A novel, thermostable, alkalophilic β-D-galactosidase (Mbgl) was isolated from a metagenome of geothermal springs in northern Himalayan region of India. Mbgl was 447 amino acids in size and had conserved catalytic residues E170 and E358, indicating that it belonged to family 1 of glycosyl hydrolases showing maximum homology (89 %) with ...

Assessment of the anthelmintic (AH) utilisation practices and estimation of the prevalence of gastrointestinal helminth infections in sheep were carried out from November 2010 to April 2011 in urban and peri-urban areas of Bishoftu Town, central Ethiopia. A structured questionnaire was employed to assess the AH utilisation practices in sheep ...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this review was to summarize recent developments regarding photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the field of dentistry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A review of pertinent literature was carried out in PubMED to determine the current position of PDT applications in dentistry. One hundred thirteen relevant articles were retrieved ...

Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate very long-term clinical outcomes and potential predictors after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with bare metal stents (BMS) for unprotected left main coronary artery disease (ULMCAD). Methods and results: From March 1991 to August 2001, 151 patients who underwent PCI with BMS ...

This study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge concerning HIV transmission and the attitudes towards AIDS among a rural semi-nomadic community in Somaliland. Cross-sectional survey. Questionnaire-based interviews were conducted via a household survey in Sharmake, a village in the Hargeisa district, Somaliland. 141 adults living within 7 km of the ...

The aim of this study was to compare the effect of different ratios of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) on osteogenic activity of human osteoblast-like cells (HOB) and capillary-like structure (CLS), seeded into copolymer scaffolds in a dynamic culture system. HOB and HUVEC were co-cultured into poly(L-lactide)-co-(1,5-dioxepan-2-one) [poly(LLA-co-DXO)] scaffolds ...

Monofunctional organic mercurials (MFOHgs) of different sizes and electronic properties were used to evaluate the accessibility of SH groups in intact proteins. The change in conformation of proteins, such as BLG and OVA, when treated with MFOHgs of increasing size was used as a measure of the accessibility of SH ...

Background: Recent case reports have alerted the medical community of fatality in children receiving codeine after tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the rates of oxygen desaturation before and after adenotonsillectomy in children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), ...

The current management and monitoring of unstable pediatric hemato-oncology patient (UPHOP) in the oncology ward is not well defined. To evaluate this concept, an anonymous Web-based survey was sent to the 150 Spanish pediatric oncologists registered in the Spanish Society of Pediatric Hemato-Oncology. The response rate was 57 %, with the ...

Health care workers are often required to consider the emotions of their patients making their work susceptible for burnout. Extending recent developments in work on dehumanization, the present study tested whether or not considering a patient's suffering in terms of uniquely human compared to more basic emotions, would be linked ...

BACKGROUND: Dorsal herniation of the spinal cord through the dura is an uncommon phenomenon and this is only the fifth reported case in the thoracolumbar spine, the first following surgery at the thoracolumbar junction. CASE: A 57-year-old male underwent marsupialisation of a benign intramedullary cyst at the T12-L1 level and ...

This study aims to describe the deterioration of well-established ankylosing spondylitis (AS) over a 10-year period. Patients with well-established AS under secondary care review were assessed at baseline and re-assessed after a 10-year period. Data on patient characteristics, spinal mobility and self-reported health status (AS Quality of Life, Bath AS ...

Menstrual and reproductive factors and exogenous hormone use have been investigated as pancreatic cancer risk factors in case-control and cohort studies, but results have been inconsistent. We conducted a prospective examination of menstrual and reproductive factors, exogenous hormone use, and pancreatic cancer risk (based on 304 cases) in 328,610 women ...

Haloferax mediterranei is capable of producing large amounts of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) from many kinds of carbon sources, with exopolysaccharide (EPS) as a by-product. In this study, we identified a gene cluster involved in EPS biosynthesis in H. mediterranei. Knocking out the genes in this cluster encoding the putative UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 6-dehydrogenase ...

The treatment of the recently reported potassium salt (S)-N,N'-bis-(1-phenylethyl)benzamidinate ((S)-KPEBA) and its racemic isomer (rac-KPEBA) with anhydrous lanthanide trichlorides (Ln=Sm, Er, Yb, Lu) afforded mostly chiral complexes. The tris(amidinate) complex [{(S)-PEBA}(3) Sm], bis(amidinate) complexes [{Ln(PEBA)(2) (μ-Cl)}(2) ] (Ln=Sm, Er, Yb, Lu), and mono(amidinate) compounds [Ln(PEBA)(Cl)(2) (thf)(n) ] (Ln=Sm, Yb, Lu) ...

