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Pyrogallol red (PGR) presents high reactivity toward reactive (radical and nonradical) species (RS). This property of PGR, together with its characteristic spectroscopic absorption in the visible region, has allowed developing methodologies aimed at evaluating the antioxidant capacity of foods, beverages, and human fluids. These methods are based on the evaluation of the consumption of PGR induced by RS and its inhibition by antioxidants. However, at present, there are no reports regarding the degradation mechanism of PGR, limiting the extrapolation to how antioxidants behave in different systems comprising different RS. In the present study, we evaluate the kinetics of PGR consumption promoted by different RS (peroxyl radicals, peroxynitrite, nitrogen dioxide, and hypochlorite) using spectroscopic techniques and detection of product by HPLC mass spectrometry. The same pattern of oxidation and spectroscopic properties of the products is observed, independently of the RS employed. Mass analysis indicates the formation of only one product identified as a quinone derivative, excluding the formation of peroxides or hydroperoxides and/or chlorinated compounds, in agreement with FOX’s assays and oxygen consumption experiments. Cyclic voltammetry, carried out at different pH’s, shows an irreversible oxidation of PGR, indicating the initial formation of a phenoxy radical and a second charge transfer reaction generating an ortho-quinone derivative. Spectroelectrochemical oxidation of PGR shows oxidation products with identical UV–visible absorption properties to those observed in RS-induced oxidation.

La medición de la osmolaridad lagrimal en pacientes con ojo seco ha sido cuestionada debido a su alta variabilidad. El entendimiento del origen de dicha variabilidad ayudaría a la interpretación clínica de los valores obtenidos. Esta investigación evalúa la medición de la variabilidad lagrimal en la práctica clínica.

Validar la relación de las nefrometrías en una serie de pacientes a los que se les realizan nefrectomías parciales con parámetros perioperatorios. Demostrar la reproducibilidad urólogo-radiólogo en cuanto a los resultados de las nefrometrías.

Describir, clasificar y discutir las indicaciones de los biomateriales de base biológica, moléculas bioactivas e ingeniería de tejidos que se están usando para el manejo de recesiones y aumento de encía en cirugía plástica periodontal. En esta revisión de la literatura, se utilizó una combinación de los términos de búsqueda específicos que consideraran los materiales en revisión, para el aumento de encía adherida, y el recubrimiento radicular.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization was measured in the most abundant plant species of the Paraguanä Peninsula, northwestern Venezuela. These plant species included: Acacia tortuosa, Argusia gnaphalodes, Croton punctatus, Croton rhamnifolius, Egletes prostrata, Melochia tomentosa, Panicum vaginatum, Scaevola plumieri, Sporobolus virginicus, Suriana maritima, Leptothrium rigidum, and Fimbristylis cymosa. Mycorrhizal colonization was assessed using the Trouvelot et al. (1986) method that allows for simultaneous evaluation of frequency of colonization (%F), intensity of colonization (%M), and the proportion of arbuscules (%A) and vesicles (%V) present in the roots. Average frequency of colonization was 69%. The highest frequency of colonization was around 92% in C. rhamnifoliusand A. tortuosa; in the other species, it varied from 49 to 86%. L. rigidumand F. cymosawere considered nonmycorrhizal because its colonization was very scarce and at all times appeared without arbuscules. Average intensity of colonization was 7%. The highest intensity of colonization was 18% in C. rhamnifolius. In the other species, it varied from 3 to 15%. Paspalum vaginatum, A. gnaphalodes, M. tomentosa, and S. maritimahad their fungal structures tightly packed in modified little ovoid roots. In general, frequency of AM colonization was high and similar to those reported for other tropical ecosystems, whereas the intensity of AM colonization was low and similar to values obtained in analogous studies in disturbed ecosystems.

