United States Department of the Army

About: United States Department of the Army is a government organization based out in Arlington, Virginia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Poison control & Population. The organization has 32668 authors who have published 42453 publications receiving 947075 citations. The organization is also known as: DA & U.S. Department of the Army.

Plasmodium falciparum pigment induces monocytes to release high levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1 beta.

Abstract: We show that high levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) activity were consistently detected when monocytes were cocultured with Plasmodium falciparum schizont stage-parasitized erythrocytes that subsequently ruptured. Isolated pigment recovered from ruptured schizonts was found to specifically induce monocyte release of high levels of TNF-alpha and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta). Particulate free-culture supernatant that contained various soluble parasite macromolecules induced relatively low levels of TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta. When isolated pigment was treated with protease, the monokine inducing-activity was abolished. Isolated pigment prepared from different natural isolates of P. falciparum stimulated variable levels of monokine production. We propose that in vivo, malaria pigment from parasites sequestered in the host microvasculature is a physiologically relevant moiety that interacts with monocytes and stimulates the release of TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta. These observations suggest that malaria pigment may be a virulence factor in the monokine-mediated induction of organ-specific and systemic pathophysiology in falciparum malaria.

Food cravings and energy regulation: the characteristics of craved foods and their relationship with eating behaviors and weight change during 6 months of dietary energy restriction

Abstract: Food cravings and energy regulation: the characteristics of craved foods and their relationship with eating behaviors and weight change during 6 months of dietary energy restriction

Sex differences and blood pressure regulation in humans

Abstract: New Findings What is the topic of this review? Over the past decade, our team has investigated interindividual variability in human blood pressure regulation What advances does it highlight? In men, we have found a tight relationship between indices of sympathetic activity and vascular resistance across the age span This relationship is absent in young women but seen in postmenopausal women These sex and age differences in vascular resistance are largely a result of changes in the balance of vasodilating and vasoconstricting adrenergic receptor tone When these changes are considered along with cardiac output, a coherent picture is beginning to emerge of why blood pressure rises more with age in women than men Arterial pressure is a key regulated variable in the cardiovascular system with important health implications Over the last 12 years, we have used physiological measurements, including muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), to explore the balance among mean arterial blood pressure, cardiac output and total peripheral resistance (TPR) in normotensive humans We have shown that these determinants of blood pressure can vary widely in different subjects and how they vary depends on sex and age In young men, there is a direct relationship between MSNA and TPR but no relationship with blood pressure This is because cardiac output is proportionally lower in those with high MSNA and TPR In contrast, in young women there is no relationship between MSNA and TPR (or cardiac output); this is because β-adrenergic vasodilator mechanisms offset α-adrenergic vasoconstriction Thus, blood pressure is unrelated to MSNA in young women In older women, β-adrenergic vasodilator mechanisms are diminished, and a direct relationship between MSNA and TPR is seen In older men, the relationships among these variables are less clear cut, perhaps owing to age-related alterations in endothelial function With ageing, the relationship between MSNA and blood pressure becomes positive, more so in women than in men The finding that the physiological control of blood pressure is so different in men and women and that it varies with age suggests that future studies of mechanisms of hypertension will reveal corresponding differences among groups

Thermoelectric voltage generator

Abstract: A thermoelectric voltage generator utilizing heat from a vehicle exhaust torovide a differential temperature through a plurality of thermoelectric elements comprised of serially connected alternate N- and P-type semiconductors having alternate electrical contacts between adjacent elements at a hot side and at a cold side to produce electrical energy in accordance with the Seebeck effect and in which the electrical energy is applied to an external device by way of connections at opposite ends of said plurality of thermoelectric elements.