Anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of the ethanolic extract of potato (Solanum tuberlosum)

The ethanol extract of potato tubers (Solanum tuberlosum L.) has been evaluated for antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities in mice. The acute treatment of mice with an ethanolic extract from the potato tuber at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg, by oral administration, produced a significant anti-nociceptive effect in the acetic acid-induced writhing, formalin-induced pain licking and hot plate-induced pain. Also, the ethanolic extract of potato tubers significantly inhibited both carrageenan- and formalin-induced inflammation in mice as well as arachidonic acid-induced ear edema in mice. These inhibitions were statistically significant (p<0.05). These results provide support for the use of the ethanol extract of potato tuber in relieving inflammatory pain, and insight into the development of new agents for treating inflammatory diseases.     

Effect of alkalosis on performance and lactate formation in supramaximal exercise

Summary An increased base binding power of the blood induced by alkali administration to subjects performing a supramaximal exercise has no appreciable effect neither on the maximal performance time nor on the total amount of lactic acid or its rate of appearance in blood.This work has been supported by a grant from the Italian National Research Council. Thanks are due also to Laboratory Glaxo, S.p.A. for facilities and financial support in the course of the experiments.     

Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for binocular interactions in human visual cortex

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we explored the binocular interactions occurring when subjects viewed dichoptically presented checkerboard stimuli. A flickering radial checkerboard was presented to each eye of the subject, while T2*-weighted images were acquired over the visual cortex with gradient-echo, echoplanar sequences. We compared responses in striate and extrastriate visual cortex under four conditions: both eyes were stimulated at the same time (binocular condition), each eye was stimulated in alternation (monocular condition) or first the one eye then the other eye was stimulated (left eye first - right eye trailing, or vice versa). The results indicate that only the striate area, in and near the calcarine fissure, shows significant differences for these stimulation conditions. These differences are not evident in more remote extrastriate or associational visual areas, although the BOLD response in the stimulation-rest comparison was robust. These results suggest that the effect could be related to inhibitory interactions across ocular dominance columns in striate visual cortex.     

Effect Of Pulsatile Electromagnetic Fields On Blood Viscosity And Coagulation

Ithasbeenprovedthatanumberofdiseasesarerelatedwithabnormalityofbloodviscosityandcoagulationinclinicalresearch.Bloodhyperviscosityandhypercoagulationcauseandaccelearatethedevelopmentofcertaindiseases,deathrateofsomeofwhicharerisingwithyears.Lookingforawaytoreducebloodviscosityandrestrainfasterandstrongercoagulationbecomesasubjectdrawingmoreattention.Theproperseofthisresearchwastofindsuchaway.Intheblood,therearechargrdRBC,WBC,PLT,inorganicions,sothattheremustbesensitiveandcomplicatedresponse…     

Development of polyclonal ELISA for the N-methylcarbamate insecticide bendiocarb

A polyclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was developed for the N-methylcarbamate insecticide bendiocarb (2,2-dimethyl-1,3-benzodioxol-4-yl methylcarbamate). Two novel haptens having dimethylbenzodioxyl and dimethylbenzofuranyl groups connected to oxyacetyl-γ-aminobutanoic acid and oxyacetyl-β-alanine spacer arm respectively were synthesised. The first hapten was conjugated to carrier proteins to make antigens that were used to raise polyclonal antibodies in rabbits. The antibodies specifically recognised bendiocarb and its metabolite 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-benzodiox-4-ol with an IC₅₀ value of 9 ppb (ng ml^-1). The assay was standardised using the competitive ELISA format at 0.0625 µg antibody concentration and at 1/10k pesticide-HRP dilution. Matrix effect studies were carried out in four vegetable and cereal food samples. Matrix effect elimination in cabbage, cauliflower and rice was achieved by simple dilution of the extract. Five different approaches were attempted to achieve matrix clean up in paddy rice. C-18 column and gel permeation column chromatography (GPC) helped in the matrix removal. The spike and recovery studies for all the four food samples gave a recovery in the range of 75-95%, thus indicating the efficiency of the matrix elimination procedures developed.     

Adaptation to audiotactile asynchrony

Previous research has revealed the existence of perceptual mechanisms that compensate for slight temporal asynchronies between auditory and visual signals. We investigated whether temporal recalibration would also occur between auditory and tactile stimuli. Participants were exposed to streams of brief auditory and tactile stimuli presented in synchrony, or else with the auditory stimulus leading by 75 ms. After the exposure phase, the participants made temporal order judgments regarding pairs of auditory and tactile events occurring at varying stimulus onset asynchronies. The results showed that the minimal interval necessary to correctly resolve audiotactile temporal order was larger after exposure to the desynchronized streams than after exposure to the synchronous streams. This suggests the existence of a mechanism to compensate for audiotactile asynchronies that results in a widening of the temporal window for multisensory integration.     

The inversion effect on gaze perception reflects processing of component information

When faces are turned upside-down they are much more difficult to recognize than other objects. This "face inversion effect" has often been explained in terms of configural processing, which is impaired when faces are rotated away from the upright. Here we report a "gaze inversion effect" and discuss whether it is related to configural face processing of the whole face. Observers reported the gaze locations of photographed upright or inverted faces. When whole faces were presented, we found an inversion effect both for constant errors and observer sensitivity. These results were closely replicated when only the eyes were visible. Together, our findings suggest that gaze processing is largely based on component-based information from the eye region. Processing this information is orientation-sensitive and does not seem to rely on configural processing of the whole face.     

Carrier Frequency of the Bloom SyndromeblmMutation in the Ashkenazi Jewish Population

Bloom syndrome is more common in individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent than in any other population, and one particular mutation in the Bloom syndrome gene,blm^Ash,is homozygous in nearly all Ashkenazi Jewish persons with Bloom syndrome. We have determined the frequency ofblm^Ashin 1491 Ashkenazi Jewish persons with no known history of Bloom syndrome and found that 1 in 107 persons was heterozygous. Although not common, genetic screening for Bloom syndrome is feasible in this population.     

Separate detectors for simple and complex grating patterns?

Grating having two sinusoidal components show a periodic variation in contrast which is visible as a "beat" pattern. The spatial frequency of the beat is the difference between the frequencies of the two components. Thresholds for a number of detection and discrimination tasks were measured using beat patterns of 1 c/deg (with components of 9 and 10 c/deg), and gratings of 1 and 10 c/deg. Temporal modulation at 6 Hz lowered detection thresholds for 1 c/deg gratings, but not for beats or 10 c/deg gratings. The effect of contrast on the range of temporal frequencies over which direction of movement can be discriminated differs for the three types of pattern: beats resemble neither low nor high spatial frequency gratings. Low and (for 2 of 3 observers) high spatial frequency gratings, but not beat patterns, are susceptible to a movement after effect induced by a low spatial-frequency grating. Beat patterns induce little or no movement after effect. We conclude that beat patterns are not detected by the same mechanisms that detect simple gratings.     

The effect of chronic in vivo infusion of forskolin on noradrenergic receptor sensitivity

The study of in vivo occupancy of benzodiazepine receptors in rat hippocampus and cerebellum indicates that premazepam reaches only about 70% and 80% occupancy respectively within the dose range used for pharmacological tests in rats. Moreover, at equiactive doses (antileptazol ED₅₀), more brain receptors are occupied by premazepam than by other benzodiazepines, suggesting that premazepam may act as a partial agonist at benzodiazepine receptors, with intrinsic activity lower in cerebellum than in hippocampus. These results may explain the lack of sedative and ataxic properties of premazepam.