Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in plasma and feathers of nestling birds of prey from northern Norway.

Plasma samples from nestlings of two top predators, White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) from northern Norway were analysed for a wide range of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Body feathers from the White-tailed eagles were also analysed and significant associations between specific PFASs in blood plasma and body feathers were found (0.36

Hearing status among Norwegian train drivers and train conductors.

BACKGROUND: There is a general perception that train drivers and conductors may be at increased risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss. AIMS: To study job-related hearing loss among train drivers and train conductors. METHODS: Audiograms from train drivers and train conductors were obtained from the medical records of the occupational health service of the major Norwegian railway company. The results were compared with audiograms from an internal control group of railway workers and an external reference group of people not occupationally exposed to noise. The monaural hearing threshold level at 4kHz, the mean binaural value at 3, 4 and 6kHz and the prevalence of audiometric notches (≥25 dB at 4kHz) were used for comparison. RESULTS: Audiograms were available for 1567 drivers, 1565 conductors, 4029 railway worker controls and 15 012 people not occupationally exposed to noise. No difference in hearing level or prevalence of audiometric notches was found between study groups after adjusting for age and gender. CONCLUSIONS: Norwegian train drivers and conductors have normal hearing threshold levels comparable with those in non-exposed groups.

Outcomes among patients treated for gastric adenocarcinoma during the last decade.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the outcomes among patients treated for gastric adenocarcinoma in a referral hospital, and to identify possible trends during the last decade. METHODS: All patients evaluated for gastric adenocarcinoma during the period 1999-2009 were included. RESULTS: Of 397 patients, 52% were curatively resected. Crude 5-year survival for the first 6 years period was 38.7% (CI 29.5-47.9), for the last 5 years, 49.2% (CI 38.8-59.6). Time period (P = 0.013), age (P < 0.001) and disease stage (P < 0.001), were significant predictors of long-term survival rates. Among curatively resected, in-hospital mortality was reduced from 8.5% in the first period to 2.0% in the last one (P = 0.037). There was a significant increase in the use of primary stents from the first to the last period (P = 0.006), paralleled by a significant reduction in the number of explorative laparotomies or bypass procedures (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: During the last decade, long-term survival rates improved among patients curatively resected for gastric adenocarcinoma, and in-hospital mortality was substantially reduced. For patients in a non-curative situation, there was a significant shift from explorative laparotomies or bypass procedures to primary use of stents.

UV-excited chlorophyll fluorescence as a tool for the assessment of UV-protection by the epidermis of plants.

Recently, a new method for estimating epidermal transmission of UV radiation in higher plants has been proposed. The empirical evidence for the usefulness of this method is reviewed here. Direct comparison with spectroscopically determined epidermal transmission yielded equivalent results. A linear correlation to the concentration of epidermal screening compounds has been shown. Relating UV-A and UV-B absorbance allowed some preliminary conclusions about the chemical nature of the screening compounds. A new portable apparatus is presented for the first time, which allows the non-destructive assessment of UV-A screening even under field conditions. Repeated measurements on identical leaves over a time-course of 6 d demonstrated a strong age-dependence in the capacity for the synthesis of UV-A screening compounds upon exposure to UV-B radiation. It is concluded that the new method may provide a valuable tool for the investigation of the acclimation of plants to UV-B radiation and, when accompanied by HPLC analysis, of the reaction of phenolic metabolism to environmental stimuli.

Identification and characterization of Carnobacteria isolated from fish intestine.

Eleven bacterial strains were isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of four fish species, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.), Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus L.), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) and wolffish (Anarhichas lupus L.). All the strains were Gram-positive rods, non-sporing, catalase and oxidase-negative, able to grow at pH 9.0 but not on acetate containing media (pH < or = 5.4), and were fermentative. They had a high content of oleic acid (18:1 n-9) in cellular lipid, and were found to belong to the genus Carnobacterium by phenotypic criteria. The eleven carnobacteria strains were further identified on the basis of 16S rDNA sequence analysis and AFLP(TM) fingerprinting.

