However, this challenge is

However, this challenge is Selleckchem Ku 0059436 often considered a long-term problem, with targets set

out to 2050 and temperature rises discussed at a 2100 timeframe. This should not be the case; temperatures in 2100 correlate with cumulative emissions over the century and hence failing to implement mitigation measures in the short-term makes the challenge harder if not impossible in the long-term. From a shipping perspective, colleagues at the Tyndall Centre and Sustainable Consumption Institute explored the mitigation required by the industry to reduce emissions in line with international climate change obligations [3]. Despite the urgency for rapid decarbonisation, the sector, particularly through the IMO, has known about the need to globally reduce greenhouse gas emissions since the Kyoto

Protocol in 1997. Here, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change tasked the IMO with limiting emissions from marine bunker fuels [4]; however, in over 15 years, little in the way of meaningful progress has come from this. The only CO2 related policies adopted by the IMO to date is a revised MARPOL ANNEX VI to include the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) [5]. This has been criticised by industry, academics and NGOs alike for being a weak measure that will fail to cut CO2 emissions in absolute terms, at least without complimentary and stringent policy instruments. Implementing a fuel switch to reduce SOx emissions could also provide significant opportunity to also reduce CO2 emissions. After all, a fuel switch that provides a reduction in the carbon intensity of Bafilomycin A1 price the fuel, taken over the full life-cycle, is a key mechanism for mitigation, alongside combustion and wider efficiency improvements. However, the real take home message from the SEAaT event was that there is little attention being paid to the co-benefits of tackling CO2 and SOx emissions in tandem. If CO2 is not part of the considerations, the result of meeting current regulation could make controlling future CO2 emissions much more of a challenge. The three main options

to reduce sulphur emissions are: low sulphur distillates, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and, SOx scrubbers. If the sector, or at least those impacted by the ECA, is to switch to low sulphur distillates Monoiodotyrosine then, over the full life-cycle, CO2 emissions will increase [6] largely from a rise in the energy required for additional refining. Whilst a switch to LNG could provide emission savings of 7–15% [6], [7] and [8], depending on the level of methane slippage assumed [9], the absolute growth in trade at ∼4% p.a. would mean that any relative emission savings would be undermined within about four to five years [10]. Finally, the use of scrubbers arguably only promotes business as usual for the industry and provides little incentive to move beyond heavy fuel oil altogether. In addition, scrubbers require additional energy to operate, further increasing CO2.

26 and 27 Therefore, the

26 and 27 Therefore, the LGK-974 price first aim of this cross-sectional study is to verify if there is a tendency

towards an increase in pathogen frequency from peri-implant health to established peri-implant diseases, as previously observed from healthy to diseased periodontal conditions. The second aim of the present study is to test if bacterial frequency is comparative between equivalent periodontal and peri-implant clinical statuses, i.e. healthy peri-implant vs. healthy periodontal sites, mucositis vs. gingivitis and, peri-implantitis vs. periodontitis. This research protocol was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committees from University of Taubaté (2008/0098) and Guarulhos University (09/2005). After verbal and written check details explanations, individuals who agreed to participate signed an informed consent form. Participants received oral hygiene instructions and dental treatment according to their individual needs. This convenience sample population was composed of subjects selected, from January 2006 to June 2010, according

to six specific diagnoses: peri-implant (n = 53 subjects) or periodontal health (n = 53 subjects); peri-implant mucositis (n = 50 subjects) or gingivitis (n = 50 subjects); peri-implantitis (n = 50 subjects) or chronic periodontitis (n = 50 subjects). Eligible subjects were screened from two Clinical Centres, Department of Dentistry of the University of Taubaté and Glutathione peroxidase Department of Periodontics of the University of Guarulhos, according to the following inclusion criteria: male or female; aged between 26 and 52 years; at least fifteen natural teeth; at least one single titanium implant (MKIII, Nobel Biocare) under function for at least one year (for the implant groups). In addition, some exclusion criteria were considered: smoking (current smokers and former smokers); alcohol abuse; diabetes mellitus; immunosuppressive systemic conditions; pregnancy

and lactation; extensive fix or removable orthodontic or prosthetic appliances; local or systemic antibiotic therapy within 6 months prior to biofilm sampling; daily regular use of mouthwash two months prior to the study; any type of periodontal treatment in the past 12 months (for periodontal groups). Clinical parameters were measured by two trained and calibrated examiners at six sites per tooth or implant using a manual periodontal probe (Hu-Friedy PCPUNC 15 Mfg Co. Inc., Chicago IL). After 7 days, periodontal examinations of 10 subjects were repeated showing intra and inter-examiners reproducibility scores higher than 0.85 (Kappa Test) for probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment level (CAL). Intra-class correlation tests showed scores higher than 0.90.

