Inflammation is an essential component for glial scar formation. However, the upstream mediator(s) that triggers the process has not been identified. Previously, we showed that the expression of CD36, an inflammatory mediator, occurs in a subset of astcotyes in the peri-infarct area where the glial scar forms. This study investigates ...

OBJECTIVES: To describe results from our 'modified crossover technique' for vascular access management during transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). BACKGROUND: Vascular access management remains a major cause of complications following TAVI due to the large bore sheaths required. METHODS: All suitable patients undergoing TAVI in our center, between June and ...

We report an unusual alignment behavior of liquid crystals (LCs) on well-ordered comb-like poly(oxyethylene) surfaces. The homeotropic LC alignments that are observed on as-coated surfaces of the polymers are transformed to the random planar type after annealing treatment, even though the molecular structure of the polymer surface becomes more ordered ...

The clinical efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of movement disorders depends on the identification of appropriate stimulation parameters. Since the mechanisms of action of DBS remain unclear, programming sessions can be time consuming, costly and result in sub-optimal outcomes. Measurement of electrically evoked compound action potentials ...

INTRODUCTION: Hirschsprung's disease is the commonest congenital gut motility disorder, characterized by the absence of the enteric ganglion cells along the distal gut, which causes intestinal obstruction. Few publications report its epidemiology and temporal trends. METHODS: Cases of Hirschsprung's disease delivered during 1990 to 2008 in the North of England ...

Stress and stress-related psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, are associated with disruptions in sensory information processing. The neuropeptide, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), coordinates the physiological and behavioral responses to stress, in part, by activating the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) projection system. Although the LC-NE system is an important modulator of sensory ...

Abstract Autonomic manifestations regarding cardiac function in epilepsy are not rare and are being recognized with increasing frequency. The aim of this study was to assess autonomic function by measuring heart rate recovery (HRR), an index of vagal activity, in patients with epilepsy who were not taking any medication. Fourteen ...

Getting a charge out of lithium: The naphthalene derivative NTCDA is used to demonstrate a novel lithium ion insertion model in which each ring carbon atom can reversibly accept a lithium ion, giving discharge capacities of up to nearly 2000 mA h g(-1) . This method provides a new strategy for the ...

There has been rapid adoption of newer radiation treatments such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and proton therapy despite greater cost and limited demonstrated benefit compared with previous technologies. To determine the comparative morbidity and disease control of IMRT, proton therapy, and conformal radiation therapy for primary prostate cancer treatment. ...

Genome-wide association (GWA) studies of complex diseases including coronary heart disease (CHD) challenge investigators attempting to identify relevant genetic variants among hundreds of thousands of markers being tested. A selection strategy based purely on statistical significance will result in many false negative findings after adjustment for multiple testing. Thus, an ...

There is considerable interest in identifying pharmacological compounds that could be used to facilitate fear extinction. Recently, we showed that the modulation of M-type K(+) channels regulates the intrinsic excitability of infralimbic (IL) neurons and fear expression. As muscarinic acetylcholine receptors inhibit M-type K(+) channels, cholinergic inputs to IL may ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of thousands of genes in a broad range of organisms in both normal physiological contexts and in disease contexts. miRNA expression profiling is gaining popularity because miRNAs, as key regulators in gene expression networks, can influence many biological processes and ...

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a main therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases. Within the last two decades, novel components of the RAS have been discovered, opening new opportunities to interfere with its activity. Angiotensin(Ang)-(1-7) is synthesized by angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), and interacts with the G-protein-coupled receptor Mas. The axis ...

Most cancer deaths are due to the development of metastases and this phenomenon is still a hard challenge for researchers. A number of theories have tried to unravel the metastatic machinery, but definitive results that link the evidence with conventional concepts of metastatic disease remain to be reported. AREAS COVERED: ...

Two families of nucleoside analogs have been developed to treat viral infections and cancer, but these compounds can cause tissue- and cell-specific toxicity related to their uptake and subcellular activity, which are dictated by host enzymes and transporters. Cellular uptake of these compounds requires nucleoside transporters that share functional similarities ...

Tea, made from the dried leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis Theaceae, is a very popular beverage consumed worldwide. Recently, green tea extract-based dietary supplements have also been widely consumed for the acclaimed beneficial health effects, such as weight reduction. Although tea consumption is considered to be innocuous, the potential ...

Drug transporter proteins are expressed on the cell membrane, regulating substrate exposure in systemic circulation and/or peripheral tissues. Genetic polymorphism of drug transporter genes encoding these proteins could alter the functional activity and/or protein expression, having effects on absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME), efficacy and adverse effects. AREAS COVERED: ...

