Data on emotion processing by individuals with ASD suggest both intact abilities and significant deficits. Signal intensity may be a contributing factor to this discrepancy. We presented low- and high-intensity emotional stimuli in a face-voice matching task to 22 adolescents with ASD and 22 typically developing (TD) peers. Participants heard ...

We evaluated the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms prior to HIV diagnosis and determined the effect of these symptoms on seeking HIV care at an urban and rural clinic in Durban, South Africa. Adults were administered a questionnaire which included the 5-item Mental Health Index (MHI-5) before HIV testing. ...

Despite advances in primary THA, dislocation remains a common complication. In New Zealand (NZ), dislocations are reported to the National Joint Registry (NJR) only when prosthetic components are revised in the treatment of a dislocation. Closed reductions of dislocated hips are not recorded by the NJR. We compared the true ...

Treatment of chronic periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs) after TKA is limited to fusions, above-the-knee amputations (AKAs), revision TKA, and antibiotic suppression and is often based on the patient's medical condition. However, when both fusion and AKA are options, it is important to compare these two procedures with regard to function. ...

To provide insight into individual differences in fear learning, we examined the emotional and cognitive expressions of discriminative fear conditioning in direct relation to its neural substrates. Contrary to previous behavioral-neural (fMRI) research on fear learning--in which the emotional expression of fear was generally indexed by skin conductance--we used fear-potentiated ...

This study investigated the utility of advanced computational techniques to large-scale genome-based data to identify novel genes that govern murine pancreatic development. An expression data set for mouse pancreatic development was complemented with high-throughput data analyzer to identify and prioritize novel genes. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization, ...

Alzheimer disease (AD) is characterized by the amyloidogenic processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), culminating in the accumulation of amyloid-β peptides in the brain. The enzymatic action of the β-secretase, BACE1 is the rate-limiting step in this amyloidogenic processing of APP. BACE1 cleavage of wild-type APP (APPWT) is inhibited ...

Vitamin D deficiency has been reported to be associated with the development of active tuberculosis (TB), but many discrepancies exist among studies. The aims of this study were to compare the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in a Korean population of TB patients and control subjects, and to monitor the ...

The yeast prion phenomenon is very widespread and mounting evidence suggests that it has an impact on cellular regulatory mechanisms related to phenotypic responses to changing environments. Studying the aggregation patterns of prion amyloids during different stages of the prion life cycle is a first key step to understand major ...

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a tractable model organism in which both to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the generation of disease-associated protein misfolding and to map the cellular responses to potentially toxic misfolded proteins. Specific targets have included proteins which in certain disease states form amyloids and lead to ...

GKAs (glucokinase activators) are promising agents for the therapy of Type 2 diabetes, but little is known about their effects on hepatic intermediary metabolism. We monitored the fate of (13)C-labelled glucose in both a liver perfusion system and isolated hepatocytes. MS and NMR spectroscopy were deployed to measure isotopic enrichment. ...

Factor VII-activating protease (FSAP) is a serine protease that circulates in plasma in its inactive single-chain form and can be activated upon contact with dead cells. When activated by apoptotic cells, FSAP leads to the release of nucleosomes. The serpins C1-inhibitor and α(2) -antiplasmin are reported to be the major ...

To review the aberrations of insulin signaling to atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) in muscle and liver that generate cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and obesity-associated metabolic syndrome (MetSyn). aPKC and Akt mediate the insulin effects on ...

The present review covers the latest studies on right-to-left shunts (RLSs) in migraine patients and different types of emboli capable of triggering migraine. Although three recent studies found no increased RLS prevalence in migraine with aura patients, there remains ample evidence that the prevalence of RLS is increased in migraine ...

Despite favorable metabolic and vascular effects, thiazolidinedione (TZD) drugs have not convincingly reduced cardiovascular mortality in clinical trials, raising the possibility of countervailing, off-target effects. We previously showed that TZDs block cardiac ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels in pigs. In this study, we investigated whether TZDs affect onset, spectral characteristics, and ...

Tissue thromboplastin may contaminate the first tube sample due to the trauma of the venipuncture, and therefore, affect the accuracy of coagulation testing. This practice was stopped by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute after several studies. However, most of the studies have verified these conclusions and refuted the need for ...

To summarize recent advances in studies of illicit use of androgens and other hormones. Androgens and other appearance-enhancing and performance-enhancing substances are widely abused worldwide. Three notable clusters of findings have emerged in this field in recent years. First, studies almost unanimously find that androgen users engage in polypharmacy, often ...

