HLA-NET (a European COST Action) aims at networking researchers working in bone marrow transplantation, epidemiology and population genetics to improve the molecular characterization of the HLA genetic diversity of human populations, with an expected strong impact on both public health and fundamental research. Such improvements involve finding consensual strategies to ...

Short-term and working memory (WM) capacities are subject to change with ageing, both in normal older adults and in patients with degenerative or non-degenerative neurological disease. Few normative data are available for comparisons of short-term and WM capacities in the verbal, spatial and visual domains. To provide researchers and clinicians ...

Simple application of negative suction drains through the umbilicus during transaxillary breast augmentation obtained a more natural drainage and an easier positioning of the drain at the dependant portions than placement of the drains at the transaxillary incision site. Moreover, the patient was more satisfied due to increased comfort while ...

Hepatic stem cell niche plays an important role in hepatic oval cell-mediated liver regeneration. As a component of hepatic stem cell niche, the role of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in oval cell proliferation needs further studies. In the present study, we isolated HSCs from rats at indicated time point after ...

BACKGROUND: Cardiac disorders are very common in individuals with chronic kidney disease and are associated with morbimortality. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate cardiac alterations after kidney transplantation. METHODS: We prospectively evaluated 40 patients with chronic kidney disease, immediately before and one month, three months and six months after kidney transplantation, using tissue ...

Sulphur is an essential macronutrient for plant growth, development and response to various abiotic and biotic stresses due to its key role in the biosynthesis of many S-containing compounds. Sulphate represents a very small portion of soil S pull and it is the only form that plant roots can uptake ...

Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) (carboxypeptidase B2) is a plasma zymogen that is biosynthesised in the liver and released into the circulation. Activated TAFI is a prothrombotic factor which inhibits fibrin clot lysis. Cultured human hepatoma HepG2 cells were treated with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)α, β or γ agonists, and the ...

The development of DNA sequencing methods for characterizing microbial communities has evolved rapidly over the past decades. To evaluate more traditional, as well as newer methodologies for DNA library preparation and sequencing, we compared fosmid, short-insert shotgun and 454 pyrosequencing libraries prepared from the same metagenomic DNA samples. GC content ...

BACKGROUND: Syndromic craniosynostosis (SC) is associated with a high prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). However, it remains unclear whether non-syndromic craniosynostosis (NSC) is associated with an increased risk for SDB. SETTING: This study was conducted at a tertiary referral pediatric medical center. METHODS: A prospective polysomnographic (PSG) evaluation was conducted ...

Abstract People living with HIV (PWHIV) face negative attitudes that isolate and discourage them from accessing services. Understanding negative attitudes and the social environment can lead to more effective health promotion strategies and programs. However, a scale to measure attitudes has been lacking. We developed and validated attitudes toward PWHIV ...

Allogeneic marrow transplantation offers curative therapy for children with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA). We report the outcomes of 148 children with SAA who received human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-matched related marrow grafts between 1971 and 2010. Patients were divided into three groups, reflecting changes in conditioning and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis ...

A joint working group established by the Haemato-oncology subgroup of the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) and the British Society for Bone Marrow Transplantation (BSBMT) has reviewed the available literature and made recommendations for the diagnosis and management of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). This guideline includes recommendations for ...

The authors describe three anatomic variations, circumaortic, retroaortic left renal vein, and retropelvic tributary of the renal vein, in Japanese cadavers. The incidences and the clinical significances of these variations are discussed with a detailed review of the literature. The median incidences of circumaortic left renal vein (CLRV) were 7.0 % ...

Abstract Objectives: An economic evaluation was conducted to assess the outcomes and costs as well as cost-effectiveness of the following grass-pollen immunotherapies: OA (Oralair) versus GRZ (Grazax), and ALD (Alk Depot SQ)† (immunotherapy agents alongside symptomatic medication) and symptomatic treatment alone for grass pollen allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Methods: The costs and ...

Bioaugmentation for the removal of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from wastewater using bacteria and yeasts is considered environment-friendly and a cost-effective technique. The effectiveness of this biodegradation system depends on the stability of inoculated microorganisms and the availability of nutrients. This study is aimed to investigate the removal of high molecular ...

To contribute to our understanding of the relationship between philosophical ideas and medical and healthcare models. A diachronic analysis is put in place in order to evaluate, from an innovative perspective, the influence over the centuries on medical and healthcare models of two philosophical concepts, particularly relevant for health: how ...

Munc18-1 was originally described as an essential docking factor in chromaffin cells. Recent findings showed that Munc18-1 has an additional role in the regulation of the cortical F-actin network, which is thought to function as a physical barrier preventing secretory vesicles from access to their release sites under resting conditions. ...

