Cholinesterases in the amyloid angiopathy of Alzheimer's disease

Vessels affected by amyloid angiopathy in patients with Alzheimer's disease also displayed intense acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase activity when examined by light and electron microscopy. The enzymatic properties of the vessel-bound cholinesterases were identical to those of the cholinesterases associated with senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. This cholinesterase activity is of unknown origin but represents one of the very few features common to all the major pathological markers of Alzheimer's disease.

Continuous multiple location body temperature measurement of infants

This study was done to evaluate the most suitable location of skin temperature sensors to enable long term temperature measurements of infants. A high accuracy eight channel temperature monitor was developed. Linear semiconductor sensor probes were constructed in association with this. System accuracy and stability were tested. Preliminary clinical studies have shown considerable variation from the core temperature for all surface measurement locations.

A model for body-image care

It is by no means clear that the diagnosis 'altered body image' is sufficiently clear to enable the nurse to plan and deliver a package of body-image care. This paper proposes a model of body-image care based upon five central concepts, and the accepted metaparadigms of nursing. It is suggested that the nurse is uniquely positioned to deliver the best body-image care, and that this model will assist her to assess body-image needs and to then action the altered body-image diagnosis more effectively.

Cavernous haemangioma of the head and neck in the adult

This paper reviews a personal experience of 51 cases seen over a 30 year period. Patients were treated in either a combined Head and Neck clinic or a Combined Ophthalmology clinic and a balanced view is thus represented. A method of grading the severity of the disease is described as well as a method of assessing response. This approach has not been proposed hitherto. It is generally concluded that the preferred treatment for small lesions is excisional surgery and for larger lesions carefully planned and highly localized radiation.

Signal transduction by p21ras

Experiments using the physical loading of purified recombinant p21 ras proteins into quiescent normal cells to analyze how the proteins stimulate DNA synthesis and morphological transformation are reviewed. The results indicate that oncogenic p21ras proteins rapidly activate a protein-kinase-C-dependent pathway and a protein-kinase-C-independent pathway. The activation of protein kinase C is absolutely required for p21ras to stimulate DNA synthesis but is not required for morphological transformation.

Scrape-loading of Swiss 3T3 cells with ras protein rapidly activates protein kinase C in the absence of phosphoinositide hydrolysis

Scrape-loading has been used to analyse the biochemical function of purified p21ras protein. We have shown that scrape-loading oncogenic p21ras into quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells causes morphological transformation of 90% of the cell population within 15 h. Since large numbers of cells can be loaded with p21ras, early induced biochemical changes can be analysed. In this way we have shown that oncogenic p21ras causes rapid activation of protein kinase C five minutes after introduction of protein, but that ras protein fails to stimulate measurable inositol phosphate formation. It appears, therefore, that the stimulation of protein kinase C activity is due to a ras induced increase in diacylglycerol from a source other than inositol phospholipids. Efficient stimulation of DNA synthesis by oncogenic p21ras only occurs in the presence of insulin. This stimulation of DNA synthesis by ras is absolutely dependent on functional protein kinase C activity.

Proteolysis of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase-II attenuates its ability to be inhibited by compounds which exert positive inotropic actions in cardiac tissue

Extraction of frozen canine cardiac muscle rendered soluble over 90% of the cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity. The residual activity was membrane-bound. Ion exchange chromatography of the soluble activity on DE-52 allowed for the resolution of three distinct cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase fractions termed PDE-I, PDE-II and PDE-III in order of elution from the column by a linear NaCl gradient. The relative ratio of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity exhibited by these three peaks was 1:0.65:0.82 and of cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase activity was 1:0.52:0.05 for PDE-I, PDE-II and PDE-III respectively. PDE-II and PDE-III were further purified by re-chromatography on DE-52. Fractions PDE-II and PDE-III were thermolabile at 50 degrees, decaying as single exponentials with half lives of 180 sec and 77 sec respectively. All three species exhibited non-linear Lineweaver-Burke plots for the hydrolysis of cyclic AMP, exhibiting both high and low affinity components. Hydrolysis of cyclic GMP by all three components obeyed normal kinetics, yielding linear plots. PDE-I was a Ca2+/calmodulin-activated species which exhibited a low Km for both cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP but hydrolysed cyclic GMP with a higher Vmax than for cyclic AMP. PDE-II exhibited a much lower Km for cyclic AMP than for cyclic GMP and a much higher Vmax for the hydrolysis of cyclic AMP. PDE-III exhibited a low Km for both cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP, however, its Vmax for cyclic AMP was about 40-fold higher than for cyclic GMP. Cyclic GMP acted as a potent inhibitor (IC50 = 6.3 microM) of cyclic AMP hydrolysis catalysed by PDE-III but not of the hydrolysis of cyclic AMP by PDE-II (IC50 = 33.2 microM). The phosphodiesterase inhibitors milrinone, CI-930, UK-35,493, carbazeran and buquineran acted as potent inhibitors of cyclic AMP hydrolysis catalysed by both PDE-II and PDE-III enzymes. They did not inhibit PDE-I activity. PDE-II, when prepared in the absence of protease inhibitors exhibited a reduced potency to inhibition by these compounds. Treatment of purified PDE-II with trypsin caused a reduction in enzyme activity and reduced dramatically the sensitivity of PDE-II activity to inhibition by these various compounds. The action of proteolysis in attenuating the inhibitory effect of these compounds on PDE-II was most dramatic with CI-930, milrinone, amrinone, buquineran and UK35,493 and least dramatic with carbazeran and IBMX.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

First impressions: paradigms for patient assessment

The interview that the nurse completes with a patient on his admission to hospital may be seen as one more negotiated step within a patient career that may span many years. Nevertheless, the nurse's assessment of the patient marks a key point in this career, his entry into a formal institution. It also marks the starting point of a planned intervention on the part of the nurses involved. Whilst such interviews have traditionally not been seen as important as that with the consultant, they are likely to have a significant effect upon how patient and nurse subsequently interact. This paper describes a research project which sought to identify the ways in which student nurses formulate an assessment of a patient on admission. A qualitative research methodology was used and a symbolic interactionist perspective employed.