It could be associated with the genotype of these animals Howeve

It could be associated with the genotype of these animals. However, different evidence raise the hypothesis that both pre and postnatal periods are directly related to maternal contact and contribute more significantly to the growth delay in SHR rather than the genetic susceptibility.16, 17 and 18 As previously observed,2, 4, 7, 19, 20, 21 and 22 the mean weight gain

of female SHR during pregnancy and lactation periods, SHR foetal weight, litter size and postpartum development of SHR pups selleck were lower than those observed for normotensive rats. Maternal factors acting in the uterus or through the milk would have major impact on the pre and postnatal development of SHR. These factors seem to be mainly correlated with the nutrition of the foetus or newborn rat.16, 17 and 18 Alterations in the mammary gland activity were also observed in female SHR,23 with production of lower quality and quantity of milk. Clinical and experimental studies associate the reduction of salivary activity with pre or postnatal delayed development, resulted from deficient nutrition or related factors. Undernourished children GSI-IX mw have the stimulated SFR reduced.24 Nineteen-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats treated with a deficient protein diet

had reduced body weight and SFR.25 Deprivation of iron in the diet also decreases the SFR in 21-day-old rats, suggesting that lack of iron in this period of growth and development causes changes in the salivary gland activity.26 As observed in the present study, SHR at the different ages showed reduced salivary parameters when compared with their respective normotensive controls. We observed a significant increase in the SFR of 12-week-old in relation to 4-week-old normotensive rats. This observation is in agreement with other experimental and clinical studies that associated the SFR increase with human and animal development. Clinically, it has been demonstrated that the SFR increases progressively from childhood to adolescence.27 However, this increase was not observed between SHR at different ages. We have previously observed3 that 4-week-old SHR had reduced SFR stimulated by pilocarpine when compared

with Wistar rats AZD9291 concentration of the same age. In the present study, reduced SFR was noted when 12-week-old SHR was compared to Wistar rat at same age. The salivary flow values (per animal weight) were not different between 4 and 12-week-old SHR. Thus, these data suggest that the altered SFR was maintained even with the growth/development of these animals. Other authors28 and 29 also observed reduced SFR after pilocarpine stimulation in 22-week-old SHRs or after isoproterenol stimulation in 16–18-week-old SHR, supposing that the SFR in SHR is reduced, regardless of the type of stimulation (muscarinic or adrenergic). All together, the results demonstrated that the reduced SFR observed in SHR was independent of the age or the rise of arterial blood pressure.

While the precise locus of such an effect is a matter of current

While the precise locus of such an effect is a matter of current debate [30], under this perspective, it seems plausible that specific types of outcome are not represented in OFC to control LEE011 cost choices directly, but instead to facilitate rapid updating of stimulus-based associations

by allowing animals to accurately assign credit to a particular stimulus or choice that produced them. This in turn will enable accurate stimulus-based value estimates to be passed on to structures involved in choosing what option to select. If correct, the next pressing question is to determine what exact computations OFC performs and how the OFC resolves which elements of the world are relevant for learning. Some potential clues PF-01367338 ic50 can be found in the study by Walton and colleagues discussed above [28]. One consequence of the loss in appropriate credit assignment observed in the OFC-lesioned animals was that it unmasked a separate, intact learning mechanism that could approximate stimulus-outcome associations by using recent choice and reward histories. It is important to note that this faculty was not a novel learning strategy acquired after the lesion; logistic regression analyses showed that these

recency-weighted choice and reward histories affected choices to an almost equal extent pre-operatively and post-operatively in the control and lesion groups. However, in the non-lesioned animals, their Enzalutamide purchase impact on behaviour was dwarfed by the much stronger influence of specific stimulus-outcome pairings. This implies that the way the OFC promotes appropriate credit assignment might therefore be to enhance current task-relevant associations rather than to suppress irrelevant ones. A number of studies have provided evidence for a role of OFC in such a faculty. For instance,