Spectroelectrochemical and HPLC characterization of the electrochemical oxidation in aqueous medium of a series of six N‐1 and C‐4 substituted 1,4‐dihydropyridines is presented. Based on the analysis of spectra obtained by in situ spectroscopic measurements it was possible to detect the generation of final oxidation products, which resulted in differences depending of the nature of the substitution on the nitrogen in the dihydropyridine ring. Controlled potential electrolysis (CPE) in aqueous medium was followed by the HPLC technique using EC and PDA detectors. This latter resulted adequately to follow the parent 1,4‐DHP derivatives and their respective oxidation products. Electrochemical oxidation of parent N‐H substituted 1,4‐dihydropyridines generated the corresponding neutral pyridine derivative as final oxidation product. However, the N‐ethyl substituted 1,4‐dihydropyridine derivatives gave rise to the pyridinium salt derivatives.

Spectroelectrochemical and HPLC characterization of the electrochemical oxidation in aqueous medium of a series of six N-1 and C-4 substituted 1,4-dihydropyridines is presented. Based on the analysis of spectra obtained by in situ spectroscopic measurements it was possible to detect the generation of final oxidation products, which resulted in differences depending of the nature of the substitution on the nitrogen in the dihydropyridine ring. Controlled potential electrolysis (CPE) in aqueous medium was followed by the HPLC technique using EC and PDA detectors. This latter resulted adequately to follow the parent 1,4-DHP derivatives and their respective oxidation products. Electrochemical oxidation of parent N-H substituted 1,4-dihydropyridines generated the corresponding neutral pyridine derivative as final oxidation product. However, the N-ethyl substituted 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives gave rise to the pyridinium salt derivatives.

A gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method for the qualitative and quantitative determination of the calcium‐channel antagonists C‐4‐substituted 1,4‐dihydropyridines, and their corresponding N‐ethyl derivatives, is presented. Also, the electrochemical oxidation and the reactivity of the compounds with alkyl radicals derived from 2,2′‐azobis‐(2‐amidinopropane) were monitored by GC/MS. Mass spectral fragmentation patterns for the C‐4‐substituted 1,4‐dihydropy‐ridine parent drugs were significantly different from those of their oxidation products, generated either by electrochemical oxidation or by reaction with alkyl radicals. However, for N‐ethyl‐1,4‐dihydropyridine compounds it was not possible to detect the final products (pyridinium salts) using these experimental conditions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aim of this study was to establish the role of some personality traits, measured by psychological tests, in minors and adolescents experiencing problems in their social integration. We studied 189 subjects (110 male, 79 female) ranging in age from 11 to 18 years. All the subjects were from centers under the administration of the juvenile court of Murcia, Spain. Each subject underwent individual clinical psychological examination as well as psychometric and psychological studies. Our results show a statistically significant association between the scores on some of the tests used and variables related to familial and social maladjustment. These personality traits define a set of individuals with a characteristic profile, for whom unfavorable biographical events have made integration in, and adaptation to, the established social milicu difficult.

Early neurogenesis progresses by an initial massive proliferation of neuroepithelial cells followed by a sequential differentiation of the various mature neural cell types. The regulation of these processes by growth factors is poorly understood. We intend to understand, in a well-defined biological system, the embryonic chicken retina, the role of the insulin-related growth factors in neurogenesis. We demonstrate the local presence of signaling elements together with a biological response to the factors. Neuroretina at days 6-8 of embryonic development (E6-E8) expressed proinsulin/insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) mRNAs as well as insulin receptor and IGF type I receptor mRNAs. In parallel with this in vivo gene expression, E5 cultured neuroretinas synthesized and released to the medium a metabolically radiolabeled immunoprecipitable insulin-related peptide. Furthermore, insulin-related immunoreactive material with a HPLC mobility close to that of proinsulin was found in the E6-E8 vitreous humor. Exogenous chicken IGF-I, human insulin, and human proinsulin added to E6 cultured neuroretinas showed relatively close potencies stimulating proliferation, as determined by [methyl-3H]thymidine incorporation, with a plateau reached at 10(-8) M. These factors also stimulated neuronal differentiation, indicated by the expression of the neuron-specific antigen G4. Thus, insulin-related growth factors, interestingly including proinsulin, are present in the developing chicken retina and appear to play an autocrine/paracrine stimulatory role in the progression of neurogenesis.