Characterisation of horse dander allergen glycoproteins using amino acid and glycan structure analyses. a mass spectrometric method for glycan chain analysis of glycoproteins separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis.

Separation of horse dander allergens using two-dimensional PAGE resulted in the identification of 16 proteins that react with allergic patient sera. A sensitive method has been developed for analysing the structures of the glycan chains of individual glycoprotein allergens transferred to blots following two-dimensional PAGE, and has allowed the structural identification of the glycan chains of the most abundant isoforms of Equ c 1, a glycosylated horse dander major allergen. The method involves separation of the allergens by two-dimensional PAGE, transfer to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes, release of the glycan chains using peptide N-glycosidase F, permethylation and mass spectrometric analysis of the derivatised glycans. The amino acid compositions of the 16 horse dander allergens separated by two-dimensional PAGE have been determined, allowing the identification of the various isoforms of Equ c 1. These results also confirmed that the two non-glycosylated major allergens, Equ c 2.0101 and Equ c 2.0102, belong to the lipocalin family, and support the idea that these two allergens are most probably isoforms of the same protein. The glycan structures identified using the mass spectrometric method are common biantennary and triantennary glycan chains. These carbohydrate moieties may have a role in the binding of IgE; however, it is more likely that the overall glycoprotein structure involving both the glycan and protein moieties, rather than the structure of the glycan chains alone, is responsible for eliciting allergic responses.

The mechanistic basis of aerobic performance variation in red junglefowl.

We examined aerobic performance, organ and muscle mass and enzymatic activity in red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). We tested three models of performance limitation (central limits, peripheral limits, symmorphosis) and explored relationships between basal metabolic rate (BMR), aerobic capacity ( V (O2max)) and social rank. Males had a lower BMR, a higher V (O2max) and a greater aerobic scope than females. Females possessed larger peritoneal and reproductive organs, while males had larger hearts, lungs and leg muscles. In females, BMR was correlated with spleen mass and V (O2max) was correlated with hematocrit and large intestine mass. Male BMR was correlated with intestinal tract and lung mass, and V (O2max) was correlated with heart and pectoralis mass. Male citrate synthase activity averaged 57 % higher than that of females and was correlated with V (O2max) (this correlation was not significant in females). Female social status was not correlated with any variable, but male dominance was associated with higher aerobic scope, larger heart and lungs, smaller peritoneal organs and greater leg citrate synthase activity. We conclude that aerobic capacity is controlled by system-wide limitations (symmorphosis) in males, while in females it is controlled by central organs. In neither sex is elevated aerobic capacity associated with increased maintenance costs.

Polycythemic responses to hypoxia: molecular and genetic mechanisms of chronic mountain sickness.

We examined erythropoietin (EPO) gene expression and EPO production during hypoxia in two Sprague-Dawley rat strains with divergent polycythemic responses to hypoxia. Hilltop (H) rats develop severe polycythemia, severe hypoxemia, and pulmonary artery hypertension. The H rats often die from a syndrome indistinguishable from chronic mountain sickness (CMS) in humans. Madison (M) rats develop polycythemia and pulmonary artery hypertension that is modest and suffer no excess mortality. We tested the hypothesis that these rat strains have different stimulus-response characteristics governing EPO production. Rats of each strain were exposed to hypoxia (0.5 atm, 73 Torr inspired PO2), and renal tissue EPO mRNA and EPO levels, plasma EPO, ventilation, arterial and renal venous blood gases, and indexes of renal function were measured at fixed times during a 30-day hypoxic exposure. During extended hypoxic exposure, H rats had significantly elevated renal EPO mRNA, renal EPO, and plasma EPO levels compared with M rats. Ventilatory responses and indexes of renal function were similar in the strains during the hypoxic exposure. H rats had greater arterial hypoxemia from the onset of hypoxia and more severe renal tissue hypoxemia and greater polycythemia after 14 days of hypoxic exposure. When EPO responses were expressed as functions of renal venous PO2, the two strains appeared to lie on the same dose-response curves, but the responses of H rats were shifted along the curve toward more hypoxic values. We conclude that H rats have significantly greater polycythemia secondary to poorer renal tissue oxygenation, but the stimulus-response characteristics governing EPO gene expression and EPO production do not seem to differ between M and H rats. Finally, the regulation of EPO levels during hypoxia occurs primarily at the transcriptional level.