excitotoxic OFC lesions in rats cause them to have abnormally persistent latent inhibition [31]. The lesion rendered them slower to respond to a stimulus relative to unlesioned control animals when it switched from being neutral to becoming reinforced; in other words, the OFC group were impaired at upregulating attention to a familiar but previously behaviourally irrelevant stimulus once it became a useful predictor of future events. By contrast, there is little evidence that OFC lesions that spare medial OFC directly disrupt extinction learning, implying no role for this region in disengaging with a stimulus when it no longer predicts reward 15• and 32]. There is also evidence that OFC might play a role in identifying the type of decision environment the agent currently faces, a sort of ‘relevance filter’ over the vast stimulus (decision) space available to an agent at any given time [6••].

The number of PCNA-positive cells was significantly lower in pacl

The number of PCNA-positive cells was significantly lower in paclitaxel-treated SKOV3ip1 tumors than in control mice (64.4 ± 17.3 vs 108.4 ± 24.7, P < .01), whereas no significant reduction was observed in response to rhLK8 treatment (74.0 ± 17.6 vs 108.4 ± 24.7, P > .05). The most significant decrease in the number of PCNA-positive cells was observed

in SKOV3ip1 tumors treated with the combination of paclitaxel and rhLK8 (41.0 ± 12.8 vs 108.4 ± 24.7, P < .01; www.selleckchem.com/products/dinaciclib-sch727965.html Table 2 and Figure 1A). In HeyA8 tumors, treatment with paclitaxel or rhLK8 alone did not significantly decrease the number of PCNA-positive cells (88.6 ± 16.9 vs 98.4 ± 16.1, P > .05 and 76.1 ± 20.0 vs 98.4 ± 16.1, P > .05, respectively); however, combination treatment significantly reduced the number of PCNA-positive cells (55.9

± 14.2 vs 98.4 ± 16.1, P < .01; Table 2 and Figure 1B). No significant differences in MVD were detected between control and paclitaxel-treated PD0332991 order SKOV3ip1 tumors (84.0 ± 27.5 vs 73.1 ± 20.4, P > .05); however, treatment with rhLK8 alone and, in particular, the combination of rhLK8 and paclitaxel significantly decreased MVD in SKOV3ip1 tumors as compared with the controls (44.0 ± 9.7 vs 84.0 ± 27.5, P < .01 and 29.4 ± 5.7 vs 84.0 ± 27.5, P < 0.01, respectively; Table 2 and Figure 2A). In HeyA8 tumors, MVD was significantly reduced by treatment with paclitaxel compared with the control group (40.0 ± 15.7 vs 57.1 ± 18.5, P < .05) and to a greater extent with rhLK8 alone (27.0 ± Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II 6.1 vs 57.1 ± 18.5, P < .01) or the combination of paclitaxel and rhLK8 (14.3 ± 5.0 vs 57.1 ± 18.5, P < .001; Table 2 and Figure 2B). Immunofluorescence double staining of CD31 (red) and TUNEL (green) was performed to evaluate apoptosis of tumor cells and tumor-associated endothelial cells in response to the different treatments. Apoptosis of endothelial cells is indicated by co-localization, detected by a yellow signal. In SKOV3ip1 tumors (Table 2 and Figure 3A), few tumor cells or tumor-associated endothelial cells were apoptotic in the control group.

Paclitaxel treatment significantly induced apoptosis in tumor-associated endothelial cells compared with the control group (4.0 ± 2.1 vs 0.6 ± 1.0, P < .05). A more significant increase in apoptosis was induced by rhLK8 alone (11.7 ± 4.0 vs 0.6 ± 1.0; P < .01), and the combination of the two drugs enhanced this effect (31.3 ± 9.4 vs 0.6 ± 1.0, P < .001). A similar trend was observed in HeyA8 tumors ( Table 2 and Figure 3B), in which paclitaxel significantly induced apoptosis compared to the control group (2.7 ± 1.6 vs 0.2 ± 0.4, P < .05), and the effect was enhanced by rhLK8 (7.3 ± 3.4 vs 0.2 ± 0.4, P < .01) or the combination of the two drugs (26.4 ± 10.2 vs 0.2 ± 0.4, P < .001). In the SKOV3ip1 and HeyA8 tumor models, apoptosis of tumor cells was induced only in the paclitaxel treatment group and not in the rhLK8 treatment group, whereas the combination of paclitaxel and rhLK8 intensified the apoptosis of tumor cells ( Figure 3).