There is a lack of high-quality data regarding optimal chemotherapy dosage regimens among infants. Dosing regimens for chemotherapy during the first year of life are commonly based on empiric recommendations extrapolated from older children; however, balancing efficacy and toxicity is critical as severe adverse drug reactions may lead to treatment ...

Numerous randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in first tier medical journals have evaluated the health effects of diets high in protein. We conducted a rigorous systematic review of RCTs comparing higher- and lower-protein diets. We searched several electronic databases up to July 2011 for studies focusing on patient-important outcomes (for ...

The angiogenic inhibitor TNP-470 attenuates high-fat diet-induced obesity; however, it is not clear how the compound alters energy balance to prevent weight gain. Five-week-old C57BL/6J mice were fed high-fat diet (45% energy from fat) for 6.5 weeks and treated with TNP-470 (20 mg/kg body weight; n = 7) or vehicle ...

The cyclization and planarization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with concomitant oxygen substitution was achieved through acid catalyzed transetherification and oxygen-radical reactions. The triptycene scaffold enforces proximity of the alcohol and arene reacting partners and confers significant rigidity to the resulting π-system, expanding the tool set of iptycenes for materials applications.

A procedure has been developed for calculating permeability (k) from the Kozeny-Carman equation, a procedure that links ideas from percolation theory with the ideas of Koltermann and Gorelick (1995) and Esselburn et al. (2011). The approach focuses on the proportion of coarser pores that are occupied by finer sediments relative ...

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have found a link between body tattoos or piercings and risky behavior. However, these studies only examined survey data but not real behavior. METHODS: Young men (mean = 20.6 years) and women (mean = 20.2 years) leaving a bar were asked whether they wore tattoos and piercings or not and were requested to ...

Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma (HSTL) is a rare entity mostly derived from γδ T cells with a usually fatal outcome. Its pathogenesis remains largely unknown. HSTL samples (7γδ, 2αβ) and the DERL2 HSTL-cell line were subject to combined gene expression profiling and array-based comparative genomic hybridization. HSTL disclosed a distinct molecular ...

The advent of second-generation sequencing has made it possible to quickly and economically generate whole mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequences. To date, mitogenome studies of nonmodel organisms have demonstrated increased power for resolving interspecies relationships. We explored an alternate use of such data to recover relationships and population history of closely ...

Several novel nanoparticle composites were conveniently obtained by appropriately reacting freshly produced aerosol metal nanoparticles with soluble organic components. A serial reactor consisting of a spark particle generator coupled to a collison atomizer was used to fabricate the new materials, which included nanomagnetosols (comprising iron nanoparticles, the drug ketoprofen, and ...

Background: Residual shunting and mortality are problems associated with current surgical repair techniques for post-infarction ventricular septal defects.Methods: We describe the mid-term results of the "sandwich technique" to repair a post-infarction ventricular septal defect (VSD), performed via a right ventricle incision. Application of direct ultrasonography to the right ventricular wall ...

ABSTRACT: In this paper we report the synthesis of some novel 1,2,4- triazolo[1,5-a]pyridines and azolotriazolopyridines ring systems. The products were screened for various types of activity like antibacterial, anti-fungal and antioxidative activity. Compound 13 was found to pose an antioxidative activity. In addition, this compound was found to extend the ...

Treatment options for chronic renal artery dissection, which is a rare cause of renal artery stenosis and renovascular hypertension, such as medical management, percutaneous intervention, and open surgical repair remain controversial. We describe a 55-year-old man with a chronic dissecting aneurysm of a renal artery complicated with renovascular hypertension that ...

Enlarged early endosomes have been observed in neurons and fibroblasts in Down syndrome (DS). These endosome abnormalities have been implicated in the early development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology in these subjects. Here, we show the presence of enlarged endosomes in blood mononuclear cells and lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from ...

Aim  To evaluate various screening criteria for pre-diabetes to identify which combination of impaired fasting glucose and elevated HbA(1c) values performs most effectively in predicting future diabetes in a large cohort of Japanese individuals. Methods  The study included 4670 men and 1571 women without diabetes (diabetes: fasting plasma glucose ≥ 7.0 mmol/l, ...

A best evidence topic in cardiothoracic surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether performing microwave ablative procedures during concomitant cardiac surgical procedures is effective for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). In total, 200 papers were found using the reported search, of which 12 ...

Purpose: Medication errors remain a threat to patient safety. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among characteristics of the nursing practice environment, nurse staffing levels, nurses' error interception practices, and rates of nonintercepted medication errors in acute care hospitals. Design: This study, using a nonexperimental ...

