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Biomedical subjects

F Rodriguez

Publications and source records attributed to F Rodriguez.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Corporate interests, philanthropies, and the peace movement.

Corporate and philanthropic involvement in the peace movement is growing. In considering medical peace groups as examples, we have studied the ways that corporate and philanthropic funding have shaped the course of activism. Our methods have included: review of the Foundations Grant Index from 1974-1983; analysis of corporations' and foundations' criteria for grants in the categories of peace, arms control, and disarmament; interviews with leaders of activist organizations and with foundation officials; and our own experiences in the peace movement. Corporate interests in preventing nuclear war stem from a concern for global stability in which world markets may expand, and from a hope to frame issues posed by the peace movement in a way that will not challenge basic structures of power and finance. Several general features make peace groups respectable and attractive to philanthropies; an uncritical stance toward corporate participation in the arms race; a viewpoint that the main danger of nuclear war stems from a profound, bilateral conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union; and a single-issue focus that does not deal with the many related problems reflecting the injustices of capitalism. The two major medical groups working for peace, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), have accomplished many goals; however, their adherence to subtle criteria of respectability and their dependence on philanthropic funding have limited the scope of their activism. The struggle for peace can not succeed without fundamental changes in the corporate system that initiates, maintains, and promotes the arms race.

Financial Management↗
PubMed1985

Antibacterial activity in blood cultures.

A total of 2,010 blood samples inoculated into tryptic soy broth were examined for antibacterial activity by means of a bioassay plate seeded with Bacillus subtilis spores. The size of the zone of inhibition on this plate was indicative of the degree of antibacterial activity. Current antibiotic therapy was confirmed by examination of chart records. Of the 2,010 blood cultures tested, 147 (7.3%) contained detectable levels of antibiotics; of these 147, 14 (9.5%) yielded growth of bacteria, and 133 (90.5%) remained negative. When the Antibiotic Removal Device (Marion Scientific, Div. Marion Laboratories, Inc., Kansas City, Mo.) was used, it eliminated the antibacterial activity but did not improve the recovery of bacteria from these cultures. Only bacteria resistant to the respective antibiotic were recovered from blood cultures that showed high levels of antibacterial activity (beta-lactam antibiotics, greater than 0.60 micrograms/ml; aminoglycosides, greater than 2 micrograms/ml; and tetracycline, greater than 4 micrograms/ml). Blood cultures showing low levels of antibacterial activity yielded both resistant and susceptible bacteria.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1979

Vasopressin release and drinking induced by intracranial injection of angiotensin II in monkey.

The effects of intracerebral injection of angiotensin II (AII) on both water intake and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) release were tested on unanesthetized rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Injection of 10(-10) mol of peptide was administered with a cannula microinjection system stereotaxically implanted into different diencephalic structures. The preoptic area, anterior part of third ventricle, caudate nucleus, and septum appeared to be the injection sites most effective in eliciting both drinking behavior and AVP release when the animal did not have access to water. On the contrary, when water was presented, AVP release was blocked after AII microinjections in the preoptic area and the third ventricle. No drinking was observed after microinjection in the supraopticus nucleus although AVP release was stimulated. These data suggest that AII might be effective in the regulation of water balance by centrally controlling both the input (drinking) and the output (ADH secretion) of water.

Angiotensin II↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The sequence of 8.8 kb of yeast chromosome III cloned in lambda PM3270 contains an unusual long ORF (YCR601).

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of a segment of chromosome III contained in the right part of the lambda PM3270 clone, for a total of 8824 bp. This sequence contains an unusual long open reading frame, YCR601, of 6501 bp that encodes for a protein of 2167 amino acids that show no homology with other known proteins. YCR601 was disrupted by internal deletion and insertion of LEU2 gene and is a non-essential gene, however, it is transcribed during vegetative growth yielding a polyadenylated mRNA of approximately 7 kb.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Osmotic stress mimics effects of vasopressin on learned behaviour.