He recorded them with the words “the Porpoises here are as white

He recorded them with the words “the Porpoises here are as white as Milke, some of them Ruddy with all” and which older individuals certainly are. The species was not, however, described until 1765 by Pehr Osbeck (1723–1805) selleck kinase inhibitor a Swedish explorer, naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). Being an estuarine coastal species, concern for the welfare of

Hong Kong’s population of the dolphins grew in the early 1990s as the Pearl River Delta became the principal artery for maritime trade between Hong Kong, Macau, Canton (now Guangzhou) in China, and as more individuals were killed and stranded. It is, today, estimated that fewer than 140 individuals survive in the polluted, over-fished and maritime trade waters of Hong Kong’s western territory – the type locality of the species. In 2011, I was incredibly lucky to glimpse the, also as Ruddy with all, Amazon (although it also occurs in the Orinoco) river dolphin, Inia geoffrensis, and which is now protected under Brazilian law as a national treasure. Again, spellbound. I do not go to performing dolphin or killer whale (Orcinus orca)

shows but I did once, again on a research trip, visit Monkey Mia in the Shark Bay National Park and World Heritage Site in Western Australia to see the famously ‘tame’ but still wild dolphins there. These are a group of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) that, every morning, come close E7080 supplier inshore to be fed by park wardens to the enjoyment of the hundreds of thousands of tourists who come each year to watch and learn a little. Early problems involved in allowing the public to

feed the animals, resulted in mothers not teaching their calves to catch fish for themselves, and dying before being weaned. Montelukast Sodium Today, however, many lessons learnt, research on the dolphins, encompassing thousands of hours of systematic data collection in the field, makes Monkey Mia one of the most important cetacean research centres in the world. Hundreds of dolphins are surveyed and cataloged each year. Their behaviour, ecology, genetics, development, communication, social structure, predators, and prey are all researched and, what is more, this is all accomplished non-invasively, without tagging, touching or capturing the dolphins. And the public love it too. Hence, in a long career as a marine biologist, I have seen many species of dolphins in the wild, some protected, some not, some endangered and others, apparently, enjoying contact with human beings. They share a close historical bond with us and live on in our human psyche to such an extent that ‘wish list’ surveys regularly put swimming with them close to the top. The ancient Greeks and Romans revered dolphins. Both cultures had stories of a boy and a dolphin.

When considering the first five PCs, the model explains about 75%

When considering the first five PCs, the model explains about 75% of the variance observed in Fig. 2, indicating that these parameters are enough to explain practically all the variance of the model. However, the two first PCs better characterize the relationship between the physicochemical/biophysical properties and the groupings observed in Fig. 2. The third PC (correlated with number of disulfide bonds) does not add any new information in relation to the two first PCs. However, the fourth PC discriminates the groups as a function of GRAVY and percentage of alpha helix (data not

shown). To better understand the correlation between variables and objects described in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the same data were also shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, emphasizing the three dimensional representations of the correlations between the samples and the variables: aliphaticity (Fig. 3A), GRAVY (Fig. 3B), net charge (Fig. 3C), alpha helix (%) (Fig. 4A), ABT-199 manufacturer and Boman index (Fig. 4B). Fig. 5 shows the residual variance of the model used in the present study; it shows a step-like representation of the calibration

variance and the validation variance for different numbers of PCs. There is a tendency for these values to decrease as a function of the increase in the number of PCs, indicating that the present model is valid, because a higher number of PCs gives a smaller error in the model. In fact, the calibration variance Dasatinib ic50 and the validation variance tend to zero after a few PCs. The purpose of multivariate calibration is to construct a predictive model based on multiple predictor variables. Multivariate calibration is in fact a two-stage procedure: (i) the model is build using training P-type ATPase samples, for which the predictor and predictand variables are known or measured, and (ii) the model is then validated by comparing the predictions against reference values for samples that were not used for the model building [36]. To validate the model used to predict the activities of Hymenoptera venom peptides, another series of 80 peptides from other