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are thought to provide the most accurate estimation of "true" treatment effect. The relative quality of effect estimates derived from nonrandomized studies (nRCTs) remains unclear, particularly in surgery, where the obstacles to performing high-quality RCTs are compounded. We performed a meta-analysis of effect estimates of RCTs ...

Many studies have reported that drainage after thyroidectomy does not decrease the rate of local postoperative complications. We sought to review the safety of thyroidectomy combined with cervical neck dissection (CND) without drainage. The medical records of consecutive patients who underwent thyroidectomy without drainage were retrospectively reviewed. Two groups were ...

Registering complications is important in surgery, since complications serve as outcome measures and indicators of quality of care. Few studies have addressed the variation in severity and consequences of complications. We hypothesized that complications show much variation in consequences and severity. We conducted a prospective observational cohort study to evaluate ...

Universal newborn screening for a range of mostly inherited metabolic and endocrine disorders, started in mid-1960ies, is a success story of preventive medicine. New technological advances particularly in the last 10-15 years have led to an expansion of newborn screening in many countries. This has allowed introduction of sometimes life-saving ...

Emotional stress and excitement associated with watching soccer matches has been suggested to act as an external trigger for the onset of acute coronary syndromes. We report about a patient of Italian nationality who developed acute coronary syndrome while watching the European football championship match Switzerland vs. Turkey in 2008. ...

AIM: To investigate lifestyle intervention effects and cost-effectiveness of a structured 6-month exercise and nutrition program for individuals at high risk for cardiovascular disease. METHODS: Uncontrolled before and after study with assessments at baseline and six months. Adults without existing cardiovascular disease (CVD) but at increased CVD risk were eligible. ...

BACKGROUND: Pupillometry is a non-invasive investigation based on the concept that pupillary reagibility depends on a number of specific sensory, mental and emotional variables. By means of the receptor test based on the topical application of the cholinergic antagonist tropicamide cognitive deficits can be evaluated. The present study focuses on ...

SPHK1 expression is elevated in gastric cancer and is associated with shorter survival times for patients. However, the molecular mechanism of SPHK1 up-regulation in gastric cancer remains unclear. In the present study, we report that miR-124 down-regulated SPHK1 expression by directly targeting its 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) and that miR-124 expression ...

Employing a structure-based strategy, we have designed a new class of potent small-molecule inhibitors of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. An initial lead compound with a new scaffold was designed based upon the crystal structure of Bcl-xL and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs and was found ...

Denitrifying prokaryotes use NO(x) as terminal electron acceptors in response to oxygen depletion. The process emits a mixture of NO, N(2)O and N(2), depending on the relative activity of the enzymes catalysing the stepwise reduction of NO(3)(-) to N(2)O and finally to N(2). Cultured denitrifying prokaryotes show characteristic transient accumulation ...

Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) is a powerful atmospheric greenhouse gas and cause of ozone layer depletion. Global emissions continue to rise. More than two-thirds of these emissions arise from bacterial and fungal denitrification and nitrification processes in soils, largely as a result of the application of nitrogenous fertilizers. This article summarizes ...

In earlier work, we compared the amount of newly fixed nitrogen (N, as synthetic fertilizer and biologically fixed N) entering agricultural systems globally to the total emission of nitrous oxide (N(2)O). We obtained an N(2)O emission factor (EF) of 3-5%, and applied it to biofuel production. For 'first-generation' biofuels, e.g. ...

We have shown that many fungi (eukaryotes) exhibit distinct denitrifying activities, although occurrence of denitrification was previously thought to be restricted to bacteria (prokaryotes), and have characterized the fungal denitrification system. It comprises NirK (copper-containing nitrite reductase) and P450nor (a cytochrome P450 nitric oxide (NO) reductase (Nor)) to reduce nitrite ...

Several biochemical mechanisms contribute to the biological generation of nitrous oxide (N(2)O). N(2)O generating enzymes include the respiratory nitric oxide (NO) reductase, an enzyme from the flavo-diiron family, and flavohaemoglobin. On the other hand, there is only one enzyme that is known to use N(2)O as a substrate, which is ...

Bacterial denitrification results in the loss of fertilizer nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions as nitrous oxides, but ecological factors in soil influencing denitrifier communities are not well understood, impeding the potential for mitigation by land management. Communities vary in the relative abundance of the alternative dissimilatory nitrite reductase genes nirK ...

The effects of anthropogenic emissions of nitrous oxide (N(2)O), carbon dioxide (CO(2)), methane (CH(4)) and the halocarbons on stratospheric ozone (O(3)) over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are isolated using a chemical model of the stratosphere. The future evolution of ozone will depend on each of these gases, with N(2)O ...