It has been suggested that arginine vasopressin (AVP) is involved in the retention of learned responses, in addition to its classical physiological functions of water retention and modulation of blood pressure. AVP administered subcutaneously (s.c.), intraventricularly or intracerebrally can prolong extinction of active avoidance behaviour and can enhance retention in inhibitory (passive) avoidance. These effects have been interpreted as a direct action of AVP on the central nervous system to facilitate memory consolidation. AVP also has facilitatory effects on cognitive function in humans, and marked deficits in AVP function have been associated with certain types of psychopathology. Alternative hypotheses for the behavioural actions of AVP have involved motivational constructs such as arousal, and our recent work has focused on the role of arousal resulting from the activation of peripheral visceral signals in the behavioural effects of peripherally administered AVP. The development of a specific antagonist for AVP, 1-deaminopenicillamine-2-O-methyl tyrosine arginine vasopressin (dPTyr(Me)AVP), which can reverse the behavioural effects of exogenously administered AVP, has provided a powerful tool for examining the role of AVP in the behavioural responses produced by physiological challenges known to release vasopressin. However, the relationship between the behavioural effects of exogenously administered AVP and the behavioural function of endogenously released AVP has not been evaluated. We report here that a potent peripheral osmotic stimulus, the intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of hypertonic saline, at doses known to release AVP both centrally and peripherally, will produce behavioural effects similar to those of exogenously administered AVP. Furthermore, the prolongation of active avoidance induced by this osmotic stimulus is reversed by pretreatment with dPTyr(Me)AVP, suggesting that endogenously released AVP may also produce behavioural effects.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Oxytocin induces morphological plasticity in the adult hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system.

The hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system offers a unique example in the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) of a functional and structural plasticity related to a physiological state. During lactation, oxytocin neurones evolve a synchronized electrical activation which permits pulsatile hormone release at milk ejection. At the same time, in the supraoptic (SON) and paraventricular nuclei, glial coverage of neurones diminishes, so that large portions of their surface membrane become directly juxtaposed; synaptic remodelling also associates pairs of neurones through the formation of common presynaptic terminals. These structural changes, reversible after weaning, affect exclusively oxytocinergic neurones and could facilitate their synchronized electrical activity. As several observations suggest that oxytocin itself is released centrally, we have examined the effect of prolonged intracerebroventricular infusions of oxytocin on the structure of the SON of non-lactating animals. We report here that the peptide indeed engenders the structural reorganization characteristic of the oxytocin system when it is physiologically activated. Similar infusion of vasopressin has no effect. Our observations thus demonstrate that a central neuropeptide can induce anatomical changes in the adult CNS, and suggest that oxytocin can regulate its own release by contributing to the dramatic restructuring of the nuclei containing the neurones responsible for its secretion.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Impregnation and liberation of nicotine with hydrogen copolymer discs].

Reticulated copolymers with products N-vinyl-2 pyrrolidone (NVP), hydroxy-2 ethyl (HEMA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were realized in disc form. Nicotine was used as active principle. On these discs the following study was carried out: permeation, percentage of liquid absorbed, texture, as well as nicotine release kinetics. A 2-variable (NVP and HEMA/MMA), 5-level experimental plan has enabled the outlining of the significant differences on the action of these parameters. The release kinetics show particularly that these discs behave as forms of prolonged released and that the released quantities are sufficient to envisage the use of these reticulated copolymers within the framework of a transdermal system.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Application of the Weibull function to the study of in vivo/in vitro correlation].

After transformation of concentration-time curves by integration, the Weibull function is calculated, producing an equation for a derived function representing the plasma (or salivary) kinetics. This model can be employed in the analysis of in vivo/in vitro correlations, since cumulated dissolution percentages can be directly expressed as Weibull functions. A method was developed for prediction of salivary kinetics from in vitro dissolution data and the in vivo kinetics of a solution of the drug. This method was applied to results obtained for slow release formulations of acetaminophen and theophylline administered by the oral route.

Humans↗