organisms (Table S2 in supplementary information) presenting the same types of activities as those presented by the Hymenoptera peptides were analyzed and compared against the Hymenoptera model. After the calculation of predictor and predictand variables for these peptides, their distribution in the PCA score plot (Fig. 6) and PCA X-loadings plot (Fig. 7) gave a very similar pattern as that observed for the Hymenoptera peptides (Fig. 2). In both cases, the grouping pattern was the same; i.e., those peptides described in the literature as mast cell degranulators were distributed within the same coordinates already occupied by the mastoparans, while a similar distribution was also observed for the other groups (chemotactic peptides, kinins, tachykinins, linear antibiotic peptides and the group of peptides presenting disulfide bridges).

We also demonstrate that the usual AW approximation fails in the

We also demonstrate that the usual AW approximation fails in the description of tCtC-recDIPSHIFT signals of CHn multiplets. We thus suggest an AW approach based upon a double-Gaussian local field and demonstrate its reliability in describing tCtC-recDIPSHIFT results.

However, once it is possible to obtain a resolved 13C MAS spectrum and to probe the evolution of the resonances under specific CH coupling, there is no serious limitation for the use of the presented AW approximation in describing the motion effects on the signals obtained by other techniques. Therefore, since the use of this strategy is not limited to the tCtC-recDIPSHIFT experiment but can easily be generalized, we consider the double-Gaussian AW approach to describe the signal of mobile CHn multiplets a step forward and expect a wide high throughput screening range of applications. The tCtC-recDIPSHIFT pulse sequence, bracketed between two z  -filters and preceded by CP-based excitation of 13C, is shown in learn more Fig. 1a. The experiments were performed on a Varian Inova 400 spectrometer, using a Jakobsen 7 mm WVT double-resonance probe. A MAS frequency of 6 kHz, a 13C pulse width of 3.5μs and an (effective) RF power for the Lee–Goldburg (LG) homonuclear and heteronuclear decoupling of 62.3 kHz (CW during DIPSHIFT evolution and TPPM during acquisition) were used. Trimethylsulfoxonium

iodide (TMSI), see the formula in Fig. 1b, was used as a Ibrutinib model sample to experimentally verify the accuracy of the proposed double-Gaussian AW-based approach for calculating tCtC-recDIPSHIFT modulation curves. We also compare the theory with full dynamic spin dynamics simulations using the SPINEVOLUTION simulation program [30]. The program was custom-modified

by M. Veshtort to implement arbitrary rotational jump motions. tCtC-recDIPSHIFT [34] is an SLF NMR experiment that is designed to accurately measure heteronuclear dipole–dipole couplings between abundant (I, often 1H) and rare (S, often 13C or 15N) nuclear spins in order to probe molecular conformation [34] or motions [33]. The pulse sequence is based upon the original DIPSHIFT experiment [21], but with the effect of the heteronuclear dipole–dipole couplings amplified by a factor N, which is achieved by a REDOR-type π pulse train [35]. This amplification renders the technique particularly suitable for applications in weakly coupled spin systems, or to probe small-amplitude molecular motions. As the experiment is based upon a common CP MAS experiment, it allows for an assessment of the S–In dipole–dipole coupling tensors for each resolved chemical site of S; for S = 13C and not too large molecules, it easily applicable in natural abundance. Further, the actual tCtC-recDIPSHIFT part between the two z-filters (see Fig. 1a) can be easily implemented in higher-dimensional spectra.