Signatories of the Kyoto Protocol are obliged to submit annual accounts of their anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, which include nitrous oxide (N(2)O). Emissions from the sectors industry (3.8 Gg), energy (14.4 Gg), agriculture (86.8 Gg), wastewater (4.4 Gg), land use, land-use change and forestry (2.1 Gg) can be calculated by ...

Nitrous oxide reductase (N(2)OR) catalyses the final step of the denitrification pathway-the reduction of nitrous oxide to nitrogen. The catalytic centre (CuZ) is a unique tetranuclear copper centre bridged by inorganic sulphur in a tetrahedron arrangement that can have different oxidation states. Previously, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus N(2)OR was isolated with the ...

We use transient time distributions calculated from tracer data together with in situ measurements of nitrous oxide (N(2)O) to estimate the concentration of biologically produced N(2)O and N(2)O production rates in the ocean on a global scale. Our approach to estimate the N(2)O production rates integrates the effects of potentially ...

The crystal structure of the bacterial nitric oxide reductase (cNOR) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa is reported. Its overall structure is similar to those of the main subunit of aerobic and micro-aerobic cytochrome oxidases (COXs), in agreement with the hypothesis that all these enzymes are members of the haem-copper oxidase superfamily. However, ...

Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emissions from wastewater treatment plants vary substantially between plants, ranging from negligible to substantial (a few per cent of the total nitrogen load), probably because of different designs and operational conditions. In general, plants that achieve high levels of nitrogen removal emit less N(2)O, indicating that no ...

Residency training is a challenging period in a physician's career owing to a multitude of stressors perhaps not previously encountered. In some cases, these stressors may culminate in a state of burnout. In response, much has been written about the issues of personal wellness during residency training. Recently, duty hours ...

The authors report data from the Harvard Medical School-Cambridge Integrated Clerkship (CIC), a model of medical education in which students' entire third year consists of a longitudinal, integrated curriculum. The authors compare the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of students completing the CIC with those of students completing traditional third-year clerkships. ...

The comorbidity between psychiatric and substance use disorders remains an important phenomenon to understand, and an active area of investigation. The purpose of this review is to highlight key 2011 issues and novel findings on psychiatric and substance disorders comorbidity from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions ...

Oral Diseases (2012) 18, 417-419 The use of eponyms has long been contentious, but many remain in common use, as discussed elsewhere (Editorial: Oral Diseases. 2009: 15; 185). The use of eponyms in diseases of the head and neck is found mainly in specialties dealing with medically compromised individuals (paediatric ...

To describe clinical characteristics and immunotherapy responses in patients with autoimmune epilepsy. Observational, retrospective case series. Mayo Clinic Health System. Thirty-two patients with an exclusive (n=11) or predominant (n=21) seizure presentation in whom an autoimmune etiology was suspected (on the basis of neural autoantibody [91%], inflammatory cerebrospinal fluid [31%], or ...

Analysts who assess trends in medical specialty choice often use statistics published by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), but a substantial minority of new residents find their positions outside of the NRMP. Rule changes to be implemented by the NRMP in 2013 may have a substantial impact on this ...

This review discusses novel studies in the past year that have examined the use of combinations of multiple markers to improve risk prediction in the setting of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We will focus on multimarker panels to: improve prediction of CKD onset; improve classification of CKD and risk stratification ...

Expanding rates of acute kidney injury (AKI) coupled with increasing awareness of its short-term and long-term sequelae have focused efforts to identify patients at risk for this disease and its complications. This review details the recent attempts to identify novel risk factors for AKI, describes further refinements in the diagnostic ...

Tubulointerstitial injury in the kidney is complex, involving a number of independent and overlapping cellular and molecular pathways, with renal interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (IFTA) as the final common pathway. Furthermore, there are multiple ways to assess IFTA. Cells involved include tubular epithelial cells, fibroblasts, fibrocytes, myofibroblasts, monocyte/macrophages, and ...

Consider a study with binary exposure, outcome, and confounder, where the confounder is nondifferentially misclassified. Epidemiologists have long accepted the unproven but oft-cited result that, if the confounder is binary, then odds ratios, risk ratios, and risk differences that control for the mismeasured confounder will lie between the crude and ...

Studies of peptide fragment ion structures are important to aid in the accurate kinetic modeling and prediction of peptide fragmentation pathways for a given sequence. Peptide b(2)(+) ion structures have been of recent interest. While previously studied b(2)(+) ions that contain only aliphatic or simple aromatic residues are oxazolone structures, ...

Stressors ranging from nutrient deprivation to immune signaling can induce the degradation of cytoplasmic material by a process known as autophagy. Increasingly, research on autophagy has begun to focus on its role in inflammation and the immune response. Autophagy acts as an immune effector that mediates pathogen clearance. The roles ...