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Biomedical subjects

A Coenen

Publications and source records attributed to A Coenen.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Degradation of some phenols and hydroxybenzoates by the imperfect ascomycetous yeasts Candida parapsilosis and Arxula adeninivorans: evidence for an operative gentisate pathway.

The imperfect ascomycetous yeasts Candida parapsilosis and Arxula adeninivorans degraded 3-hydroxybenzoic acid via gentisate which was the cleavage substrate. 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid was metabolized via protocatechuate. No cleavage enzyme for the latter was detected. In stead of this NADH- and NADPH-dependent monooxygenases were present. In cells grown at the expense of hydroquinone and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, enzymes of the hydroxyhydroquinone variant of the 3-oxoadipate pathway were demonstrated, which also took part in the degradation of 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid by C. parapsilosis.

Biodegradation, Environmental

Cognition and vigilance: differential effects of diazepam and buspirone on memory and psychomotor performance.

Effects of a single dose of the anxiolytic buspirone (15 mg) on memory and psychomotor performance were studied in healthy volunteers and compared to those of the classic benzodiazepine anxiolytic diazepam (15 mg). The study was performed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled way. Three groups of 12 subjects were exposed to an extended test battery before and after intake of drug or placebo. Next to this, an evaluation session took place 1 week later. Immediately after intake, diazepam exerted major effects on memory, impaired psychomotor performance and decreased alertness. In particular, long-term memory had deteriorated, which was interpreted as anterograde amnesia. One week later, more items were recalled from the predrug session compared to the number of items from the postdrug session; this was interpreted as retrograde facilitation. After intake of buspirone, there were no effects of alertness and vigilance, on psychomotor performance and on memory. One week later, a small memory decrement was noticed for verbal material, which was considered as a sign of anterograde amnesia. These results indicate that effects of anxiolytics on memory can be more easily demonstrated 1 week later than immediately after drug intake and, furthermore, that the disruptive effects of diazepam outweight the small effects of buspirone. Finally, it was established that the effects of diazepam on cognition might be mediated by its effects on alertness and vigilance and that cognitive effects are not related to the anxiolytic properties of the drug.

Adult

Influence of diazepam on prospective time estimation.

24 students, after intake of diazepam or placebo, performed a psychomotor test of finger tapping as a prospective time-estimation task. The task was less overestimated by those who were under the influence of the drug than by the 12 subjects to whom the placebo was given.

Adult

Prospective and retrospective time estimation.

30 students, when performing a task that required listening to 19 sentences for 150 sec., overestimated the duration of the task less in the prospective condition than in the retrospective one (46 sec. vs 85 sec.).

Adult

Genetically epileptic rats show a pronounced intermediate stage of sleep.

Rats of the genetically epileptic WAG/Rij strain show a more long-lasting intermediate stage of sleep compared to rats of the Wistar strain. Therefore the WAG/Rij strain provides a privileged model for studying this stage of sleep. On the other hand, the percentage of paradoxical sleep in WAG/Rij rats is lower than in Wistar rats, for the reason that the intermediate stage in WAG/Rij rats is less frequently followed by paradoxical sleep and more frequently by slow wave sleep and especially by arousals. It is speculated that the epileptic rats encounter a greater difficulty in entering into paradoxical sleep.

Animals