BACKGROUND: Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is a useful therapeutic technique for colorectal tumors. However, for tumors larger than 20 mm, the chance of piecemeal resection is high. Recently introduced endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) enables en bloc resection regardless of the tumor size. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness and outcomes ...

BACKGROUND: Abdominal wall and inguinal hernia repair are the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the United States and Europe. However, traditional methods of mesh fixation are associated with a number of problems including substantial risks of recurrence and of postoperative and chronic pain. The aim of this systematic review ...

The relationship between the two coexpressed differentiation markers, profilaggrin and loricrin, is not clear right now. In this study, we explored the interaction of profilaggrin N-terminal domain (PND) with loricrin in keratinocytes and epidermis. Confocal immunofluorescence microscopic analysis of human epidermis showed that PND colocalized with loricrin. Loricrin nucleofected into ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the hepato-protective properties and underlying mechanisms of SAMC in a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rat model. METHODS: Female rats were fed with a diet comprising highly unsaturated fat diet (30% fish oil) for 8 weeks to develop NAFLD with or without an intraperitoneal injection of 200 mg/kg SAMC ...

Gasterophilus nigricornis (Loew) (Diptera: Oestridae) is one of the most damaging obligate parasites of equids in Kalamaili, Xinjiang, China. The main olfactory organs of this stomach bot fly are paired antennae that bear microscopic sensillar structures. The external morphology of the antennal funiculus and sensilla of male G. nigricornis were ...

Abstract Endogenous and exogenous sources cause free radical-induced DNA damage in living organisms by a variety of mechanisms. The highly reactive hydroxyl radical reacts with the heterocyclic DNA bases and the sugar moiety near or at diffusion-controlled rates. Hydrated electron and H atom also add to the heterocyclic bases. These ...

Epidemics of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) have been emerging and reemerging in recent years. This study aims to investigate whether breastfeeding and other factors may affect the profile of fever and disease course in children with HFMD. Three hundred seventy-two preschool children with HFMD were included. The demographics, ...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of 1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (VD3) on the proliferating, differentiating and differentiated phases of C2C12 myoblasts, a mouse skeletal muscle cell line. In the proliferating phase, cell counting and WST-1 cell proliferation assay revealed that VD3 treatment under 10% FBS inhibited the ...

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are cell surface receptors. The dynamic property of receptor-receptor interactions in GPCRs modulates the kinetics of G-protein signaling and stability. In the present work, the structural and dynamic study of A(2A)R-D(2)R interactions was carried to acquire the understanding of the A(2A)R-D(2)R receptor activation and deactivation process, facilitating ...

The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of serotonin (5-HT) receptors of type 6 (5-HT(6)) in postmortem human prefrontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus. The brain samples were obtained from 6 subjects who had died for causes not involving primarily or secondarily the CNS. The 5-HT(6) receptor distribution ...

Ecology Letters (2012) ABSTRACT: Body-size structure of food webs and adaptive foraging of consumers are two of the dominant concepts of our understanding how natural ecosystems maintain their stability and diversity. The interplay of these two processes, however, is a critically important yet unresolved issue. To fill this gap in ...

An efficient and convenient solution-phase synthesis of a 1H-1,2,4-triazole library with potential agrochemical activity is reported employing microwave-assisted organic synthesis (MAOS) and continuous-flow microfluidic synthetic methods starting from commercially available 3,5-dibromo-1H-1,2,4-triazole (1). MAOS was used for the synthesis of 5-amino-3-bromo-1,2,4-triazole analogs 3 and for their 3-aryl derivatives 4 via Suzuki-Miyaura ...

Depending on the environment, dendritic cells (DCs) may become active or tolerogenic, but little is known about whether heritable epigenetic modifications are involved in these processes. Here, we have found that epigenetic histone modifications can regulate the differentiation of human monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs) into either activated or tolerized DCs. The ...

We report a novel on-line electrophoretic sample clean-up approach for highly sensitive and reproducible microchip electrophoretic (μCE) immunoassay of low-abundance proteins in human serum. The method takes advantage of the differential effect of field-amplified sample stacking on molecules with different electrophoretic mobility. Large interfering proteins are removed from the loading ...

BackgroundCentral systolic blood pressure (SBP) can be estimated by an oscillometric method developed from a pulse volume plethysmography (PVP) device. The present study applied this novel method to a noninvasive blood pressure monitor (NBPM).MethodsWe enrolled 50 patients (37 men, age range 30-84 years) referred for cardiac catheterization. Invasive right brachial ...

The Combination Therapy of Hypertension to Prevent Cardiovascular Events (COPE) trial demonstrated that the calcium-channel blocker benidipine-based combination therapies with an angiotensin-receptor blocker (ARB), a β-blocker, or a thiazide diuretic (thiazide) were similarly effective in preventing cardiovascular events and achieving the target blood pressure (BP; <140/90 mm Hg). We further evaluated the ...

