Abstract: The present invention involves the production of large quantities of human .alpha.-Gal A by cloning and expressing the .alpha.-Gal A coding sequence in eukaryotic host cell expression systems. The eukaryotic expression systems, and in particular the mammalian host cell expression system described herein provide for the appropriate cotranslational and posttranslational modifications required for proper processing, e.g., glycosylation, phosphorylation, etc. and sorting of the expression product so that an active enzyme is produced. In addition, the expression of fusion proteins which simplify purification is described.Using the methods described herein, the recombinant .alpha.-Gal A is secreted by the engineered host cells so that it is recovered from the culture medium in good yield. The .alpha.-Gal A produced in accordance with the invention may be used, but is not limited to, in the treatment in Fabry Disease; for the hydrolysis of .alpha.

Abstract: The present invention provides novel peptidylaldehyde inhibitors of proteolysis mediated by the multicatalytic proteinase complex (MPC) or proteasome. The inhibitors have the general formulaZ-P.sub.4 -P.sub.3 -P.sub.2 -P.sub.1 -CHO (I)whereinP.sub.1 is selected from among branched chain amino acids occurring naturally in proteins and norleucine;P.sub.2 is selected from among non-polar L-amino acids;P.sub.3 is proline or hydroxyproline;P.sub.4 is selected from among non-polar L-amino acids;CHO is an aldehyde replacement for the COOH group on the P.sub.1 amino acid; andZ is an amino blocking group attached to the NH.sub.2 group on the P.sub.4 amino acid.The amino blocking group Z may be chosen from among benzyloxycarbonyl, benzoylglycine, tertiary butoxycarbonyl, acetylbenzyloxycarbonyl, benzoylglycine, tertiary butoxycarbonyl, acetyl or other NH.sub.2 blocking groups known in protein and peptide chemistry.

Abstract: The neuropsychiatric symptom of bradyphrenia in a Parkinson's Disease patient may be ameliorated by treating the patient with a histamine H.sub.2 -antagonist that passes the blood brain barrier. Suitable H.sub.2 -antagonists include famotidine and ranitidine. The H.sub.2 -antagonists may be co-administered with other compounds such as histamine H.sub.1 -antagonists which are known to be useful in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, and can be formulated with such other compounds into a therapeutic composition.

Abstract: In accordance with the invention, there is disclosed a pillow for holding d restraining a patient's head and arms during tomographic imaging, said pillow comprising a bottom panel, two side panels, and a back panel, each of said side panels having a front-facing surface which is rearwardly and upwardly inclined from the bottom thereby providing, when a patient's head is placed within the pillow, a surface against which each of the patient's upper arms may rest, each said inclined surface further having an adjustable strap for restraining the upper arm against the inclined surface, said pillow further comprising a pair of adjustable straps on the back panel for engaging and restraining the patient's wrist or for grasping by the patient. The pillow also optionally comprises extra straps on the side for restraining or grasping, and straps on the bottom for attaching the pillow to a imaging table or the like.

Abstract: High efficiency in vitro fertilization is achieved when the oocytes to be fertilized are placed in individual, low volume oocyte chambers disposed about the periphery of a microdrop of fertilization medium. A sperm sample, particularly an unfractionated sperm sample, is then placed in the center of the microdrop. Motile sperm tend to move rapidly toward the periphery of the microdrop, thus resulting in an in situ separation of motile from non-motile sperm. Once at the periphery, fertilization by sperm that enter the oocyte chambers is quite facile because of the low volume of the chamber. This method of fertilization can be performed in a culture dish having a plurality of oocyte chambers formed on the interior surface of the base portion of the dish. Each oocyte chamber has a volume which exceeds the volume of an oocyte to be fertilized but is small enough to provide for facile fertilization. In general, the oocyte chamber will have a volume which exceeds the volume of the oocyte by from 800% to 2000%.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods of treating movement disorders which comprise administering famotidine or a related compound to a subject in need of such treatment, wherein the motor disorder is selected from the group consisting of olivo-ponto-cerebellar atrophy, multi-system atrophy, Shy-Drager syndrome, kernicterus, Leigh's disease, cerebellar ataxias, neonatal hypoxemia syndromes, carbon monoxide poisoning, progressive supranuclear palsy, tardive dystonias, oculogyral crises, manganese poisoning, Wilson's Disease, Huntington's Disease, striatonigral degeneration, ingestion by the subject of phenothiazines, butyrophenones or reserpine, Alzheimer's Disease, normal pressure hydrocephalus, obstructive hydrocephalus, physiologic tremor, benign familial tremor, cerebellar tremor, rubral tremor, toxic tremor, metabolic tremor, senile tremor, chorea, ballism, athetosis, dystonia, tics, tardive dyskinesia, paroxysmal choreoathetosis, tonic spasm, akathisia, muscle rigidity, postural instability, bradykine

