It is vital that patients understand the language used in leaflets in medicine packages and in information for participation in medical research. The aim of the study was to determine the proportion of Danes with reading skills corresponding to 9-10 years of schooling who understand the language used by health-care ...

OBJECTIVES: Phosphodiesterase 9 (PDE9) is a major isoform of phosphodiesterase hydrolysing cGMP and plays a key role in proliferation of cells, their differentiation and apoptosis, via intracellular cGMP signalling. The study described here was designed to investigate expression, activity and apoptotic effect of PDE9 on human breast cancer cell lines, ...

Respiratory motion may lead to dose errors when treating thoracic and abdominal tumours with radiotherapy. The interplay between complex multileaf collimator patterns and patient respiratory motion could result in unintuitive dose changes. We have developed a treatment reconstruction simulation computer code that accounts for interplay effects by combining multileaf collimator ...

The recent steep increase in population dose from radiation-based medical diagnostics, such as computed tomography (CT) scans, requires insight into human health risks, especially in terms of cancer development. Since the induction of genetic damage is considered a prominent cause underlying the carcinogenic potential of ionizing radiation, we quantified the ...

WW domain-containing transcription regulator 1 (WWTR1) was initially identified as a transcriptional coactivator involved in the differentiation of stem cells as well as the development of multiple organs. Recently, WWTR1 has also been identified as a major component of the novel Hippo signalling pathway important for the development of breast ...

Ferromagnetic [n-BuNH(3)](12)[(CuCl)(6)(SbW(9)O(33))(2)]·6H(2)O (1) and antiferromagnetic [n-BuNH(3)](12)[(MnCl)(6)(AsW(9)O(33))(2)]·6H(2)O (4) have been synthesized and structurally and magnetically characterized. Two complexes are structural analogues of [n-BuNH(3)](12)[(CuCl)(6)(AsW(9)O(33))(2)]·6H(2)O (2) and [n-BuNH(3)](12)[(MnCl)(6)(SbW(9)O(33))(2)]·6H(2)O (3) with their ferromagnetic interactions, first reported by us in 2006. (1) When variable temperature (T) direct current (dc) magnetic susceptibility (χ(M)) data are analyzed ...

Dyslipidemia has been associated with an increased risk for developing cancer. However, the implicated mechanisms are largely unknown. To explore the role of dyslipidemia in breast cancer growth and metastasis, we used the apolipoprotein E (ApoE) knockout mice (ApoE(-/-)), which exhibit marked dyslipidemia, with elevated circulating cholesterol and triglyceride levels ...

Background:  The efficacy of early intervention programs for children with autism has been emphasized in many studies. However, access people with autism to professional services in Poland is very limited and the burden of supporting child's development often falls on parents, especially in families with low socio-economical status and families ...

Syntheses, structures, and properties of univalent coinage metal 2-methylimidazolate supramolecular isomers [M(mim)] (1, M = Cu; 2, M = Ag) were investigated in detail. In addition to the known isomers, namely, zigzag chains [Cu(mim)] (1a) and [Ag(mim)] (2a), molecular octagon [Cu(8)(mim)(8)]·C(6)H(6) (1b), decagon [Cu(10)(mim)(10)]·C(8)H(10) (1c), helical chain [Ag(4)(mim)(4)]·C(6)H(6) (2b), and ...

Endogenous molecules released by dying cells [i.e., damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)] after trauma and severe blood loss can activate pattern recognition receptors, leading to a cascade of inflammatory responses and organ injury. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is a transcription factor for mitochondrial DNA. TFAM is structurally related to high ...

Abstract New series of quinazoline containing sulfonamide derivatives were prepared and screened for their antitumor activity. Four human cancer cell lines, namely, hepatoma cancer cell line (HepG2), breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), cervix cancer cell line (HeLa) and colon cancer cell line (HCT-8), were used to measure the cytotoxic activity. ...

Please cite this paper as: van Oostwaard M, Langenveld J, Bijloo R, Wong K, Scholten I, Loix S, Hukkelhoven C, Vergouwe Y, Papatsonis D, Mol B, Ganzevoort W. Prediction of recurrence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy between 34 and 37 weeks of gestation: a retrospective cohort study. BJOG 2012; DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2012.03312.x ...

Background and Aims: Many studies have focused on the role of pathogen infection in hypertension (HT). It has been postulated that increased vascular tonus in HT is basically related to the imbalance between vasodilator, such as nitric oxide (NO), and vasoconstrictor, such as endothelin-1 (ET-1), substances secreted by endothelium. The ...

The possibility of the multichannel stochastic model to adequately describe all principal regularities observed in thermal electron transfer kinetics has been demonstrated. The most important are (i) the model predicts the solvent controlled regime in the Marcus normal region and its almost full suppression in the Marcus inverted region as ...

Hybrid metallodielectric systems where dielectric components are combined with metals supporting surface plasmons are able to spatially redistribute the electromagnetic field intensity within its volume through hybrid photonic-plasmonic modes. While most of the work done recently in this kind of systems has been focused on the way such redistribution takes ...

