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Background and Aims The ageing process, in wooden barrels, is used to improve the sensory quality of wines and distillates. This process, however, is costly, often leading to an alternative strategy of using wood fragments. The main aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of size, toast level and origin of the oak fragments on the composition of grape marc distillates. Methods and Results The accelerated ageing process of grape marc distillate was optimised with a Box-Benhken experimental design. Five dependent variables were evaluated: the concentration of vanillin, whiskey lactone and phenolic substances, the antioxidant activity and the colour parameters to determine the influence of the independent variables: concentration of oak fragments, proportion of ethanol in Galician grape marc distillate (Orujo) and the time of maceration. The concentration of oak fragments was the variable with the greatest effect on the dependent variables evaluated, except for whiskey lactone. The optimal conditions obtained were applied in 11 experimental accelerated ageing processes to study the influence of size, toast level and origin of the oak fragments on the parameters previously mentioned. Conclusions The best results were obtained with the smaller fragment size (granular) from Quercus petraea with medium toast level. The contact time did not significantly influence the parameters evaluated. Significance of the Study This study, performed at a micro-scale, determined the optimum conditions for greater extraction of compounds from oak with beneficial characteristics: volatile compounds with positive notes, vanillin and whiskey lactone, and the phenolic substances with antioxidant properties. This option allows producers to reduce considerably the cost of the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ankylosing spondylitis ( AS) is very often associated with human leukocyte antigen ( HLA), particularly HLA-B*27. However, the strength of this association and clinical features may vary in different ethnic groups. Our study aims to assess the distribution of HLA-A, -B, -Cw and DRB1 alleles in Moroccan patients with AS and to compare the clinical features of AS and the frequencies of HLA-B27 in patients from Morocco with other series. Seventy-five patients diagnosed with AS and assessed for clinical manifestations were selected and compared to 100 healthy controls. HLA class I and II antigens were typed by polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific oligonucleotide. HLA-B27 subtypes were studied by polymerase chain reaction amplification with sequence-specific primers. HLA-B27 was found in 64% of patients. It was positively associated with younger age at disease onset, family history, and uveitis while it had a negative association with late onset. Six B*27 subtypes were identified in the AS group. HLA-B*2705 and B*2702 were the most common observed subtypes. Among other HLA genes, a significant increase in the prevalence of HLA-Cw*02 and HLA-DRB*15 was found in AS patients. HLA-B27 is involved in the predisposition of AS in the Moroccan population. HLA-B*2705 and B*2702 were the predominant subtypes supporting previous reports in Caucasian spondyloarthropathies. Other HLA genes, HLA-Cw*02 and HLA-DRB1*15, seem to confer predisposing effect to the disease. However, the lower frequency of HLA- B27 compared to the literature in our study suggests the existence of different genetic and/or environmental factors in Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of cellular redox status in both cytotoxic activity and NF-κ B activation in natural killer (NK) cells was investigated. The results indicate that stimulation of NK cells, either freshly isolated from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) or long-term cultured NK clones, with specific cell targets results in an increased binding activity of NF-κB and AP-1 transcription factors measured by gel retardation. Pretreatment of NK cells with the antioxidant pyrrolidine dithiocarbarmate (PDTC) leads to the inhibition of NF-κB activation but the AP-1 binding to DNA was superinduced. The inhibition of NF-κB by PDTC paralleled with an inhibition of spontaneous cytotoxicity mediated by NK cells. Moreover, the inhibitors of serine proteases, N-α-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone and N-α-tosyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone, also blocked the eytolytic activity of NK cells against the sensitive target K562. In contrast, NK activity was not affected by pretreatment of the effector cells with the proteasome inhibitor N-acetyl-leu-leu-norleucinal which selectively inhibits NF-κB activation, Altogether, these results support the hypothesis that the activation of NK cells involved transcriptional and post-transcriptional events, and that reactive intermediates may play an important role in the molecular processes related with the generation of a cytotoxic response by NK cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) form a group of regulatory molecules that specifically recognize HLA class I molecules. The aim of this study was to analyze the possible contribution of the KIR3DL1 and KIR3DS1 alleles, in addition to HLA-B27, in the susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in a population of individuals from Spain., Methods: We genotyped the KIR3DS1 and KIR3DL1 alleles in 2 cohorts of patients with AS and healthy control subjects. In total, 270 patients with AS and 435 healthy, HLA-B27-positive matched control subjects from Spain were enrolled. The KIR3DS1 and KIR3DL1 alleles were genotyped by sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe-polymerase chain reaction, and their association with AS was analyzed. All individuals were typed for HLA-B., Results: The KIR3DS1*013 allele was solely responsible for the increased frequency of the activator receptor KIR3DS1 in patients with AS compared with healthy HLA-B27-positive control subjects (35.7% versus 22.6% [P = 10(-6)], odds ratio 1.90, 95% confidence interval 1.50-2.40). The increased frequency of the KIR3DS1*013 allele in patients with AS was independent of the presence or absence of the HLA-Bw4I80 epitope. Moreover, the null allele KIR3DL1*004 was a unique inhibitory KIR3DL1 allele that showed a negative association with AS in the presence of HLA-Bw4I80., Conclusion: The increased frequency of the KIR3DS1*013 allele in patients with AS is clearly independent of the presence of the HLA-Bw4I80 epitope, whereas the presence of inhibitory allotypes such as KIR3DL1*004 demonstrated a negative association in patients with AS in the presence of HLA-Bw4I80. As a consequence, the influence of KIR genotypes on AS susceptibility would be mediated by a general imbalance between protective/inhibitory and risk/activating allotypes.

The article describes the method and results of and experimental study of communication disturbances in parents of schizophrenics. A non-structured interview was carried out with parents of mentally retarded patients as a control group. Communication disturbances were analysed by means of a manual with operational descriptions of communication disorders. The results showed more disturbances in parents of schizophrenic parents. Within the group of parents of schizophrenics, those with schizophrenia in remission after an active phase of the illness showed more disturbances than parents of chronic schizophrenics. These data, obtained at one point in time after the illness has developed, are consistent with, but cannot confirm the hypothesis that interactional factors may contribute to the pathogenesis of an acute, florid form of schizophrenia.