Pulmonary inflammatory and hematologic responses of canines were studied after exposure to concentrated ambient particles (CAPs) using the Harvard ambient particle concentrator (HAPC). For pulmonary inflammatory studies, normal dogs were exposed in pairs to either CAPs or filtered air (paired studies) for 6 hr/day on 3 consecutive days. For hematologic studies, dogs were exposed for 6 hr/day fo...

CAPS-1 is required for Ca2+-triggered fusion of dense-core vesicles with the plasma membrane, but its site of action and mechanism are unknown. We analyzed the kinetics of Ca2+-triggered exocytosis reconstituted in permeable PC12 cells. CAPS-1 increased the initial rate of Ca2+-triggered vesicle exocytosis by acting at a rate-limiting, Ca2+-dependent prefusion step. CAPS-1 activity depended upo...

Addition of capsaicin (CAPS) to the diet has been shown to increase satiety; therefore, CAPS is of interest for anti-obesity therapy. We investigated the effects of CAPS on appetite profile and ad libitum energy intake in relation to energy balance. Fifteen subjects (seven women and eight men, age: 29.7 ± 10.8yrs, BMI: 23.3 ± 2.9 kg/m(2)) underwent four conditions in a randomized crossover desi...

Ca(2+)-dependent activator protein for secretion (CAPS) is an essential factor for regulated vesicle exocytosis that functions in priming reactions before Ca(2+)-triggered fusion of vesicles with the plasma membrane. However, the precise events that CAPS regulates to promote vesicle fusion are unclear. In the current work, we reconstituted CAPS function in a SNARE-dependent liposome fusion assa...

BACKGROUND Although thrombosis associated with a fissured atherosclerotic plaque is believed to be the most common cause of acute coronary syndromes, the underlying factors that trigger plaque rupture are currently unknown. However, the mechanical behavior of the plaque is probably of critical importance. METHODS AND RESULTS To test the hypothesis that the mechanical properties of a plaque ar...

Nosocomial infections are a great problem in the health care facilities. The white uniforms of nurses are often washed to keep them clean, but the nurse's caps are not washed as frequently in comparison. It could be that the importance of these caps is being overlooked. If these caps are providing a residence for microorganisms causing nosocomial infection in the health care facility, then they...

Effects of perineural capsaicin (CAPS) treatment on compound action potentials of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) afferents were studied in 6 sevoflurane-anesthetized dogs. Perineural CAPS (100 microg/ml) to the bilateral SLNs reduced (P<0.01) the peak and integral amplitudes of the C-wave of the compound action potential. By contrast, the perineural CAPS had no effect on the A-wave componen...

BACKGROUND Addition of capsaicin (CAPS) to the diet has been shown to increase energy expenditure; therefore capsaicin is an interesting target for anti-obesity therapy. AIM We investigated the 24 h effects of CAPS on energy expenditure, substrate oxidation and blood pressure during 25% negative energy balance. METHODS Subjects underwent four 36 h sessions in a respiration chamber for measu...

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a microorganism that frequently causes serious infections in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients. We studied whether the specific intracellular adhesion molecule-grabbing nonintegrin R1 (Sign-R1) receptor, involved in the uptake of capsular polysaccharides (caps-PS) by antigen-presenting cells, is necessary for the antibody response to pneumococcal ...