specifically, a component of the cell wall, several kinds of diagnostic methods for deep mycosis are in practical use in Japan. However, the most important problem is that the judgment of positive or negative is method dependent. To elucidate the cause of the problem, each measurement value of the identical sample by four methods, beta-Glucan Test Maruha (MARUHA), beta-Glucan Test Wako (WAKO). FUNGITEC G Test (FUNGITEC-G) and FUNGITEC G Test MK (FUNGITEC-MK) was compared with the clinical data using 119 cases and 289 tests. Each case was divided into three groups; proven fungal infection, probable fungal infection and non-fungal infection. The negative cases for all the methods tested in the groups of proven fungal infection and probable fungal infection were allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis and cryptococcosis, and that for all the methods tested except FUNGITEC-MK method in the group was pulmonary aspergilloma. It seems that these cases cannot be detected correctly by only measuring (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan. On the other hand, the ratio of false positive, positive for non-fungal infection group was high in the case of FUNGITEC-MK. About 23% against the total case was positive for FUNGITEC-MK method, but negative for MARUHA, WAKO, and FUNGITEC-G methods. Although the difference of the sensitivity among four methods was not observed, the specificity, the diagnostic efficiency, and the positive predictive value of FUNGITEC-MK method were remarkably lower than those of the other methods due to false positive measurement. In conclusion, MARUHA, WAKO and FUNGITEC-G except FUNGITEC-MK is not method dependent. It is suggested that FUNGITEC-MK detects non-specific reaction resulted in false positive.     

Lung surfactant in the hyperinsulinemic fetal monkey

We examined the effect of hyperinsulinemia in the absence of hyperglycemia on parameters of lung surfactant production in the fetal rhesus monkey at 134–148 days gestation. Hyperinsulinemia was achieved by infusion of insulin for 21 d from an Alzet minipump implanted in the fetal hind leg. Blood insulin levels were elevated 80-fold in the treated group. These fetuses were also slightly hypoglycemic and their body weights were 25% greater than expected. There were no differences, however, between the insulin-treated and control groups in the phospholipid content and composition of lung lavage or lavaged lung tissue or in the rate of choline incorporation into disaturated phosphatidylcholine in lung slices. These data suggest that hyperinsulinemiaper se does not inhibit surfactant production in the fetal primate at least up to 148 d gestation. Although an inhibitory effect of insulin later in gestation is not ruled out, it is also possible that hyperglycemia rather than hyperinsulinemia is responsible for the deficiency in surfactant often observed in human infants of diabetic mothers.     

Platelet-derived growth factor BB-induced p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation causes cell growth, but not apoptosis, in vascular smooth muscle cells

The aim of this experiment was to examine the regulation of p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB and its biological effects on rat cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). VSMCs were obtained from aortae of male Wistar rats by the media explant technique. After being stimulated by PDGF-BB with or without the p38 MAP kinase-specific inhibitor, SB-203580, the cells were solubilized, and the levels of phosphorylated p38 MAP kinase were examined by immunoblot analysis. The amounts of DNA synthesis and content were measured by using [3H]-thymidine and Hoechst-33258 dye, respectively. The detection of apoptotic cells was evaluated by the TUNEL method. PDGF-BB could phosphorylate p38 MAP kinase dose-dependently, and the phosphorylation was specifically inhibited by SB-203580 in a dose-dependent manner. However, PDGF-BB did not affect the protein level of p38 MAP kinase. Both [3H]-thymidine incorporation and total cellular DNA content were increased by PDGF-BB, and these elevations were prevented by SB-203580. In contrast, PDGF-BB-stimulated VSMCs did not show apoptotic change in spite of the presence or absence of SB-203580. These results established that PDGF-BB activated p38 MAP kinase and subsequently regulated cell growth in VSMCs, providing a molecular mechanism by which p38 MAP kinase can cause the development of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis.     

An empirical model of the Baltic Sea reveals the importance of social dynamics for ecological regime shifts

Regime shifts triggered by human activities and environmental changes have led to significant ecological and socioeconomic consequences in marine and terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Ecological processes and feedbacks associated with regime shifts have received considerable attention, but human individual and collective behavior is rarely treated as an integrated component of such shifts. Here, we used generalized modeling to develop a coupled social–ecological model that integrated rich social and ecological data to investigate the role of social dynamics in the 1980s Baltic Sea cod boom and collapse. We showed that psychological, economic, and regulatory aspects of fisher decision making, in addition to ecological interactions, contributed both to the temporary persistence of the cod boom and to its subsequent collapse. These features of the social–ecological system also would have limited the effectiveness of stronger fishery regulations. Our results provide quantitative, empirical evidence that incorporating social dynamics into models of natural resources is critical for understanding how resources can be managed sustainably. We also show that generalized modeling, which is well-suited to collaborative model development and does not require detailed specification of causal relationships between system variables, can help tackle the complexities involved in creating and analyzing social–ecological models.In recent decades, the world’s biological and physical systems have experienced dramatic change (1, 2). Many marine ecosystems, for example, have undergone abrupt changes known as regime shifts (3, 4). In one prominent case, the Baltic cod fishery suddenly changed in the 1980s from historically high cod biomass and catches (henceforth the “cod boom”) to a sprat-dominant ecosystem with low cod abundance (5–8). This collapse, generally understood to have been precipitated by deteriorating environmental conditions and overfishing (7), had substantial negative socioeconomic impact on Baltic Sea fisheries, including among others the small-scale coastal fishery (9).Ecological analyses of regime shifts, such as of the Baltic cod fishery (10), can capture the complex interplay of ecological and physical processes and drivers that trigger the shift. Numerous studies, however, have shown that understanding individual and collective human behavior is also critical for managing natural resources (11, 12) such as marine ecosystems (13, 14). Social–ecological system research responds to the need to incorporate humans as part of ecosystems by treating natural resource use as arising from linked systems of humans and nature, so-called social–ecological systems. Social–ecological system dynamics result from feedback loops involving biophysical processes, human behavior, and institutional processes within given social and biophysical contexts (15). Formal, quantitative analyses of the contributions of the social and biophysical subsystems to a social–ecological system’s dynamics are rare, however, because knowledge of social–ecological systems is often partial and spread over multiple disciplines (16).Here, we tested the influence of social dynamics on a regime shift in a marine ecosystem using a formal modeling framework. Specifically, we investigated the significance of fisher decision making, as influenced by psychological, economic, and regulatory factors, on the 1980s boom and collapse of the Eastern Baltic cod stock. In a significant advance for natural resource modeling, and for social–ecological modeling more generally, use of the generalized modeling approach (17, 18) enabled us to empirically parameterize, dynamically model, and analyze the qualitative social and ecological dynamics of the Baltic cod fishery at comparable levels of detail and without detailed specification of causal relationships. The Baltic cod fishery was selected because the ecological dynamics during the cod boom and collapse have been well-studied (10, 19, 20), and information about fisher behavior and institutional settings, such as regulation and subsidy policy, is available. Additionally, the cod boom and collapse are qualitatively distinct features of the social–ecological system’s dynamics that are amenable to the concepts and methods of dynamical systems theory (21), such as stability.