Although the ratio of males to females in a population is known to influence behavior in nonhuman animals, little is known about how sex ratio influences human behavior. We propose that sex ratio affects women's family planning and career choices. Using both historical data and experiments, we examined how sex ...

The conformational analysis of non-native states of proteins remains one of the most difficult problems in structural biology, since such states are represented by a superimposition of several states that are rapidly interconverting. Hence, model building of the conformational ensemble remains challenging, although many different biophysical observables can be determined ...

An eustachian valve (EV) remnant, if present, is usually noted by the presence of a thin ridge or a crescent-shaped fold of endocardium arising from the anterior rim of the inferior vena cava orifice due to the persistence of the right sinus venosus valve. Though the embryologic explanation of cor ...

The present study aims to determine whether rearing a deaf or hard-of-hearing (d/hh) child would differentiate the parenting and disciplinary preference of parents between the d/hh and the hearing child. The parenting styles of 30 hearing mothers from Cyprus were assessed using the Greek version of the Parenting Styles & ...

AIM: The purpose of this prospective multicenter clinical study was to compare 3 years implant survival, bone and soft tissue changes following immediate loading using single Osseospeed(™) implants (Astra Tech AB, Mölndal, Sweden) installed in healed ridges or extraction sockets. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Implants were provisionally restored the day of surgery ...

In a conditioning protocol, the onset of the conditioned stimulus ([CS]) provides information about when to expect reinforcement (unconditioned stimulus [US]). There are two sources of information from the CS in a delay conditioning paradigm in which the CS-US interval is fixed. The first depends on the informativeness, the degree ...

Alkyl chains were grafted onto reduced graphene oxide sheets to allow their dispersion in toluene, a common and representative non-polar solvent. The grafting occurred on a variety of oxygen-containing functionalities already present on reduced graphene oxide, such as hydroxyl and epoxide groups. The structure and the defect density of the ...

Constant overproduction of pro-inflammatory molecules leads to chronic inflammation. Unlike acute inflammation, which is essential for healing, chronic inflammation can delay healing and if left unchecked contribute to a host of diseases. There is growing evidence that some dietary factors can play important roles in maintaining health and even reversing ...

Primary effusion lymphomas (PELs) are aggressive Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV)-induced malignancies with median survival time <6 months post-diagnosis. Mutations in the TP53 gene seldom occur in PELs, suggesting that genetic alterations in the TP53 are not selected during PEL progression. We have reported that p53 reactivation by an inhibitor of ...

Abstract Purpose: Barriers to providing quality end-of-life (EOL) care in the intensive care unit (ICU) are common, but little is known about how these barriers vary by level of training or discipline. Methods: Medical residents and ICU fellows, attendings, and nurses at two teaching hospitals were surveyed about barriers to ...

Colon cancer is one of the most common malignancies, mainly initiated by the abnormal activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. In this study, we investigated the proliferation inhibitory effect of berberine on colon cancer cells and the molecular basis underlying this effect. With the viability, apoptosis and cell cycle assay, we demonstrated ...

Precise positioning and packing of nanoscale building blocks is essential for the fabrication of many nanoelectro-mechanical devices. Carrying out such manipulations at the nanoscale still remains a challenge. Here we propose the use of graphone domain arrays embedded in a graphene sheet as a template to precisely position and pack ...

BACKGROUND: The role of excess fructose intake in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has recently received increasing attention, but the pathophysiology of this relationship has been only partly elucidated. AIM: To provide an overview of the potential role played by fructose in the pathogenesis of NAFLD by ...

This article reviews the pharmacology, therapeutic efficacy and tolerability profile of intramuscularly injected onabotulinumtoxinA (onaBoNTA; BOTOX®) for headache prophylaxis in adults with chronic migraine, with a focus on UK labelling for the drug. The pharmacological actions of onaBoNTA include a direct antinociceptive (analgesic) effect; while not fully understood, the mechanism ...

A joint experimental and theoretical work is presented on two quadrupolar D-π-A-π-D chromophores characterized by the same bulky donor (D) group and two different central cores. The first chromophore, a newly synthesized species with a malononitrile-based acceptor (A) group has a V-shaped structure that makes its absorption spectrum very broad, ...

Self-stigma is a barrier to the recovery of persons with schizophrenia. Little is known about whether participation in rehabilitation is naturalistically linked to declines in self-stigma, and if so, what is correlated with changes in self-stigma. The current study examined in a quasi-experimental design the rate of change of self-stigma ...

Many-body Green function analysis and first-order perturbation theory are used to quantify the influence of size, surface reconstruction and surface treatment on exciton transport between small silicon quantum dots. Competing radiative processes are also considered in order to determine how exciton transport efficiency is influenced. The analysis shows that quantum ...