The peptidyl-prolyl isomerase FKBP12 was originally identified as the intracellular receptor for the immunosuppressive drugs FK506 (tacrolimus) and rapamycin (sirolimus). Although peptidyl-prolyl isomerases have been implicated in catalyzing protein folding, the cellular functions of FKBP12 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other organisms are largely unknown. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we identified aspartokinase, an enzyme that catalyzes an intermediate step in threonine and methionine biosynthesis, as an in vivo binding target of FKBP12. Aspartokinase also binds FKBP12 in vitro, and drugs that bind the FKBP12 active site, or mutations in FKBP12 surface and active site residues, disrupt the FKBP12-aspartokinase complex in vivo and in vitro.fpr1 mutants lacking FKBP12 are viable, are not threonine or methionine auxotrophs, and express wild-type levels of aspartokinase protein and activity; thus, FKBP12 is not essential for aspartokinase activity. The activity of aspartokinase is regulated by feedback inhibition by product, and genetic analyses reveal that FKBP12 is important for this feedback inhibition, possibly by catalyzing aspartokinase conformational changes in response to product binding.

The insulin proreceptor is cleaved by limited proteolysis post-translationally at an Arg-Lys-Arg-Arg site to generate its mature alpha- and beta-subunit form. An 35S-labelled insulin proreceptor substrate preparation and a 15-mer peptide substrate that mimics the amino acid sequence around and including the insulin proreceptor processing site (IRP-peptide) has revealed an endopeptidase activity that catalyses insulin proreceptor cleavage in a rat liver subcellular fraction. Under optimal conditions, normal 35S-labelled insulin proreceptor substrate processing by this fraction was quantitative. This fraction was not able to process an 35S-labelled insulin proreceptor variant substrate (where the Arg-1 of the tetrabasic cleavage site had been replaced by Ala-1), similarly to previous in vivo observations, suggesting that this endopeptidase activity has physiological relevance. Biochemical characterization of the insulin proreceptor/IRP-peptide processing revealed this rat liver endopeptidase activity to have a broad pH range (> 70% maximal activity between pH 5.5 and 10.0) and a pH optimum of pH 8-10. It was Ca(2+)-dependent activity, maximally active between 0.5 and 5 mM Ca2+ and half-maximally activated between 50 and 90 microM Ca2+. Endoproteolytic activity was not inhibited by group-specific inhibitors of serine-, cysteinyl or aspartyl proteinases or by 1,10-phenanthroline; however, EDTA and 1,2-cyclohexanediaminetetraacetic acid did inhibit the activity, but this was accounted for by Ca2+ chelation. The IRP-peptide substrate assay enabled measurement of an apparent Km of 22 microM and a Vmax of 18.6 pmol/min for this endopeptidase activity. These biochemical characteristics suggest that insulin proreceptor processing endopeptidase activity to be a legitimate member of the Kex2-related proprotein convertase family. Immunoblotting detected furin and PACE4 proteins (both members of this family) to be present in the rat liver subcellular fraction containing insulin proreceptor processing activity. Since the biochemical characteristics of the insulin proreceptor processing endopeptidase activity mostly resembled those of furin activity, it is likely that insulin proreceptor proteolytic maturation can be catalysed by furin in the liver.

The family is one of the major socialization agencies for children. Parents are one of the most important models from whom the child and adolescent acquire a wide variety of behavior patterns, attitudes, values, and norms. The aim of this study was to determine the importance of factors related to family conflicts in the genesis of social maladjustment. A total of 189 young people (110 boys and 79 girls) from training schools connected with the juvenile court in Murcia (Spain) were studied. The subjects' ages ranged from 11 to 18 years (mean 13.51, SD 0.16). Our sample comprised a group of minors who experienced a high incidence of intrafamilial pathology, which was found to be a significant discriminant factor. Aggressive behavior, rules, norms, values, opinions, and attitudes toward aggressivity can be learned in the family setting.