Abstract: The present invention involves the production of human .alpha.-GalNAc by cloning and expressing the .alpha.-GalNAc coding sequence in eukaryotic host cell expressions systems. The eukaryotic expression systems, and in particular the mammalian host cell expression systems described herein provide for the appropriate co-translational and post-translation modifications required or proper processing, e.g., glycosylation, phosphorylation, etc. and sorting of the expression product so that an active enzyme is produced.The .alpha.-GalNAc produced in accordance with the invention may be used in the treatment of Schindler disease or for the hydrolysis of .alpha.-N-acetylgalactosaminyl moieties in various glycoconjugates.

Abstract: A composition is disclosed for transferring and adhering tape-mounted hisogical sections, to specimen mounting surfaces, usually glass microscope slides to expedite and simplify the safe removal of the mounting tape and the subsequent processing of the slide-mounted section. The composition is a curable polymeric mixture which has high tack prior to curing, is substantially non-diffusable and non-flowable into tissue sections and, after curing, has a refractive index substantially similar to that of the specimen section and is non-labile to conventional histological solvents and stains. A preferred composition comprises diacrylate-terminated polyurethane, a diacrylate ester of an epoxy resin and a diethoxyacetophenone initiator. It is usually formed onto the mounting surface as a solution in a conventional organic solvent, such as isopropanol or toluene.

Abstract: A reagent composition which includes organic cationic dyes for staining the reticulocytes in a blood sample and buffer solutions for maintaining a pH of about 6 to about 9 is provided. The dyes may be the blue absorption dyes Oxazine 750 or New Methylene Blue. A zwitterionic surfactant is included in the reagent composition for isovolumetric sphering of the reticulocytes and erythrocytes. The reagent composition and whole blood sample mixture are passed through the sensing region of a flow cytometer. The light scattered and absorbed by each cell is measured; the erythrocytes can be distinguished from reticulocytes and the volume, hemoglobin concentration and the hemoglobin content of each reticulocyte or erythrocyte, and the mean cell volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and mean cell hemoglobin of the reticulocytes or erythrocytes are calculated from the measured cell-by-cell volume and hemoglobin concentration.

Abstract: A reagent composition which include an organic cationic dye for staining the reticulocytes in the blood sample and a buffer solution for maintaining a pH of about 6 to about 9 is provided. The dyes may be the red excitable fluorescent dye Oxazine 750, or the blue excitable fluorescent dyes Acridine Orange or derivatives of Acridine Orange. A zwitterionic surfactant is included in the reagent composition for isovolumetric sphering of the reticulocytes and erythrocytes.

Abstract: The present invention involves the production of large quantities of human .alpha.-Gal A by cloning and expressing the .alpha.-Gal A coding sequence in eukaryotic host cell expression systems. The eukaryotic expression systems, and in particular the mammalian host cell expression system described herein provide for the appropriate cotranslational and posttranslational modifications required for proper processing, e.g., glycosylation, phosphorylation, etc. and sorting of the expression product so that an active enzyme is produced. In addition, the expression of fusion proteins which simplify purification is described.Using the methods described herein, the recombinant .alpha.-Gal A is secreted by the engineered host cells so that it is recovered from the culture medium in good yield. The .alpha.-Gal A produced in accordance with the invention may be used, but is not limited to, in the treatment in Fabry Disease; for the hydrolysis of .alpha.