Blocked premature atrial contractions can cause bradycardia by resetting sinoatrial node and prolonging the RR intervals. Herein, we report the management of a patient with frequent premature atrial contractions in bigeminal pattern. The patient presented with symptomatic bradycardia and was successfully treated with propafenone.

Wells ("The psychology of lineup identifications," Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1984, 14, 89-103) proposed that a blank lineup (an initial lineup of known-to-be-innocent foils) can be used to screen eyewitnesses; witnesses who chose from a blank lineup (initial choosers) were more likely to make an error on a second ...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of general practitioners (GPs) follow-up of unvaccinated girls in the Danish Human Papillomavirus catch-up vaccination programme. Telephone interviews were conducted with the GPs to explore their follow-up procedure. The girls were divided into two groups: 1) girls contacted by their ...

We have previously developed a tumour tracking system, which adapts the aperture of a Siemens 160 MLC to electromagnetically monitored target motion. In this study, we exploit the use of a novel linac-mounted kilovoltage x-ray imaging system for MLC tracking. The unique in-line geometry of the imaging system allows the ...

Toward explicating associations and directionality of effects between relationship processes and a fundamental facet of health, we examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) and men and women's sleep. During two assessments, a diverse community sample of couples reported on their perpetrated acts of ...

We report the use of highly porous, dense and anisotropic TiO2 derived from electrospun TiO2-SiO2 nanostructures through titanate route in dye-sensitized solar cells. The titanate-derived TiO2 of high surface areas exhibited superior photovoltaic parameters (efficiency > 7%) in comparison to the respective electrospun TiO2 nanomaterials and commercially available P-25.

Mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) activation may be deleterious to the cardiovascular system, and MR antagonists improve morbidity and mortality of patients with heart failure. However, mineralocorticoid signaling in the heart remains largely unknown. Using a pan-genomic transcriptomic analysis, we identified neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL or lipocalin 2) as a strongly induced ...

Abstract Introduction: Advances in electronics and communications have changed modern medicine: telemedicine allows patient assessment and monitoring to facilitate healthcare at a distance. The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess how telemedicine systems, including early telemetry of electrocardiograms, can improve health outcomes ...

The work of adhesion at the interface of electrospun membrane and rigid substrate is measured by a shaft-loaded blister test (SLBT). Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) were electrospun with an average fiber diameter of 333±59 nm. Commercial cardboard with inorganic coating was used to provide a model substrate for adhesion tests. In ...

Objective: Previous research has found that therapist adherence to concrete, problem-focused cognitive therapy (CT) techniques predicts depressive symptom change (e.g., Feeley, DeRubeis, & Gelfand, 1999). More recently, Strunk, DeRubeis, Chui, and Alvarez (2007) demonstrated that in-session evidence of patients' use of CT skills was related to a lower rate of ...

A major breakthrough in <i>in vivo</i> cellular imaging has been the clinical/pre-clinical use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with contrast agent. Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) is a promising candidate for the development of smart MRI probes for cell-tracking. In the present study, we describe biodegradable probes made of giant vesicles ...

Graphene has been touted as the prototypical two-dimensional solid of extraordinary stability and strength. However, its very existence relies on out-of-plane ripples as predicted by theory and confirmed by experiments . Evidence of the intrinsic ripples has been reported in the form of broadened diffraction spots in reciprocal space, in ...

The oscillatory force profile, observed in liquids due to molecular ordering at interfaces, has been extensively investigated by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM) but it remains unclear whether molecular ordering is present at the tip apex. Using a displacement-sensitive, low-noise AFM operated in dynamic mode, with a tip of ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine 21-year longitudinal changes in dietary habits and their associations with age and marital status among women aged 50-60 years at baseline. DESIGN: Prospective, longitudinal study of a cohort in the FINMONICA population-based risk factor survey with clinical assessments in 1982, 1992 and 2003. Dietary habits were assessed ...

The Assessing Worldwide Antimicrobial Resistance Evaluation (AWARE) surveillance program is a sentinel resistance monitoring system designed to track the activity of ceftaroline and comparator agents. In the United States, a total of 8,434 isolates were collected during the 2010 surveillance program from 65 medical centers distributed across the nine census ...

Cronobacter dublinensis (formerly Enterobacter sakazakii) HPB 3169 is a pathogenic Gram-negative bacterium that produces a smooth-type lipopolysaccharide in which the antigenic O-polysaccharide component was determined to be a repeating pentasaccharide unit composed of l-rhamnose; 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucose; 3,6-dideoxy-3-(R)-3-hydroxybutyramido-d-glucose; and 3-deoxy-manno-oct-2-ulosonic acid in the respective molar ratio 2:1:1:1. Chemical and 2D NMR analyses ...

