Genetic transformation has emerged as a powerful tool for genetic improvement of fruit trees hindered by their reproductive biology and their high levels of heterozygosity. For years, genetic engineering of fruit trees has focussed principally on enhancing disease resistance (against viruses, fungi, and bacteria), although there are few examples of ...

The hypertrophic adenoid may promote chronic suppurative otitis media in children as it fulfills its immune function. The number of lymphocytes in the adenoid and their cooperation in the immune response depend of on their proliferation and migration to the effector sites. Interleukin 7 (IL-7) is essential for the normal ...

Although genetic control of morphogenesis is well established, elaboration of complex shapes requires changes in the mechanical properties of cells. In plants, the first visible sign of leaf formation is a bulge on the flank of the shoot apical meristem. Bulging results from local relaxation of cell walls, which causes ...

BACKGROUND: Early surgical intervention in necrotizing pancreatitis (NP) is associated with high mortality. Guidelines recommend fine needle aspiration (FNA) in patients with NP and signs of sepsis. Because infection of necrosis is considered an indication for surgery, operations are often performed early. We changed treatment toward a conservative approach with ...

Goserelin acetate (Gos) is a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist, used in treatment of prostate cancer in which desired concentration of Gos in blood is maintained for longer duration. The aim of this study is to improve the efficacy of Gos targeted at the site of action and eliminate the need ...

Accurate diagnosis, risk stratification, and decisions about the need for and optimal duration of antibiotic therapy are cornerstones of the management of patients with respiratory infections. A growing body of evidence supports the use of procalcitonin, a marker of bacterial infection, in addition to conventional clinical parameters to improve diagnostic ...

On ten top-level Kenyan marathon runners (KA) plus nine European controls (EC, equivalent to KA), we measured maximal oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text]) and the energy cost of running (C (r)) on track during training camps at moderate altitude, to better understand the KA dominance in the marathon. At each ...

Objectives and aims:  To document the incidence of difficult airway management and difficult intubation in the era of replacement therapy for Australian children with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS). Background:  Medical treatment for MPS has developed significantly since 1980's with a large number of patients now being offered either bone marrow transplant or ...

Reuse of controls in a nested case-control (NCC) study has not been considered feasible since the controls are matched to their respective cases. However, in the last decade or so, methods have been developed that break the matching and allow for analyses where the controls are no longer tied to ...

Secondary data analyses were conducted on a survey dataset from 1,281 middle school students to analyze the impact of family caregiving on self-reports of psychological well-being using the Multiple Indicators, Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model. Factor analysis resulted in four latent factors underlying psychological functioning, and the MIMIC model revealed significant ...

BACKGROUND: The identification of disease-eliciting allergens is a prerequisite for accurate prescription of allergen-specific immunotherapy (SIT). The aim of this study was to determine whether molecular diagnosis (MD) may change indication and allergen prescription of SIT. METHODS: A total of 141 patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and/or asthma sensitized to pollen ...

Co-cultures of endothelial cells (EC) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in three-dimensional (3D) protein hydrogels can be used to recapitulate aspects of vasculogenesis in vitro. MSC provide paracrine signals that stimulate EC to form vessel-like structures, which mature as the MSC transition to the role of mural cells. In this ...

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) accounts for 1.4% of all thyroid malignancies in Japan. Here, we studied the validity of a staging system evaluated preoperatively (Stage), intraoperatively (intra-Stage), and pathologically (pStage) based on the 6(th) and 7(th) UICC TNM classifications. One hundred and nineteen MTC patients who did not show distant ...

CLINICAL/METHODICAL ISSUE: Modern radiotherapy benefits from precise and targeted diagnostic and pretherapeutic imaging. STANDARD RADIOLOGICAL METHODS: Standard imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT) offer high morphological detail but only limited functional information on tumors. METHODICAL INNOVATIONS: Novel functional and molecular imaging modalities provide biological information about tumors in addition ...

We have developed a purification protocol for photoactive reaction centers (HbRC) from Heliobacterium modesticaldum. HbRCs were purified from solubilized membranes in two sequential chromatographic steps, resulting in the isolation of a fraction containing a single polypeptide, which was identified as PshA by LC-MS/MS of tryptic peptides. All polypeptides reported earlier ...

We present a new and efficient NMR method, BLUU-Tramp (Biophysics Laboratory University of Udine-Temperature ramp), to collect hydrogen-deuterium exchange experiments as a function of time and temperature for small and medium-sized proteins. Exchange rates can be determined to extract the underlying thermodynamic equilibrium or kinetic parameters by sampling hundreds of ...