The discovery of large numbers of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been driven by genome-wide transcriptional analyses. Compared to small ncRNAs, lncRNAs have been shown to harbor biological activities, but the functions of the great majority of lncRNAs are not known. There is growing evidence that lncRNAs can regulate gene ...

The development cycle of an image-guided surgery navigation system is too long to meet current clinical needs. This paper presents an integrated system developed by the integration of two open-source software (IGSTK and MITK) to shorten the development cycle of the image-guided surgery navigation system and save human resources simultaneously. ...

Active surveillance of prostate cancer patients involves subjecting them to multiple prostate biopsies, and we sought to investigate the effects of this on functional outcomes after robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Between May 2009 and December 2009, 367 patients who consecutively underwent RARP by a single surgeon were divided into two ...

OBJECTIVES: To further assess the relationship between elevated levels of cytomegalovirus (CMV) pp65 antigen in blood, as indicative of viral load, during treatment-free follow-up and CMV diseases in patients with autoimmune diseases and to identify any risk factors associated with elevated viral loads. METHODS: This was a retrospective review of ...

BackgroundHypertension affects about 1/3 of adults worldwide, ~3.8 million in Taiwan, 160 million in China, and 1 billion worldwide. It is a major risk factor leading to stroke, cardiovascular disease, and end-stage renal disease. In each year, more than 13.5 million deaths are due to hypertension-related diseases worldwide.MethodsWe performed a ...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effects of prescribing sugar-free chewing gum on the oral health and quality of life of dentate older people living in the community and attending for routine dental care. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 186 older people who were not regular chewers of gum, ...

Studies of ethnic disparities in malignancies have revealed variation in clinical outcomes. In multiple myeloma (MM), previous literature has focused only on patients of Caucasian and African-American (AA) descent. We present a Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-based outcome analysis of MM patients from a broader range of ethnicities, representing ...

The classic renin-angiotensin system (RAS) was initially described as a hormone system designed to mediate cardiovascular and body water regulation, with angiotensin II as its major effector. The discovery of an independent local brain RAS composed of the necessary functional components (angiotensinogen, peptidases, angiotensins, and specific receptor proteins) significantly expanded ...

The complete cDNA sequence of a novel gene, SCIRR69 (spinal cord injury and regeneration related no. 69 gene), was obtained by RACE technique. It codes for a protein of 521 amino acid residues homologous to human CREB3l2 (also known as BBF2H7) and mouse CREB3l2. The protein contains a basic DNA ...

Gerodontology 2012; doi: 10.1111/j.1741-2358.2012.00656.x Assessing changes in oral health-related quality of life and its factors in community-dwelling older Brazilians Objective:  To describe changes in oral health-related quality of life and to evaluate the associations of these changes in community-dwelling older people. Materials and methods:  In this longitudinal study a representative ...

The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are heterogeneous and can evolve into acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Rare familial cases are reported in which five disease genes have been identified to date (RUNX1, CEBPA, TERC, TERT and GATA2). Here we report the genetic categorization of 27 families with familial MDS/AML. All of these ...

During the biosynthesis of N-glycans in multicellular eukaryotes, glycans with the compositions Man(5)GlcNAc(2-3) are key intermediates. However, to reach this 'decision point', these N-glycans are first processed from Glc(3)Man(9)GlcNAc(2) through to Man(5)GlcNAc(2) by a number of glycosidases, whereby up to four α1-2-linked mannose residues are removed by class I mannosidases ...

The skin barrier is fundamental to terrestrial life and its evolution; it upholds homeostasis and protects against the environment. Skin barrier capacity is controlled by lipids that fill the extracellular space of the skin's surface layer-the stratum corneum. Here we report on the determination of the molecular organization of the ...

A metagenomic library was generated using microbial DNA extracted from the rumen contents of a grass hay-fed dairy cow using a bacterial artificial chromosome-based vector system. Functional screening of the library identified a gene encoding a potent glycoside hydrolase, xyn10N18, localised within a xylanolytic gene cluster consisting of four open-reading ...

Internal filtration/backfiltration (IF/BF) of a dialyzer depends on several parameters. This study evaluated the effect of the blood flow rate (Q (B)) on the internal filtration flow rate (Q (IF)) measured using Doppler ultrasonography for a high-flux dialyzer with a polysulfone membrane, APS-15E. In an in vitro study, bovine blood ...

BACKGROUND: This study tested the hypothesis that endoluminal ultrasound (EUS) defined total length of disease (including both the primary tumor and the position and number of proximal and distal lymph nodes-ELoD) and the associated EUS lymph node metastasis count (ELNMC) are better predictors of outcome than endoscopic esophageal cancer (OC) ...