The inducible heat shock protein (HSP)72 plays a central role in antitumor immunomodulation. HSP72 expression was assessed on tumor samples of 43 patients with advanced and metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) by immunohistochemistry and HSP72 [HSPA1B A(1267)G] polymorphism was determined. HSP72 expression of SCLC cells was significantly decreased in ...

We investigate the nature of the solvent motions giving rise to the rapid temperature dependence of protein picoseconds motions at 220 K, often referred to as the protein dynamical transition. The interdependence of picoseconds dynamics on hydration and temperature is examined using terahertz time domain spectroscopy to measure the complex ...

Vascular endothelial cells contain unique storage organelles, designated Weibel-Palade bodies (WPBs) that deliver inflammatory and hemostatic mediators to the vascular lumen in response to agonists like thrombin and vasopressin. The main component of WPBs is von Willebrand factor (VWF), a multimeric glycoprotein crucial for platelet plug formation. In addition to ...

Abstract Investigators require intuitive tools to rationalize complex datasets generated by transcriptional profiling experiments. Pathway analysis methods, in which differentially expressed genes are mapped to databases of reference pathways to facilitate assessment of relative enrichment, lead investigators more effectively to biologically testable hypotheses. However, once a set of differentially expressed ...

Persistence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains a significant challenge for the effective treatment of tuberculosis in humans. In animals that develop necrotic lung lesions following infection with M. tuberculosis, drug-tolerant bacilli are present and persist in an extracellular microenvironment within the necrotic cores. In this study, we examined the efficacy of ...

Aim:  We carried out a prospective cohort study to evaluate the risk factors of functional disability by depressive state. Methods:  A total of 783 men and women, aged 70 years and over, participated in this study. We followed the participants in terms of the onset of functional disability by using a ...

Xylan-rich hemicelluloses-based hydrogel was developed as a novel porous bioadsorbent by graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) and xylan-rich hemicelluloses for adsorption of heavy metal ions (Pd2+, Cd2+, and Zn2+) from aqueous solutions. The chemical structure, the interaction between the hydrogel and metal ions and the porous structure of xylan-rich ...

Molecular functions of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) or intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), such as molecular recognition and cellular signaling, are ascribed to dynamic changes in the conformational space in response to binding of target molecules. Sortase, a transpeptitase in Gram-positive bacteria, has an IDR in a loop which undergoes a ...

Pemetrexed/cyclophosphamide was evaluated as first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced/metastatic breast cancer. In this randomized phase II study (NCT00190671), therapy consisted of either 600 mg/m(2) (P600) or 1,800 mg/m(2) (P1800) pemetrexed, followed by 600 mg/m(2) cyclophosphamide, every 21 days; 103 females (42 P600; 61 P1800) were enrolled. P600 was ...

In recent years, it has been reported that CHFR may be a useful biomarker for chemotherapeutic response to microtubule inhibitors in some tumor cells. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis and to elucidate the underlying mechanism in endometrial cancer cells. First, we effectively inhibited CHFR ...

Abstract -  Background/Aim: There have been many reports on the discomfort of speech when wearing oral appliances. Fricatives articulated in an oral cavity can be difficult to pronounce when oral appliances are worn, because the oral cavity is partially changed by their installation. Sibilant /s/, one fricative, is especially difficult to pronounce ...

In vitro production of porcine embryos by means of in vitro fertilization (IVF) or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is limited by great inefficienciy. The present study investigated chromatin and nucleolar dynamics in porcine embryos developed in vivo (IV) and compared this physiological standard to that of embryos produced by ...

Abstract This effectiveness study explored the outcomes of 187 clients seen by 187 students undergoing baseline training in psychotherapy. Clients reduced their symptoms (SCL-90) and increased their positive self-image (SASB introject) during the therapy. Multiple regression analyses showed no differences between the cognitive and the psychodynamic training approaches and no ...

The negative ion chemistry of five azine molecules has been investigated using the combined experimental techniques of negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy to obtain electron affinities (EA) and tandem flowing afterglow-selected ion tube (FA-SIFT) mass spectrometry to obtain deprotonation enthalpies (Δ(acid)H(298)). The measured Δ(acid)H(298) for the most acidic site of each ...

Natural estrogens such as estradiol (E(2)) or its valerate ester (E(2)V) offer an alternative to ethinyl estradiol (EE). E(2)-containing combined oral contraceptives (COCs) have demonstrated sufficient ovulation inhibition and acceptable contraceptive efficacy. However, earlier formulations were generally associated with unacceptable bleeding profiles. Two E(2)V-containing preparations have been approved to date ...

Certain correspondences between the sound and meaning of words can be observed in subsets of the vocabulary. These sound-symbolic relationships have been suggested to result in easier language acquisition, but previous studies have explicitly tested effects of sound symbolism on learning category distinctions but not on word learning. In 2 ...

Aim  Neurocutaneous melanocytosis is a rare neurocutaneous syndrome defined by the presence of large and/or multiple congenital cutaneous nevi and melanocytic deposits in the central nervous system. We sought to define the spectrum of central nervous system abnormalities in children with neurocutaneous melanocytosis. Method  We retrospectively reviewed cases of neurocutaneous ...

