Column leach test has been performed to examine the behavior of leaching of sodium, calcium and potassium in landfills. In the column leach apparatus, two different layers of contaminated and uncontaminated soils of different height ratios (ratio of depth of contaminated soil to the depth of uncontaminated soil) are taken. Water is poured from an overhead tank at a particular flowrate to the in...

Mitochondrial Ca(2+) efflux is linked to numerous cellular activities and pathophysiological processes. Although it is established that an Na(+)-dependent mechanism mediates mitochondrial Ca(2+) efflux, the molecular identity of this transporter has remained elusive. Here we show that the Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger NCLX is enriched in mitochondria, where it is localized to the cristae. Employing Ca...

Using highly purified sarcolemmal vesicles isolated from dog ventricles, we examined the effects of pH on Na-Ca exchange. The initial rate of Nai-dependent Ca uptake is a sigmoid function of pH. The Ca uptake is inhibited at pH 6 and stimulated at pH 9 (as compared with uptake at pH 7.4). This dependence on pH suggests that the ionization state of a histidine residue may be important in Na-Ca e...

Small changes of Na/K pump activity regulate internal Ca release in cardiac myocytes via Na/Ca exchange. We now show conversely that transient elevations of cytoplasmic Ca strongly regulate cardiac Na/K pumps. When cytoplasmic Na is submaximal, Na/K pump currents decay rapidly during extracellular K application and multiple results suggest that an inactivation mechanism is involved. Brief activ...

The origin and regulatory mechanisms of tonic tension (Ca current-independent component of contractility) were investigated in frog atrial muscle under voltage-clamp conditions. Tonic tension was elicited by depolarizing pulses of 160 mV (Em = +90 mV, i.e., close to E ca) and 400--600 ms long. An application of Na-free (LiCl) or Ca-free Ringer's solutions resulted in a fast (less than 120 s), a...

Verapamil (10(-6) M) significantly reduced a development of the membrane depolarization and the contracture which were induced by Na removal. The fully developed depolarization, after exposure to Na-free solution, was reduced greatly by verapamil, excess Ca (15 mM) or sodium nitroprusside (10(-6) M), but some depolarization still remained. This remaining depolarization was completely blocked by...

OBJECTIVE The main purpose of this study is to emphasize the relevance of exfoliative cytology as an additional tool to aid in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. MATERIALS & METHODS This is a comparative cross-sectional study. Oral smears were obtained from 10 diabetic patients and 10 healthy individuals. These smears were stained with Papanicolaou stain. The nuclear (NA) and cytoplasmic (CA...

Although inhibition of the sarcolemmal (SL) Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase is known to cause an increase in the intracellular concentration of Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](i)) by stimulating the SL Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX), the involvement of other SL sites in inducing this increase in [Ca(2+)](i) is not fully understood. Isolated rat cardiomyocytes were treated with or without different agents that modify Ca(2+) m...

The relative contribution of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), the L-type Ca(2+) channel and the Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger (NCX) were assessed in turtle ventricular myocytes using epifluorescent microscopy and electrophysiology. Confocal microscopy images of turtle myocytes revealed spindle-shaped cells, which lacked T-tubules and had a large surface area-to-volume ratio. Myocytes loaded with the f...