AIM: Periodontal disease is highly prevalent and severe in diabetic patients, and is considered one of the diabetic complications. To elucidate how periodontitis progresses in diabetes, we examined an animal model of periodontitis in diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two weeks after the induction of diabetes by streptozotocin, surgical nylon ...

The present work highlighted the production of violacein by the locally isolated Chromobacterium violaceum (GenBank accession no. HM132057) in various agricultural waste materials (sugarcane bagasse, solid pineapple waste, molasses, brown sugar), as an alternative to the conventional rich medium. The highest yield for pigment production (0.82 g L(-1)) was obtained using free ...

The present study used the Dot-Probe paradigm to explore attentional allocation to faces compared with non-social images in high-functioning individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing controls. There was no evidence of attentional bias in either group when stimuli were presented at individually calculated sub-threshold levels. However, at ...

Non-viral transfection is a promising technique that could be used to increase the therapeutic potential of stem cells. The purpose of this study was to explore practical culture parameters of relevance in potential human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) clinical and tissue engineering applications, including type of polycationic transfection reagent, N/P ...

The influence of weather on mood and mental health is commonly debated. Furthermore, studies concerning weather and suicidal behavior have given inconsistent results. Our aim was to see if daily weather changes associate with the number of suicide attempts in Finland. All suicide attempts treated in the hospitals in Helsinki, ...

An aerobic, Gram-negative bacterial strain, designated KU27E1(T), which degrades phthalate and dimethylphthalate, was isolated from seawater obtained from the coastal region of Ishigaki Island, Japan. Cells are motile rods with polar flagella. Strain KU27E1(T) grew at 15-30°C, pH 6.0-8.0, in the presence of 1.0-2.0% (w/v) NaCl. The 16S rRNA gene ...

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are clonal disorders characterized by excessive production of mature cells. In most of the classic Philadelphia-negative MPNs-polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and MPN-associated myelofibrosis (MPN-MF)-oncogenic mutations affecting JAK2 or MPL lead to constitutive activation of cytokine-regulated intracellular signalling pathways. The traditional therapy for PV and ET ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this prospective cohort study was to compute the long-term clinical survival and complication rates of alumina-toughened zirconia abutments used for implant-supported restorations and to evaluate the effects of several clinical variables on these rates. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From May 1998 to September 2010, 213 patients aged ...

INTRODUCTION: Though uncommon, the collecting duct carcinoma (CDC) of Bellini is a very aggressive primary renal tumour occurring in less than 1% of all renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cases. This rare subtype was always excluded from the prospective trials with targeted therapies. Few data so far available concern the subgroup ...

Easily accessed via venipuncture, blood has been an object of study for centuries. Direct sampling of the hematopoietic tissues in the bone marrow also presents a rather low bar for biopsy acquisition from living donors, especially when compared to other systems in the body such as the heart or brain. ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess clinical and microbiological outcomes of an Er:YAG laser in comparison with sonic debridement in the treatment of persistent periodontal pockets in a prospective randomized controlled multicenter study design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 78 patients in supportive periodontal therapy with two residual pockets were included, 58 ...

BACKGROUND: Discrimination may be adversely associated with abdominal obesity, but few studies have examined associations with abdominal fat. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine whether discrimination was independently associated with visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) fat and whether these associations differed by sex and age. METHODS: Participants ...

Different strategies have been developed across countries to foster citizens' and patients' involvement, from health policies to patients' active participation in decisions regarding their health. The spectrum varies from systems where patients lead the reform of health care services, to others where a paternalistic approach still limits patients' autonomy in ...

The biofilms formed by opportunistic yeasts serve as a persistent reservoir of infection and impair the treatment of fungal diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate photodynamic inactivation (PDI) of biofilms formed by Candida spp. and the emerging pathogens Trichosporon mucoides and Kodamaea ohmeri by a cationic nanoemulsion ...

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a central role in the regulation of the host immune system. Each TLR recognizes specific pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). TLR4 is one of the well characterized pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) that recognizes the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria, some conserved structures from fungal to mycobacterial pathogens ...

Though multiple studies link chromosomal regions 1q21-q23 and 20q13 with type 2 diabetes, fine mapping of these regions is yet to confirm gene(s) explaining the linkages. These candidate regions remain unexplored in Indians, which is a high-risk population for type 2 diabetes. Hypothesizing regulatory regions to have a more important ...

The ability of tranilast, a mast cell stabilizer and anti-transforming growth factor(β) (TGF(β)) to improve impaired hepatic functions in Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni)-infected mice, was investigated, providing the first evidence on the ability of tranilast to improve hepatic impairment due to schistosomal infection. Tranilast had significant beneficial effects against progression ...