In southern New England, USA, shell disease affects the profitability of the American lobster Homarus americanus fishery. In laboratory trials using juvenile lobsters, exclusive feeding of herring Clupea harengus induces shell disease typified initially by small melanized spots that progress into distinct lesions. Amongst a cohabitated, but segregated, cohort of ...

Berries are high in flavonoids, especially anthocyanidins, and improve cognition in experimental studies. We prospectively evaluated whether greater long-term intakes of berries and flavonoids are associated with slower rates of cognitive decline in older women. Beginning in 1980, a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire was administered every 4 years to Nurses' ...

Results of many studies indicate that sleep disorders can reduce quality of life (QoL) in patients with chronic kidney disease. This study aimed to investigate therelation of insomnia symptoms to QoL among haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis patients. A sample of 144 patients was recruited from three General Hospitals in ...

Hematogenous metastasis always leads to the poor prognosis of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). Activated platelets are involved in hematogenous metastasis and may be a potential therapeutic target. P-selectin is an important adhesion molecule and expressed on the surface of activated platelets. P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) as a transmembrane protein ...

BACKGROUND: Dementia patients often present with coexisting medical conditions and potentially face higher risk of complications during hospitalization. Because the general features of postoperative adverse outcomes among surgical patients with dementia are unknown, we conducted a nationwide, retrospective cohort study to characterize surgical complications among dementia patients compared with sex- ...

Vitamin K antagonists (VKA) therapy is increasingly used in elderly for prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and of stroke in atrial fibrillation (AF). Glomerular filtration rate (GFR), usually estimated from different equations, decreases progressively with age and it is a risk factor for bleeding. In the frame of the EPICA ...

Cancer is caused by mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, resulting in the deregulation of processes fundamental to the normal behavior of cells. The identification and characterization of oncogenes and tumor suppressors has led to new treatment strategies that have significantly improved cancer outcome. The advent of next generation ...

Bariatric surgery is the best long term treatment for morbid obesity. However, it carries risks of considerable morbidity and potential mortality. There is no published review on pre-operative identification of high-risk patients in bariatric surgery. This systematic review analyses obesity surgery mortality risk score (OS-MRS) as a tool for pre-operative ...

We aimed to investigate the association between birth parameters with blood pressure (BP) among preschool- and school-aged children. Two separate childhood datasets were used: (1) 1295 children aged 3-6 years were examined during 2007-2009; and (2) 1741 and 2353 children aged 6 and 12 years, respectively, were examined during 2004-2006. ...

OBJECTIVES: This study is the first to investigate the relationship between perceived emotional support and negative interaction with family members and suicide ideation and attempts among African American and Caribbean black adults. METHOD: Cross-sectional epidemiologic data from the National Survey of American Life and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used ...

Therapeutic apheresis (TA) is performed using either centrifugation-based or filter-based systems. The blood flow rate (BFR) used for TA using centrifugation-based systems is less than 100 mL/min. Because of this low BFR requirement, even peripheral veins can be considered as an option for TA, especially for less-frequent treatments and those ...

PURPOSE: To facilitate a better understanding of incidentally noted cystic pancreatic lesions, since these lesions often pose a challenge regarding appropriate management. METHODS: This article reviews pathophysiology, prevalence, significance, and recommendations for management of the various pancreatic cystic lesions. Illustrative cases are demonstrated. RESULTS: Diagnostic benign lesions can be left ...

Gomisin A (GA) is a small molecular weight lignan present in Schisandra chinensis, and has been demonstrated to have vasodilatory activity. In the present study, we investigated the effect of GA on blood pressure (BP) in angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced hypertensive mice. C57/BL6 mice infused subcutaneously with Ang II (1 ...

Epidote-group minerals, together with albite, quartz, fluorite, Al-poor and Fe-rich phyllosilicates, zircon, and minor oxides and sulphides, are typical hydrothermal phases in peralkaline alkali-feldspar granites from the Corupá Pluton, Graciosa Province, South Brazil. The epidote-group minerals occur as single crystals and as aggregates filling in rock interstices and miarolitic cavities. ...

Introduction and Aims. Primary health-care services need to maximise prevention activities to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This study determined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's risk status and screening history for cardiovascular, diabetes and cancer, and identified opportunities for prevention based on patient's health ...

We report a method for universal assembly of multiple nanoparticles with different sizes and compositions on a single chemically converted graphene sheet with good control over particle sizes in the range of 1 to 2 nm through the covalent immobilization of dendrimer-encapsulated nanoparticles.

We conducted an investigation of heavy metal concentrations in Manila clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) and surface sediments after the Dalian Port oil spill. Samples were collected from three mariculture zones (Jinshitan, Dalijia, and Pikou) along the Dalian coast. Heavy metal concentrations in R. philippinarum were consistent and ranked in decreasing order ...