Separation of horse dander allergen proteins by two-dimensional electrophoresis--molecular characterisation and identification of Equ c 2.0101 and Equ c 2.0102 as lipocalin proteins.

The aim of this work was to identify which proteins in horse dander extracts are allergens and to characterise them. Two-dimensional PAGE showed that horse dander preparations are composed of up to 50 proteins, all having acidic isoelectric points in the pH range 3-4.5. Immunoblots of two-dimensional PAGE were used to compare the reactivity of the proteins with IgE from 23 allergic patients. Patient sera were divided into two main groups recognising either allergens of 18.5 kDa or proteins of 27-29 and 31 kDa. The proteins of 27-29 kDa and 31 kDa were all N-glycosylated and their glycan chains seem to play a role in the binding of IgE from allergic patients. The sugar composition of their carbohydrate moiety was determined and lectin-binding experiments indicated presence of terminal sialic acid linked alpha-(2-->6) to galactose, galactose linked beta-(1-->4) to N-acetylglucosamine, and possibly presence of sialic acid linked alpha-(2-->3) to galactose. The 27-29-kDa glycoproteins had heterogeneous isoelectric points, most probably due to different degrees of sialylation in their oligosaccharide chains. The two 18.5-kDa allergens exhibited slightly different isoelectric points and their N-terminal sequences were identical, showing that they most likely were isoforms of the same protein. Sequence analyses revealed that their N-terminal sequences are similar to proteins belonging to the lipocalin family. We named the two 18.5-kDa proteins Equ c 2.0101 and Equ c 2.0102, according to International Allergen Nomenclature recommendations [King, T. P., Hoffman, D., Lowenstein, H., Marsh, D. G., Platts-Mills, T. A. E. & Thomas, W. (1995) J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 96, 5-14]. The N-terminal of the allergens of 27-29 kDa were blocked and their sequences were not determined. Their amino acid compositions were determined and comparison with acidic mammalian proteins in the Swiss-Prot database revealed high scores with lipocalin proteins. This suggests that the glycosylated horse dander allergens belong to the lipocalin family, like Equ c 2.0101 and Equ c 2.0102.

A comparison of clomiphene citrate and human menopausal gonadotropin for use in conjunction with intrauterine insemination.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcome of superovulation using clomiphene citrate (CC) versus hMG in conjunction with IUI. DESIGN: Sequentially assigned, observational study. Couples initially were assigned to receive either CC or hMG for three cycles. SETTING: The Clinical Outpatient Department of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. PATIENT(S): Eighty-three infertile couples. INTERVENTION(S): IUI with hMG use. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Conception rate, term pregnancy rate (PR), and pregnancy complications, such as spontaneous miscarriage and multiple gestation. RESULT(S): Of 83 couples who underwent at least one treatment cycle, 29 (35%) conceived during the study period. The relative rate of conception for hMG versus CC was 2.08 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93 to 4.68). The relative term PR was 2.10 (95% CI, 0.77 to 5.73) for hMG versus CC. There was no difference in the miscarriage rate for hMG versus CC. CONCLUSION(S): Both the conception rate and the term PR were higher using hMG, compared with CC, in combination with IUI, and showed a trend toward statistical significance.

Validation of the Dental Fear Scale and the Dental Belief Survey in a Norwegian sample.

The aim of this study was to validate the Kleinknecht's Dental Fear Scale and the Getz's Dental Belief Survey in a Norwegian sample by 1) testing their ability to discriminate between fearful (n = 151) and regular (n = 160) patients, and 2) correlating them. Both instruments were highly reliable (Cronbach's alpha > 0.90). Between 81% and 95% of the fearful and regular patients were correctly assigned to their appropriate groups with both instruments. It may thus be concluded that both instruments are valid. Also, the correlation between the instruments was 0.68, indicating that they to a large extent seem to measure the same concept. The most important predictor items for both instruments were related to avoidance of dental treatment.