Current views of hypothetical thinking implicitly assume that the content of imaginary thoughts about the past and future should be the same. Two experiments show that, given the same experienced facts of reality, future imagination may differ from past reconstruction. When participants failed a task, their counterfactual thoughts focused on ...

Abstract A new species of Heligmonellidae nematode, Guerrerostrongylus gomesae n. sp., is described from specimens collected from the small intestine of the rodent Oecomys mamorae Thomas, 1906 in the Brazilian Pantanal. It differs from the two other species of the genus by the number of ridges in the synlophe 35-46 ...

The overtraining extinction effect (OEE), a phenomenon in which extended training facilitates extinction, has been found in mammals and reptiles. However, fish have never shown OEE. No study has yet investigated OEE in newts, a representative amphibian species. We tested whether newts, Cynops pyrrhogaster, show OEE in a straight-array task. ...

Emissions from ocean going vessels (OGVs) are a significant health concern for people near port communities. This paper reports the emission benefits for two mitigation strategies, cleaner engines and cleaner fuels, for a 2010 container vessel. In-use emissions were measured following International Organization for Standardization (ISO) protocols. The overall in-use ...

ABSTRACT: This paper describes a simple approach to emergency burr hole evacuation of extra-axial intracranial haematoma that can be used in the uncommon situation when life saving specialist neurosurgical intervention is not available.

Biphasic solid state composites of the type metal/metal oxide or element/element oxide can be synthesized in one pot chemical reactions using so called molecular "single source precursors". Due to their singular genesis these composites show peculiar hetero-structures based on core-shell hierarchies such as superlattices and composite nanospheres or nanowires. They ...

We investigated the effects of quercetin on 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced oxidative stress and the expression of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 in mice. Quercetin was administered orally to mice at 100 or 250 mg/kg BW for 18 days, after which DMBA (34 mg/kg BW) was administered intragastrically twice. Quercetin showed side effects such as increased ...

III-V growth and surface conditions strongly influence the physical structure and resulting optical properties of self-assembled quantum dots (QDs). Beyond the design of a desired active optical wavelength, the polarization response of QDs is of particular interest for optical communications and quantum information science. Previous theoretical studies based on a ...

Oxidative stress is a risk factor for chronic diseases and was previously shown to be independently associated with obesity. The authors investigated the relationship between body mass index (BMI), age and oxidative stress on 2190 subjects undergoing a health care examination. Total antioxidant status (TAS), total peroxides (TOC) and autoantibodies ...

A new carbazole-based 90° dipyridyl donor 3,6-di(4-pyridylethynyl)carbazole (L) containing carbazole-ethynyl functionality is synthesized in reasonable yield using the Sonagashira coupling reaction. Multinuclear NMR, electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), including single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis characterized this 90° building unit. The stoichiometry combination of L with several Pd(II)/Pt(II)-based 90° acceptors (1a-1d) yielded ...

A systematic study on the optical properties of 14 natural quinolizidine-alkaloids in condense phase, their N (1)-protonated forms and synthetic intermediates is presented. The theoretical calculations of the electronic absorption spectra and specific optical rotation allow identification in mixtures. The data are correlated with experimental measurements of electronic absorption spectra. ...

We investigated the characteristics of serial order learning in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Five marmosets were trained in a sequential responding task in which they were required to touch four graphic patterns in a given order (A→B→C→D) to obtain a reward. All five marmosets learned the task with over 65% ...

Abstract Abstract Iatrogenic injury to the maxillary sinus membrane is a common complication during direct sinus lift procedures. The most common cause being the perforation of the Schneiderian membrane using a tungsten-carbide round bur no.6. We propose a safe technique by using an acrylic stone trimmer to create a window ...

Background and purpose:  Existing epidemiological studies of Myasthenia Gravis have generally examined small populations. Few national studies have been conducted, and published incidence and prevalence rates vary widely. We report one of the largest national studies of Myasthenia Gravis and the first incidence and prevalence rates for Australia. Methods:  Prescriptions ...

The current study focuses on the relationship between alerting and executive attention. Previous studies reported an increased flanker congruency effect following alerting cues. In the first two experiments, we found that the alertness-congruency interaction did not exist for all executive tasks (it appeared for a flanker task but not for ...

The cylindromatosis gene (CYLD) encodes a deubiquitinase that was initially identified as a tumor suppressor and has recently been investigated in connection with a variety of normal physiological processes. In contrast to its cell-proliferative activity, the effect of CYLD protein on cell migration has been a matter of debate. We ...

Pharmacokinetic differences between piperaquine (PQ) base and PQ tetraphosphate were investigated in 34 Papua New Guinean children aged 5 to 10 years treated for uncomplicated malaria with artemisinin-PQ (ART-PQ) base or dihydroartemisinin-PQ (DHA-PQ) tetraphosphate. Twelve children received ART-PQ base (two daily doses of 3 mg of ART and 18 mg ...

Abstract Although somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a promising tool, its potential use is hampered by the high mortality rates during the development to term of cloned offspring. Abnormal epigenetic reprogramming of donor nuclei after SCNT is thought to be the main cause of this low efficiency. We hypothesized ...