Ecological risk assessments (ERA) of chemicals are often based on mortality and reproduction of individuals. To protect populations, fixed safety factors are applied to the data. However, the relationship between individuals and populations cannot easily be described by pre-defined numbers. The use of population models may reduce uncertainty and, hence, ...

Background: With respect to survival and local disease control, the adequate extent of lymph node dissection for melanoma metastasis to the groin is controversial. Since the methods for accurate quantification of leg oedemas are not well standardised, it remains also unclear whether the iliac part of a radical ilioinguinal lymph ...

New developments in digital mirror devices (DMDs) require suspension hinges with a good damping and high temperature stability. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) offer these unique properties. Herein it is shown how CNT hinges can be integrated in micromirrors. The image illustrates a micromirror with a CNT suspension, and a typical overdamped ...

Dry eye is one of the most prevalent eye diseases and dry eye disease (DED) is associated with ocular surface inflammation. The interaction between killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) and human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) regulates the activation of natural killer (NK) cells and certain T cell subsets in response to ...

BackgroundBardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) is an emblematic recessive genetically highly heterogeneous ciliopathy characterised mainly by polydactyly, retinitis pigmentosa, obesity, cognitive impairment, and kidney dysfunction. The 16 BBS genes known to date are implied in the primary cilia related cellular pathways.Methods and resultsSingle nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis followed by exome sequencing ...

Revealing the uptake, transport, localization and speciation of both essential and toxic elements in plants is important for understanding plant homeostasis and metabolism, subsequently, providing information for food and nutrient studies, agriculture activities, as well as environmental research. In the last decade, emerging techniques for elemental imaging and speciation analysis ...

ObjectiveThe neurobiological mechanisms of structural brain abnormalities in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) remain poorly understood. In particular, little is known about the changes in and the recovery of gray matter (GM) volumes after weight gain and the relation to hormonal normalization in adolescent patients with AN.MethodsNineteen female patients aged ...

Surfactin is a biological surfactant with numerous potential applications. In this study, Bacillus subtilis was engineered to improve surfactin production by the activation of two competence-stimulating pheromones, ComX and competence and sporulation factor (CSF) to stimulate the transcription of srfA operon. Both signaling factors, encoded by comX and phrC, were ...

Background: Maternal periodontal disease diagnosed by a detailed oral health examination is associated with preeclampsia. Our objective was to measure the association between maternal self-report of oral symptoms/problems, oral hygiene practices, and/or dental service utilization prior to or during pregnancy and severe preeclampsia. Methods: A written questionnaire was administered to ...

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is one of the most aggressive B-cell lymphomas with a median patient survival of only five to seven years. The failure of existing therapies is mainly due to disease relapse when therapy-resistant tumor cells remain after chemotherapy. Therefore, development and testing of novel therapeutic strategies to ...

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been shown to home to tumor tissues, where they promote tumor growth and suppress immune rejection. In this study, we tested whether MSCs engineered to express the immune stimulating factor LIGHT, a member of the tumor-necrosis factor superfamily, could induce tumor regression. Using ...

The sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus) is able to withstand a wide range of salinities. Salinity acclimation involves physiological and biochemical changes, which may influence how organisms then respond to a stressor. The present study investigated effects of salinity acclimation on subsequent Cu toxicity. In experiment 1, fish were acclimated to ...

In modern day drug discovery campaigns, computational chemists have to be concerned not only about improving the potency of molecules but also reducing any off-target ADMET activity. There are a plethora of anti-targets that computational chemists may have to consider. Fortunately many anti-targets have crystal structures deposited in the PDB. ...

In the continuously growing field of industrial biotechnology the scale-up from lab to industrial scale is still a major hurdle to develop competitive bioprocesses. During scale-up the productivity of single cells might be affected by bioreactor inhomogeneity and population heterogeneity. Currently, these complex interactions are difficult to investigate. In this ...

Background. Pressure ulcers are a serious and frequently occurring complication in patients with a traumatic spinal cord injury. The purpose of the article is to consider the causes of pressure ulcers and how to prevent them. Method. The article is based on a non-systematic search in the PubMed database and ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Microneedles made from silica fiberoptics permit transmission and collection of light, which is an important functional advantage over metal or silicon microneedles. This added functionality may enhance or even enable new percutaneous light-based clinical diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Micron-diameter fiberoptic microneedles, created from solid fibers capable of ...

We describe droplet microfluidic strategies used to fabricate advanced microparticles that are useful structures for the encapsulation and release of actives; these strategies can be further developed to produce microparticles for advanced drug delivery applications. Microfluidics enables exquisite control in the fabrication of polymer vesicles and thermosensitive microgels from single ...