This tutorial review is aimed at highlighting recent developments in transition-metal-free carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions utilizing a versatile class of reactive intermediates, viz., arynes, which hold the potential for numerous applications in organic synthesis. Key to the success of the resurgence of interest in the rich chemistry of arynes ...

We investigated the impact of enhanced mechanical transparency during practice on closed-loop performance as well as on the acquisition of an internal representation of the visuo-motor transformation of a lever. Three groups of participants controlled a cursor on a monitor by moving the effort arm of a sliding two-sided lever. ...

Many vocalizations are encoded with a diversity of acoustic information about the signal producer. Amongst this information content are social categories related to the identity of the caller that are important for determining if and how a signal receiver may interact with that individual. Here, we employed a novel playback ...

BACKGROUND: Vasostatin-1 (VS-1), the N-terminal fragment of chromogranin A (CgA), decreases the permeability of endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. AIMS: Here, we investigated whether a similar effect could be observed also on intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) in vitro and whether VS-1 could have favorable effects on animal models ...

Despite federal guidelines calling for the reduction of obesity and elimination of health disparities, black-white differences in obesity prevalence and in medical expenditures and utilization of health care services persist. To examine black-white differences in medical expenditures and utilization of health care services (office-based visits, hospital outpatient visits, ER visits, ...

  Two infants presented with multiple asymptomatic papules and geographic and annular plaques over the extensor aspect of the upper and lower extremities and trunk. Skin biopsy of both lesions showed plugged and hyperplastic dilated acrosryingia and deep dermal ducts, along with granulomatous inflammatory reaction. These lesions showed self-healing with ...

Gerodontology 2012; doi:10.1111/j.1741-2358.2012.00614.x Exploring the quality of life after denture-wearing within elders in Kaohsiung Objective:  The objective of the research is to investigate whether the elderly people's quality of life get improved after denture wearing. Material and methods:  About 1600 elderly persons, over 65 years old, were sampled as the research ...

BACKGROUND: The evolutionarily conserved septin family of genes encode GTP binding proteins involved in a variety of cellular functions including cytokinesis, apoptosis, membrane dynamics and vesicle trafficking. Septin proteins can form hetero-oligomeric complexes and interact with other proteins including actin and tubulin. The human SEPT9 gene on chromosome 17q25.3 has ...

Darier's disease (DD), caused by mutations in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca(2+) ATPase ATP2A2 (SERCA2b), is a skin disease that exhibits impaired epidermal cell-to-cell adhesion and altered differentiation. Although previous studies have shown that keratinocyte Ca(2+) sequestration and fluxes are controlled by sphingolipid signaling, the role of this signaling pathway ...

The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway has been considered both a tumor suppressor and a cancer promoter. Additionally, downregulation of cell adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin plays an important role in the metastatic potential of colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of the present study was to evaluate TGF-β, ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: We have previously reported that electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment induced tolerance against cerebral ischemic injury, but the mechanisms underlying this effect of EA are unknown. In this study, we assessed the effect of EA pretreatment on the expression of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (alpha7nAChR), using the ischemia-reperfusion model of ...

Maternal and child health is affected by exposure to unhealthy living and working conditions, by increased exposure to health hazards, and by poor utilization of primary healthcare services. The objective of this operational study was to implement mobile primary healthcare services (MPHS) for migratory seasonal farmworkers. This study, conducted in ...

The introduction of a periodic corrugation into TOLEDs is demonstrated to be effective in relieving the tradeoff between device stability and efficiency, through the cross coupling of the SPPs associated with the Ag cathode and the microcavity modes. The thickness of the Ag cathode for the corrugated TOLEDs was increased ...

This small qualitative study was designed to determine possible attitudes toward and understanding of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing among members of a large managed care organization, and whether differences might exist between population groups. Ten focus groups were conducted by population type (high risk, White, African American, Hispanic/Latino) to determine ...

A suite of eight cationic, tetra-metallic molecular rectangles (1-8) was generated via coordination-driven self-assembly using four dicarboxylate-bridged arene-Ru precursors (A1-A4) with one of two dipyridyl ligands (D1, D2). The high-yielding (84-92%) rectangles were characterized by (1)H NMR and HR-ESI-MS to support their structural assignments. The molecular structure of 5 was ...

AIMS: In a problem-based learning curriculum, most medical students research the Internet for information for their "learning issues." Internet sites such as "YouTube" have become a useful resource for information. This study aimed at assessing YouTube videos covering surface anatomy. METHOD: A search of YouTube was conducted from November 8 ...

A pectate lyase gene (pl-str) was cloned from Streptomyces sp. S27 and expressed in Escherichia coli Rosetta. The full-length pl-str consists of 972 bp and encodes for a protein of 323 amino acids without signal peptide that belongs to family PF00544. The recombinant enzyme (r-PL-STR) was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity using Ni(2+)-NTA ...