Prediction of individual vulnerability to stress-induced gastric ulcerations in rats: a factor analysis of selected behavioral and biological indices.

Fifty rats were subjected seriatim to 6 different test tasks (open-field, startle, drug-induced sterotypy, oral finickiness, defensive burying, and memory for aversive event). This yielded 12 test-specific plus 2 general biobehavioral measures (growth and defecation). These 14 measures were subjected to factor analysis to determine if these measured tapped a common construct of "emotionality." The data yielded a 4-factor structure of Finickiness, Defensiveness, Startle-Sensitivity, and Dopaminergic-Sensitivity that accounted for 62% of the variance. Then, all rats were subjected to restraint-in-water stress to induce gastric ulcerations. Multivariate techniques tested if there was a factor or factor-structure that could predict individual differences in vulnerability to the stress-induced gastric ulcerations. Only the Dopaminergic-Sensitivity factor predicted ulcerogenic vulnerability, and its predictive power resided substantially in the latency to initiate stereotypic gnawing induced by apomorphine. This single test score correlated with amount of ulcer (r = +0.52), accounting for 25% of the variance in ulcer, suggesting that 1. prescreening rats on this variable could be a tool for reducing intrastrain experimental variance in future studies of treatments that modulate ulcerogenicity, and 2. the dopaminergic system may be intimately involved in the causal path of ulcerogenicity.

Testosterone and aggression in male red jungle fowl.

We investigated the relationship between aggression, plasma testosterone level (T), and change in T in captive male red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus). T measured on day 1 of our experiment was positively correlated with T on day 8, suggesting that T remains constant in males when the social environment is stable. During aggressive encounters that escalated to include physical combat, males that attacked first (won) had increased T relative to their opponent. Males did not differ in T measured 1 week before the aggressive encounter. Our data suggest that an increase in T during aggression is associated with winning in escalated fights.

Formation of immunochemical advanced glycosylation end products precedes and correlates with early manifestations of renal and retinal disease in diabetes.

Elevated levels of advanced glycosylation end products (AGEs) have been found in multiple tissues in association with diabetic vascular complications and during the microalbuminuric phase of diabetic nephropathy. In this study, we have used an AGE-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure skin AGEs to determine whether elevated levels can be detected before the onset of overt microangiopathy. Subjects with type I diabetes (n = 48) were graded for the degree of nephropathy (normal [23], microalbuminuria [12], or macroalbuminuria [12]) and retinopathy (none [13], background [20], or proliferative [15]). Subgroups with a premicroalbuminuric phase of albumin excretion (< or = 28 mg/24 h, n = 27) or with the earliest stages of retinopathy (n = 27) were identified. A significant increase in tissue AGEs was found as urinary albumin increased during the premicroalbuminuric phase of nephropathy even when the data were adjusted for age and duration of diabetes (P = 0.005). Immunoreactive AGEs also increased as normal renal status advanced to microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria (P = 0.0001 across groups). Significant elevation of AGEs was also found in association with the earliest stages of clinically evident retinopathy (early background versus minimal grades). In addition, higher AGE levels were found in subjects with proliferative retinopathy when compared with those with less severe retinopathy (P < 0.004 across groups). In contrast, no significant differences were found in tissue AGE levels between groups with or without early retinopathy based on pentosidine or fluorescent AGE measurements, although fluorescent AGEs correlated with albumin excretion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Anabolic-androgenic steroid and adrenal steroid effects on hippocampal plasticity.

Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are synthetic androgen-like compounds which are taken in high doses by athletes with the intention of enhancing muscular appearance, strength and/or athletic performance. Recent research indicates that high doses of AAS may influence the functions of the hippocampus. This evidence led us to explore the extent to which chronic AAS treatments influence spatial memory and the integrity of the hippocampus in the rat. Gonadally intact adult male Long-Evans rats were treated with either the AAS methandrostenolone, a steroid 'cocktail' (TNB; testosterone cypionate, boldenone undecylenate and nandrolone decanoate), or the oil vehicle daily for 12 weeks. A group of male rats treated with corticosterone (CORT; 10 mg/day) was also examined. Spatial memory was assessed in the Morris water maze after 10 weeks of hormone treatment. At 12 weeks, the animals were sacrificed, blood collected and the brain sectioned to assess hippocampal cell number. There were no impairments in the acquisition or retention of the Morris water maze in any hormone treatment group. Although serum testosterone levels were elevated in rats treated with TNB relative to the oil controls, neither the TNB or methandrostenolone treatments produced changes in hippocampal cell number. Serum CORT levels were significantly elevated in the rats treated with CORT and cell loss (15%) was detectable in the CA3b subfield in this group of animals. These results indicate that the AAS administered in the present study were not detrimental to hippocampal spatial memory or cell survival and that, while chronic CORT may produce mild hippocampal cell loss, this loss is not accompanied by deficits on a spatial memory task.

The effect of cigarette smoking on adrenal cortical hormones.

We assessed the association between cigarette smoking and basal levels of adrenal cortical hormones in 11 postmenopausal smokers and 11 postmenopausal nonsmokers and measured the acute adrenal effects of cigarettes in the smokers. After an overnight food, alcohol and tobacco fast, participants smoked or sham-smoked every hr for 8 hr and provided serum samples for hormone assay before and after every other cigarette/sham, as well as before and after a corticotropin stimulation test. The postmenopausal smokers had substantially higher basal levels of androstenedione (4.60 +/- 0.42 vs. 2.70 +/- 0.36 nmol/l, P < .05) and dihydroepiandrosterone sulfate (2.88 +/- 0.36 vs. 1.91 +/- 0.16 mumol/l, P < .05) and higher average levels of cortisol and androstenedione from 0800 to 1300 hr (351.0 +/- 17.5 vs. 295.5 +/- 17.1, nmol/l and 3.58 +/- 0.42 vs. 2.51 +/- 0.19 nmol/l, P = .03, and P < .05, respectively). There were small acute effects of individual cigarettes on the hormones, but the response to corticotropin was similar in smokers and nonsmokers. Our results indicate that cigarette smoking causes a generalized disturbance in adrenal cortical hormone levels. There is no evidence for acute tolerance to the adrenocortical affects of the hourly smoking of medium-nicotine cigarettes, but these acute effects do not explain the higher hormone levels in smokers. There is no evidence for a partial block in the cortisol synthesis pathway to explain the increased adrenal androgen levels in smokers.

Role of sex hormones in development of chronic mountain sickness in rats.

After chronic exposure to hypoxia, Hilltop Sprague-Dawley rats developed excessive polycythemia and severe pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy, signs consistent with human chronic mountain sickness; however, there were gender differences in the magnitude of the polycythemia and susceptibility to the fatal consequence of chronic mountain sickness. Orchiectomy and ovariectomy were performed to evaluate the role of sex hormones in the gender differences in these hypoxic responses. After 40 days of exposure to simulated high altitude (5,500 m; barometric pressure of 370 Torr and inspired Po2 of 73 Torr), both sham-gonadectomized male and female rats developed polycythemia and had increased RV peak systolic pressure and RV hypertrophy. The hematocrit was slightly but significantly higher in males than in females. Orchiectomy did not affect these hypoxic responses, although total ventricular weight was less in the castrated high-altitude rats. At high altitude, the mortality rates were 67% in the sham-operated male rats and 50% in the castrated animals. In contrast, ovariectomy aggravated the high-altitude-associated polycythemia and increased RV peak systolic pressure and RV weight compared with the sham-operated high-altitude female rats. Both sham-operated control and ovariectomized females suffered negligible mortality at high altitude. The present study demonstrated that 1) the male sex hormones play no role in the development of the excessive polycythemia, pulmonary hypertension, and RV hypertrophy during chronic hypoxic exposure or in the associated high mortality and 2) the female sex hormones suppressed both the polycythemic and cardiopulmonary responses in vivo during chronic hypoxic exposure.