OBJECTIVE: Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO) is the most widely used device for closure of atrial septal defect (ASD). Figulla septal occluder (FSO) is a similar device to ASO with some structural innovations. The aim of study is to assess the maximum P-wave duration (Pmax) and dispersion (Pd) in patients who ...

Titanium alloys exhibit excellent corrosion resistance in most aqueous media due to the formation of a stable oxide film, and some of these alloys (particularly Ti-6Al-7Nb) have been chosen for surgical and odontological implants for their resistance and biocompatibility. Treatment with fluorides (F(-)) is known to be the main method ...

The viscacha is a seasonal rodent that exhibit an annual reproductive cycle with periods of maximum reproductive activity and gonadal regression. We studied seasonal variations in the morphology and cellular population of the seminal vesicles (SVs) during both periods and in impuber animals. Seminal vesicles were studied by light and ...

Cancer is generally defined as uncontrollable growth of cells caused by genetic aberrations and/or environmental factors. Yet contagious cancers also occur. The recent emergence of a contagious cancer in Tasmanian devils has reignited interest in transmissible cancers. Two naturally occurring transmissible cancers are known: devil facial tumour disease and canine ...

Aim:  Calciuria has been reported to decrease in preeclampsia. We compared calciuria among groups of normal, hypertensive and preeclamptic pregnant women, and assessed its correlation with the severity of the disease. Material and Methods:  We conducted a case-control study of mild and severe preeclampsia, chronic hypertension, and normal pregnancy, with ...

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has come to be widely performed for reduced invasiveness; however, its safety in patients with co-morbidities is not fully examined. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of gastric ESD with co-morbidities categorized according to ASA Physical Status Classification. METHODS: Two hundred and forty ...

Triacetone triperoxide (TATP) is a high explosive synthesized from easily available reactants making it accessible for illicit uses. In this study, fast detection of TATP is achieved using a novel planar solid-phase microextraction (PSPME) as a preconcentration and sampling device for headspace analysis offering improved sensitivity and reduced sampling time ...

Previous evidence for the effectiveness of immediate incubation in divergent creative tasks has been weak, because earlier studies exhibited a range of methodological problems. This issue is theoretically important, as a demonstration of the effects of immediate incubation would strengthen the case for the involvement of unconscious work in incubation ...

PURPOSE: The natural history of change in size of arachnoid cysts (ACs) is an unsettled issue. This leads to confusion in deciding treatment strategies of incidental, asymptomatic AC in children, since the risks and complications of surgery are not negligible. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the ...

Eleven known prenyl xanthones, isolated from the pericarp of Garcinia mangostana, were tested for their ability to inhibit the phosphorylation of kinase domain receptor (KDR) tyrosine kinase. α-Mangostin was found to inhibit phosphorylation of KDR. α-Mangostin also showed to inhibit phosphorylation of the Y1175 residue of KDR (10 μM). This is ...

Despite numerous clinical trials over the past 2 decades, the overall survival for children diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) remains 9-10 months. Radiation therapy is the only treatment with proven effect and novel therapies are needed. Epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) is the most common variant ...

Recent advances in clinical molecular and genetic studies on Alzheimer's disease (AD) are summarized here. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42 and tau are the most sensitive biomarkers for the diagnosis of AD and prediction of its onset following mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Based on this progress, new diagnostic criteria for AD ...

BACKGROUND: There is little evidence regarding attitudes to clinical decision support systems (CDSS) in oncology. AIMS: We examined the current usage, awareness, and concerns of Irish medical oncologists and oncology pharmacists in this area. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to 27 medical oncologists and 34 oncology pharmacists, identified through professional ...

Implantation and the establishment of pregnancy in mammals involves an intricate interplay of hormones, cytokines, growth factors, proteins, lipids, ions and the extracellular matrix between the uterine epithelium, stroma, immune cells and the conceptus trophectoderm. The divergent nature of implantation in the mouse, human and pig provides not only an ...

A variety of surgical methods have been developed to reduce the volume of the inferior turbinates, in order to create a more patent nasal airway. We describe a technique used in our department since February 2002 for all patients undergoing inferior turbinectomy. We resect with endoscopic assistance the lateral mucosa ...

The study of single gene disorders often provides insight for more complex human disease. Mutations in the genes encoding the dystrophin protein complex cause muscular dystrophy and cardiomyopathy by destabilizing the plasma membrane of skeletal myofibers and cardiomyocytes. In these diseases, progressive skeletal muscle degeneration and weakness contribute to cardiac ...

After mass spawning events, coral embryos, lacking the protective capsule of other metazoans, are directly exposed to the environment at the ocean surface. Here, we present evidence that modest turbulence disrupts the integrity of these embryos, which fragment into totipotent cells that develop into proportionately smaller functional larvae. The level ...