Abstract Providing outcome monitoring feedback to therapists seems to be a promising approach to improve outcomes in clinical practice. This study aims to examine the effect of feedback and investigate whether it is moderated by therapist characteristics. Patients (n=413) were randomly assigned to either a feedback or a no-feedback control ...

By incorporating the solvent effect into the Born effective radius, an electronegativity scale of metal ions in aqueous solution with the most common oxidation states and hydration coordination numbers has been proposed in terms of the effective ionic electrostatic potential. It is found that the metal ions in aqueous solution ...

Development of colon cancer is a multistep process that is regulated by intrinsic and extrinsic cellular signals. Extrinsic factors include molecular patterns that are derived from either pathogens (PAMPs) or cellular damage (DAMPs). These molecules can promote tumourigenesis by activation of the innate immune system, but the individual contribution of ...

A modified InChI (International Chemical Identifier) string scheme, yaInChI (yet another InChI), is suggested as a method for including the structural information of a given molecule, making it straightforward and more easily readable. The yaInChI theme is applicable for checking the structural identity with higher sensitivity and generating three-dimensional (3-D) ...

Aim:  To evaluate the putative protective role of chrysin, an isoflavone, on d-galactose-induced aging in an experimental rat model. Methods:  Rats were divided into five groups of five each. Group I received 0.9% saline only. Groups II, III and IV received d-galactose (50 mg/kg bodyweight) intraperitoneally, additionally group III and group IV received chrysin (20 mg/kg ...

The emergence of multidrug-resistant Salmonella isolates has created the need for new therapeutic agents. We evaluated the intracellular activity of four carbapenem compounds against clinical nontyphoid Salmonella (NTS) isolates in vitro and ex vivo. Subsequently, the efficacy of carbapenem treatment against selected Salmonella isolates in vivo was assessed using a ...

The SHIELD-HIT Monte Carlo transport code has been widely used in particle therapy, but has previously shown some discrepancies, when compared with experimental data. In this work, the inelastic nuclear cross sections of SHIELD-HIT are calibrated to experimental data for carbon ions. In addition, the models for nuclear fragmentation were ...

Objectives  To evaluate persistence of several Plasmodium antigens in pregnant women after treatment and compare diagnostics during treatment follow-up. Methods  Thirty-two pregnant women (N = 32) with confirmed malaria infection by a histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2)-based rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopy were followed for 28 days after artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). A ...

We show that the morphology of a thin polymer film spin coated directly on to a topographically patterned substrate is strongly influenced by the wettability of the substrate, in addition to other well known parameters such as concentration of the polymer solution (cn), spin speed (RPM), and spin duration. Similar ...

Differential phase-contrast computed tomography (DPC-CT) is a novel x-ray inspection method. Currently, DPC-CT reconstruction problems are solved by using parallel-beam, fan-beam and cone-beam algorithms. The above algorithms cannot show the internal structures of rod-shaped objects well enough for only reconstructing a few slices. The helical cone-beam algorithms have significant advantages ...

Background:  Neurobehçet disease (NBD) is a rare complication of Behçet disease (BD) but with important burdens of morbidity and mortality. Little is known about this complication because there are no validated diagnostic criteria, and all the studies have small number of patients. The prevalence reported normally ranges between 5% and ...

Panax notoginseng is a common Chinese herb extensively used in Chinese medical practice for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of Panax notoginseng flower extract (PNFE) on the TGF-β/Smad signal transduction pathway in heart remodeling of human chymase transgenic mice. After treatment with ...

HIV-associated tuberculous meningitis (TBM) has high mortality. Aside from the devastating impact of multidrug resistance (MDR) on survival, little is understood about the influence of other bacterial factors on outcome. This study examined the influence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance, bacterial lineage, and host vaccination status on outcome in patients ...

The misfolding and aggregation of amyloid-ß (Aß) peptides into amyloid fibrils in solution and on the cell membrane has been linked to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Although it is well known that the presence of different surfaces can accelerate the aggregation of Aß peptides into fibrils, surface-induced conformation, orientation, ...

Traditional approaches within the framework of signal detection theory (SDT; Green & Swets, 1966), especially in the field of recognition memory, assume that the positioning of response criteria is not a noisy process. Recent work (Benjamin, Diaz, & Wee, 2009; Mueller & Weidemann, 2008) has challenged this assumption, arguing not ...

An easy and expeditious route to substituted piperidines is described. A Ni-phosphine complex was used as catalyst for [4 + 2] cycloaddition of 3-azetidinone and alkynes. The reaction has broad substrate scope and affords piperidines in excellent yields and excellent regioselectivity. In the reaction of an enantiopure azetidinone, complete retention ...

Pituitary antibodies have been reported with greater frequency in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis than in healthy controls, although there is significant variability in the strength of the association and the methodologies used. We designed a nested case-control study to characterize the prevalence of pituitary antibodies at the time of the ...