Abstract: The present invention involves the production of human .alpha.-GalNAc by cloning and expressing the .alpha.-GalNAc coding sequence in eukaryotic host cell expressions systems. The eukaryotic expression systems, and in particular the mammalian host cell expression systems described herein provide for the appropriate co-translational and post-translation modifications required or proper processing, e.g., glycosylation, phosphorylation, etc. and sorting of the expression product so that an active enzyme is produced.The .alpha.-GalNAc produced in accordance with the invention may be used in the treatment of Schindler disease or for the hydrolysis of .alpha.-N-acetylgalactosaminyl moieties in various glycoconjugates.

Abstract: Methods for characterizing and distinguishing reticulocytes and mature red blood cells use reagent compositions which include an organic cationic dye for staining the reticulocytes in the blood sample and a buffer solution for maintaining a pH of about 6 to about 9. The dyes may be the red excitable fluorescent dye Oxazine 750, or the blue excitable fluorescent dyes Acridine Orange or derivatives of Acridine Orange.

Abstract: Neuropsychiatric symptoms of Parkinson's Disease and particularly the symptoms of apathy-amotivation and mental slowing can be ameliorated by treating a patient suffering from Parkinson's Disease with a histamine H.sub.2 -antagonist that passes the blood brain barrier. Suitable H.sub.2 -antagonists include famotidine and ranitidine. The H.sub.2 -antagonists may be co-administered with other compounds such as histamine H,-antagonists which are known to be useful in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, and can be formulated with such other compounds into a therapeutic composition.

Abstract: Methods for characterizing and distinguishing reticulocytes and mature red blood cells use reagent compositions which include organic cationic dyes for staining the reticulocytes in the blood sample and buffer solutions for maintaining a pH of about 6 to about 9. The dyes may be the blue absorption dyes Oxazine 750 or New Methylene Blue.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the cloning and expression of a sodium ion binding protein. In particular, the invention relates to cloning and expression of a nhaS gene. The nhaS gene product, NhaS, is a protein characterized by binding to and sequestering sodium ion (Na.sup.+). The invention further relates to functional fragments of a sodium ion binding protein, which fragments are characterized by their ability to bind to sodium ion. In a specific embodiment, the fragment is a fragment of NhaS. The gene encoding the sodium binding protein can be introduced into cells to produce desalination bioreactors. The gene encoding the sodium binding protein can also be introduced into plants as a transgene to produce plants that are resistant to sodium. The sodium binding protein itself may be used for treatments involving Na.sup.+ /K.sup.+ ATPase disorders, e.g., in heart disease; the protein also may be introduced parenterally, preferably orally, to bind to and sequester dietary sodium.

Abstract: The present invention disclose a tool in the form of an array processor, or, in the alternative, a method, wherein, multi-pixel images containing digitized information can be deconvolved in conjunction with other information to extract information contained in multiple time related images or similar time sequential data.

Abstract: New insulin analogues have now been synthesized and found to be hepatospecific. These insulin analogues contain substitutions for oneThis invention was made with government support under grant #DK-12925 awarded by the National Institutes of Health. The government has certain rights in the invention.

Abstract: Persons suffering from negative symptoms of schizophrenia can be successfully treated using a histamine H.sub.2 -antagonist which crosses the blood-brain barrier so as to interact with histamine-H.sub.2 receptors in the brain. A preferred H.sub.2 -antagonist is famotidine. The H.sub.2 -antagonist may be used alone in patients who are relatively free of positive symptoms or it may be used in combination with known neuroleptics. A pharmaceutical composition containing both an H.sub.2 -antagonist and a neuroleptic is part of the present invention.

Abstract: Polyethylene glycol serum immunoglobulin conjugates exhibit substantial rstance to degradation by intestinal enzyme while retaining their immuno-activity. Thus, PEG-IgG or PEG-IgA conjugates can be used as orally administered therapeutics to treat patients with gastrointestinal immunodeficiency to reconstitute secretory immunity. Preferred conjugates are made by reacting activated PEG and IgG in ratios of from 1:5 to 1:1000 such that less than about 27% of the IgG lysine residues are bonded to the PEG. The conjugates are advantageously formulated into a pharmaceutical composition comprising the conjugate and a pharmaceutically acceptable oral carrier. Particularly for administration to infants, a preferred oral carrier is milk.