Several bacterial structures, processes and proteins are localized primarily to the poles of rod shaped cells. To better understand this cellular organization, we devised a new method for identifying proteins that localize to the poles of Escherichia coli. Pole-derived membrane fragments were isolated by affinity capture of vesicles containing the ...

The role of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family has been well defined in neuropathic pain. Ras and c-Raf constitute an important part of MAP kinase family as Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK2 signaling cascade. The present study was designed to investigate the analgesic potential of farnesyl thiosalicylic acid, a novel Ras inhibitor, and GW ...

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that anthropometrics in the newborn is associated with development of asthma later in life. METHODS: The study included a prospective, longitudinal clinical study of a birth cohort of 411 Danish neonates born at term of mothers with a history of asthma. The primary endpoint was physician-diagnosed asthma ...

Hematomyelia is rare, and usually related to major trauma. Non-traumatic causes are much rarer and include underlying vascular malformations and cord tumors. We present the case of a previously well 44-year-old woman who developed severe acute neck pain and right-sided motor deficit after a session of traditional Chinese massage that ...

INTRODUCTION: The most frequently occurring long-term complication in implant-based breast reconstruction is fibrotic capsule formation at the recipient site, with concurrent dysesthesia and poor aesthetic results. Using porcine acellular dermal matrix (PADM) as a connective tissue graft material is supposed to improve the quality and quantity of soft tissue in ...

The diagnosis of scabies is clinically not always simple without the detection of mites. The histological picture can be very variable depending on the various clinical symptoms and can be correspondingly difficult to interpret without a clinical pathological correlation. Even after adequate antiscabies treatment the dermatological symptoms and complaints can ...

Purpose: To explore clients' experience of the housing adaptations (HAs) over time in relation to housing and health. Method: A multiple longitudinal case study, employing an embedded mixed-method design was used. Four participants were included and data from semi-structured interviews were combined with data from structured survey assessments. Results: HA ...

This paper describes the status of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) services implementation and presents an assessment of associations between receipt of PC-MHI services and likelihood of receiving a second specialty mental health (SMH) appointment following an initial SMH encounter. The total PC-MHI service recipients ...

The use of genetic resistance is considered to be the most effective and sustainable approach to the control of plant pathogens. Although most of the known natural resistance genes are monogenic dominant R genes that are predominant against fungi and bacteria, more and more recessive resistance genes against viruses have ...

Production of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies using genetically modified plants may provide low cost, high scalability and product safety; however, antibody purification from plants presents a challenge due to the large quantities of biomass that need to be processed. Protein A column chromatography is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for ...

PURPOSE: It is generally known that health-related quality of life (HRQOL) predicts cause-specific mortality. Few studies have explored whether generic self-reported HRQOL, sociodemographic factors and illness variables are independently associated with mortality among cognitively intact nursing home (NH) residents with and without cancer. We hypothesized that sociodemographic factors and illness ...

Solvated electrons are powerful reagents in the liquid phase that break chemical bonds and thereby create additional reactive species, including hydrogen atoms. We explored the distinct chemistry that ensues when electrons are liberated near the liquid surface rather than within the bulk. Specifically, we detected the products resulting from exposure ...

Aim:  The aim of the present study was to establish Thai-specific reference ranges of triple markers for fetal Down syndrome as a function of gestational age as well as weight correction models and to compare the false positive rates when using Thai-specific model relative to Caucasian-specific model. Material and Methods:  ...

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to present our 8-year experience with partial adrenalectomy via the retroperitoneal approach for the treatment of Cushing's adenoma. METHODS: A total of 93 patients who underwent adrenal surgery for Cushing's adenoma from March 2003 to December 2010 were enrolled in this study. Preoperative, ...

Oesophageal carcinoma remains one of the most common forms of cancer. Resection in the form of oesophagectomy and gastric interposition remains the standard surgical treatment and is associated with a high rate of post-operative morbidity. We report a case of a 71-year old male who underwent successful Ivor-Lewis oesophageal resection ...

A mixture of cyclic gold(i) complexes [Au(2)(μ-cis-dppen)(2)]X(2) (X = OTf 1, PF(6)3) and [Au(cis-dppen)(2)]X (X = OTf 2, PF(6)4) is obtained from the reaction of [Au(tht)(2)]X (tht = tetrahydrothiophene) with one equivalent of cis-dppen [dppen = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethylene]. The analogous reaction with trans-dppen or dppa [dppa = bis(diphenylphosphino)acetylene] affords the cyclic ...

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare congenital disorder in which phagocytes cannot generate superoxide (O (2) (-) ) and other microbicidal oxidants due to mutations in one of the five components of the O (2) (-) -generating NADPH oxidase complex. The most common form is caused by mutations in ...