The result of the present study clearly showed that the levels of

The result of the present study clearly showed that the levels of SOD and catalase are remarkably decreased in rats treated with lead acetate. Lead acetate is known to cause free radical damage in tissues by two mechanisms: Increased generation of ROS, including hydroperoxides, singlet oxygen and hydrogen peroxides, and by http://www.selleckchem.com/products/ch5424802.html causing direct depletion of antioxidant reserves [20] and [21]. The observed decrease in circulating antioxidants and decrease in serum total antioxidants confirm the lead acetate-induced depletion of antioxidants [22]. All antioxidant enzymes including SOD and catalase decreased significantly in mitochondrial and post-mitochondrial

fraction of testis of lead and cadmium treated rats [19]. There is a significant

decrease in the activity levels of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase in the testes of lead exposed rats [23]. In the present study, when the cinnamon and lead acetate was administrated to rats, the level of SOD was increased compared to its level in rats treated only with lead. The activities of liver SOD and catalase was significantly reduced in the carbon tetrachloride intoxicated group, while it was significantly elevated in the groups pretreated with either water or ethanol extracts of cinnamon CDK activation [24]. Generally the effects of cinnamon have not yet been fully identified on reproductive system. This study concentrated on the effect of cinnamon extract on several reproductive parameters after lead exposure and its ability to correct the adverse effect of lead on seminal picture and testicular structure in rats. The improvement of reproductive parameters after cinnamon administration should be explained. One of the possible explanations is that concentration

of LH, FSH and testosterone hormones have been increased significantly after cinnamon administration [25]. This effect could be due to the presence of compounds in cinnamon which affect the hypothalamus-pituitary axis and has thus increased concentrations of these hormones. The researches done by Shagauo and Davidson unless [26] also showed that cinnamon is capable of releasing LH hormone by affecting hypothalamus axis and increasing the secretion rate of GnRH hormone. Also, they proposed that GnRH cause proliferation of sex cells by increasing the Leydig cell activities in adult rats. In another explanation, Parivzi and Ellendorff [27] showed that cinnamaldehyde extracted from cinnamon increase norepinephrine and this hormone can increase the release of nitric oxide. Cinnamaldehyde release cAMP with connecting calcium in cell membrane and cause increase in norepinephrine secretion. Norepinephrine increase LH secretion with activation of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide affects hypothalamus axis and release gonadotropin hormone (GnRH). Gonadotorpin hormones increase secretion of other hormones such as LH and FSH of pituitary gland. LH hormone affects Leydig cells and this cells release testosterone hormone.

2B) These data indicate that the LM fraction preferentially affe

2B). These data indicate that the LM fraction preferentially affects neurotransmission by affecting cholinergic transmission while the venom and HM fraction affect

neurotransmission and muscle fiber contractility, the latter independently of nicotinic receptor involvement ( Harvey et al., 1994). Purification of the LM fraction component with neuromuscular activity was done in two HPLC steps. After initial experiments with standard reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) failed to provide adequate separation of the LM fraction components (data not shown) the system was substituted for strong cation exchange HPLC which yielded

seven major peaks and several minor peaks (Fig. 3A). Peaks 1 to 7 check details were desalted on a Resource RPC column and tested on chick biventer cervicis preparations. The activity was found only in the last major peak 7, but it was weaker than in LM fraction at same concentration, what lead us to assume the possibility of a degrading process during fractionation. Since the LM fractions contains low molecular mass components, possibly including polyamines, and knowing that polyamines are light-sensitive, we examined whether excessive exposure to light, i.e., photoinactivation, could account for the lack of neuromuscular activity in these peaks. When appropriate click here measures to protect against photoinactivation during purification and pharmacological testing were taken, the peaks corresponding to 3 mg of LM were tested (n = 2) and intense neuromuscular activity

was again detected only in the peak 7 of the elution profile ( Fig. 3A). Chromatography of this peak by RP-HPLC on a C18 column yielded pure toxin referred to as VdTX-1, the first toxin purified from V. dubius venom Sucrase ( Fig. 3B). The molecular mass of VdTX-1 as determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was 728 Da ( Fig. 3C). Comparison of the neuromuscular activity of the venom, the LM fraction and VdTX-1 (all tested at 20 μg/mL) showed that VdTX-1 (20 μg/mL = 27.4 μM toxin) reproduced the neuromuscular blockade caused by the LM fraction. As with the LM fraction, reversal of the blockade was also seen with VdTX-1. The decrease in twitch-tension caused by the LM fraction and VdTX-1 was greatest at 30 min, with a reduction to 38 ± 6% and 68 ± 6% of the control (n = 4), respectively. After 2 h incubation the twitch-tension had returned to 76 ± 5% and 63 ± 2% of pre-incubation levels for the LM fraction and VdTX-1, respectively ( Fig. 4).