HUTECH

A series of seven studies was conducted by the authors and their colleagues to produce an efficient measure of service satisfaction that can easily be related to symptom level, demographic characteristics, and type and extent of service utilization. The resulting measure, the Service Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ) is a brief, global index that has excellent internal consistency and solid psychometric properties. Data from an extensive SEQ field study can be used as a comparison base for future applications of the two SEQ component scales, the CSQ-8 and the SCL-10. A new hypothesis has emerged from this series of studies that will guide future research: Service recipients may find if difficult to formally express dissatisfaction in the face of significant caring--however ineffectual--when the technical capacity to offer definitive treatment is not yet fully developed and when criteria for evaluating the efficacy of treatment are not yet crystal clear.

Abstract: The apelin peptide was recently discovered and demonstrated to be the endogenous ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor, APJ. A search of the GenBank databases retrieved a rat expressed sequence tag partially encoding the preproapelin sequence. The GenBank search also revealed a human sequence on chromosome Xq25-26.1, containing the gene encoding preproapelin. We have used the rat sequence to screen a rat brain cDNA library to obtain a cDNA encoding the full-length open reading frame of rat preproapelin. This cDNA encoded a protein of 77 amino acids, sharing an identity of 82% with human preproapelin. Northern and in situ hybridization analyses revealed both human and rat apelin and APJ to be expressed in the brain and periphery. Both sequence and mRNA expression distribution analyses revealed similarities between apelin and angiotensin II, suggesting they that share related physiological roles. A synthetic apelin peptide was injected intravenously into male Wistar rats, resulting in immediate lowering of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which persisted for several minutes. Intraperitoneal apelin injections induced an increase in drinking behavior within the first 30 min after injection, with a return to baseline within 1 h.

Abstract: We report the isolation and characterization of a rat cDNA clone encoding a μ-opioid receptor. This receptor, a 398 amino acid protein, shares 59% overall identity with the mouse Δ-and K-opioid receptors. Transient expression of the receptor in COS cells revealed high-affinity binding of μ-selective opioid antagonists and agonists, with a KD for naloxone ∼1.5 nM, and for [D-Ala2, N-Me-Phe4, Gly5-ol]-enkephalin (DAMGO) and morphine at the high-affinity site of 2–4 nM, confirming a μ-opioid pharmacological profile. Northern blotting and in situ hybridization histoohemistry revealed that the μ-opioid receptor mRNA was expressed in many brain regions, including cerebral cortex, caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle, septal nuclei, thalamus, hippocampus, and medial habenular nucleus, in keeping with the known distribution of the μ-opioid receptor.

Thirteen polymorphic microsatellite loci from topmouth culter (Culter alburnus) were isolated using the fast isolation by AFLP of sequences containing repeats (FIASCO) protocol. These loci were characterized by genotyping 40 individuals. The observed number of alleles ranged from 7 to 15 with an average of 10.7 of each loci. The expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.7047 to 0.9193 and from 0.4500 to 0.8250, respectively. Among these polymorphic microsatellite loci, three of the loci (TC04, TC07 and TC12) significantly deviated from (P