Carnosine in health and disease

Abstract

Carnosine was originally discovered in skeletal muscle, where it exists in larger amounts than in other tissues. The majority of research into the physiological roles of carnosine have been conducted on skeletal muscle. Given this and the potential for muscle carnosine content to be increased with supplementation, there is now a large body of research examining the ergogenic effects (or otherwise) of carnosine. More recent research, however, points towards a potential for carnosine to exert a wider range of physiological effects in other tissues, including the brain, heart, pancreas, kidney and cancer cells. Taken together, this is suggestive of a potential for carnosine to have therapeutic benefits in health and disease, although this is by no means without complication. Herein, we will provide a review of the current literature relating to the potential therapeutic effects of carnosine in health and disease.     

活血皇浆对田径运动员血液动力流变学和血液有形成分参数的影响

根据中医内科辩证和因时制宜原则 ,对校田径代表队在夏季比赛期间服用活血皇浆前后进行血液动力流变学和血液有形成分参数的比较观察结果表明 ,运动员服液后在脉率 (PR)、每搏量 (SV)、心输出量 (CO)、左心有效泵力 (VPE)和左心能量有效利用率 (EWK )改善的同时 ,出现心肌耗氧量 (HOV)、心肌耗氧指数 (HOI)、心肌血液需要量 (CMBN)、心肌血液灌注量(CMBV)和总周阻 (TPR)、标准周阻 (SPR)、收缩压 (SP)舒张压 (DP)等参数下降 ,呈现机能和能量节省化 ,而血液状态则表现为血容量 (BV)增多 ,全血粘度 (η)和还原血粘度 (ηr)下降 ,切变应力增高 ,血流速度加快 ,有利于维持微循环正常功能。血液有形成分的改变提示 ,血红蛋白 (Hb)红细胞比积 (HCT)和血小板 (PL T)有增高趋势 ;平均红细胞血红蛋白浓度 (MCHC)下降 ,则有可能与 BV相对增多 ,红细胞 (RBC)体积增大有关     

Book reviews

Association of Research Libraries     

The inadvertent creation of a neocolonial culture: A study of western sojourners in India

Field work and structured interviews with 139 foreign sojourners in India were analyzed to describe the socialization of aliens into their role. Attitude scales measuring favorability toward the host country and people were also examined in relation to the respondent's occupational status and elapsed time in India. The results from the field work and interviews suggest that the privileges and high status accorded many Western visitors may contribute to the visitors' derogation of their hosts, a process which is often subtle but unmistakable. The visitors appear to become socialized into the world of aliens rather than the world of their hosts. The higher the visitor's status and the longer the elapsed time in India, the more pronounced these patterns appear. While the correlational nature of the study makes it impossible to determine whether persons with initially unfavorable attitudes are selected into the high status positions or whether the positions themselves create such attitudes, it appears reasonable to conclude that there would be less derogation and alienation if the lures of status and money were removed; persons would be neither selected nor influenced by such factors.     

Another Look at What Moves Public Opinion: Media Agenda Setting and Polls in the 2000 U.S. Election

This study examined two levels of media agenda effects on aggregatepublic opinion from different news sources. The effects wereinvestigated immediately and cumulatively. Content analysisdata from the 2000 U.S. presidential election coverage by fournational news organizations were related to the Gallup pre-electionpoll standings of each candidate. Regression analyses foundthat both the salience of a candidate and the salience of theattributes of a candidate cumulatively, but not immediately,influenced his standing in the polls. An analysis of news sourcessupported the finding that the two levels of agenda-settingeffects seemed mostly cumulative rather than immediate. Newsfrom different sources, however, tended to have effects of differentdegrees and sometimes different directions on candidate pollstandings. Cumulative effects of candidate salience on aggregateopinion change were found for non-partisan and neutral newssources—reporters, poll reporting and public documents—whereasthe effects of candidate attribute salience mostly came frompartisan sources—the candidate himself and members ofthe competing political party. Possible political implicationsof these findings are discussed.     

Supportive communication from bystanders of cyberbullying: indirect effects and interactions between source and message characteristics

Cyberbullying is an increasingly common experience that produces psychosocial consequences for targets. Interventions encouraging bystanders to support targets of cyberbullying are limited by a lack of focus on what to communicate. This study considers supportive messages that emphasize emotional comfort, attributions of responsibility, and beliefs that people can change as relevant to this context, and it examines how perceptions of messages differ based on whether support providers have or lack experience with cyberbullying. We extend research on the indirect effects model of supportive communication by randomly assigning participants (N?=?304), who self-identify as targets of cyberbullying, to message and source conditions and assessing their perceptions of messages, providers, and outcomes. Impressions of messages mediate their influence on outcomes, and the experiential similarity of support providers moderates these effects. Certain messages, notably those contending that bullies can change, are less effective when delivered by sources who lack experience with bullying.