Whether the time of administering the angiotensin receptor antagonist olmesartan influences antihypertensive and renoprotective effectiveness remains unclear. This study compared the effects of olmesartan on morning home blood pressure (MHBP), office BP (OBP) and renoprotective parameters between morning and evening administration. A total of 218 patients with primary hypertension were ...

Diffuse sources of surface water pathogens and nutrients can be difficult to isolate in larger river basins. This study used a geographical or nested approach to isolate diffuse sources of Escherichia coli and other water quality constituents in a 145.7-km(2) river basin in south central Texas, USA. Average numbers of ...

BACKGROUND: Alteration in gustatory function among patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is sparsely studied and provides contradictory findings. The objectives of the study were to evaluate taste perversion in HIV-infected subjects and compare taste acuity between patients with and without Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). MATERIALS AND METHODS: ...

Epidermal keratinocytes are particularly suitable candidates for in situ gene correction. Intraperitoneal administration of a triplex-forming oligonucleotide (TFO) was previously shown to introduce DNA base changes in a reporter gene in skin, without identifying which cells had been targeted. We extend those previous experiments using two triplex-forming molecules, a peptide ...

The production of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is catalyzed by two isoforms of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), using pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) as the cofactor. Between the two enzymes, GAD67 accounts for normal GABA requirement, while GAD65 stays inactive until emergent demand for GABA. Recent crystal structure findings revealed that the distinct ...

The theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions different from one's own. The aim of the present study was to explore the neuropsychological correlates of cognitive and affective ToM in patients affected ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the characteristic meal patterns of adolescents with and without loss of control (LOC) eating episodes. METHOD: The Eating Disorder Examination was administered to assess self-reported LOC and frequency of meals consumed in an aggregated sample of 574 youths (12-17 years; 66.6% female; 51.2% Caucasian; BMI-z: 1.38 ± ...

Reports about the prognostic value of IDH mutations and the promoter region of the O6-Methyl-guanyl-methyl-transferase gene in secondary high-grade gliomas (sHGG) are few in number. We investigated the prognostic value of IDH mutations and methylation of the promoter region of the MGMT gene in 99 patients with sHGG and analyzed ...

Ginsenoside compound K (CK) is a bioactive compound with poor oral bioavailability due to its high polarity, while its novel ester prodrugs, the butyl and octyl ester,(CK-B and CK-O) are more lipophilic than the original drug and have an excellent bioavailability. The aim of this study was to examine the ...

Light-based flow systems for point-of-care devices are of interest because, in principle, sunlight could be used to operate them, potentially allowing for high functionality with minimal device complexity and expense. A light-operated method to drive flow using poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), a 'smart' polymer that changes wettability as a function of temperature, is ...

We report a case where corneal perforation developed during Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy. We present a 20-year-old male with the complaint of impaired vision in the right eye. Leukoma consistent with the incision line in the cornea and opacity in the posterior capsule were observed.

An association between visit-to-visit variability (VVV) of blood pressure (BP) and renal damage was recently reported in a cross-sectional study. We aimed to clarify the longitudinal effect of VVV of BP on deterioration of renal function in patients with non-diabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD). We retrospectively studied 56 patients with ...

SUMMARY The influence of an immunosuppressive cytokine, interleukin-10 (IL-10), on the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been increasingly reported recently. A number of polymorphisms appear to control the level of IL-10 production. Among them, -592C/A, -819C/T and -1082G/A in the IL-10 gene are three most studied single ...

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important effector-signaling molecule involved in various pathophysiological processes. Here we investigated the protective effects of exogenous CO in a murine model of acute liver damage induced by d-galactosamine (GalN) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Exogenous CO gas was administered to mice via intraperitoneal injection (first at a ...

BACKGROUND: 'Birth defect' is a common phrase, yet concerns have been expressed that the word 'defect' carries a negative connotation. Our objective was to examine public perceptions of terms used to refer to birth defects. METHODS: Four questions about terminology of birth defects were included in the U.S. nationally representative ...

[FeFe] hydrogenase mimics: Two polynuclear iron-sulfur complexes (2 and 3; see figure) were prepared and structurally characterized. They are potentially effective and stable multielectron-transfer relays for mediating four- and six-electron transformations via a cascade of reversible two-electron redox steps with relatively narrow potential spans.

Background: Hypoglycemia is a frequent phenomenon in people being treated for diabetes mellitus, which can acutely disrupt driving performance. For the benefit of personal and public traffic safety, we decided to identify successful diabetes-related (SDR) behaviors to support safe driving for people with diabetes, from the perspective of experiential experts ...

We assessed the accuracy of the French version of the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS) and high-functioning autism (HFA) compared to healthy controls and adolescents with psychiatric disorders (PDs). Three groups of adolescents, aged 11-18, were assessed: 116 with AS/HFA (93 with IQ ≥ 85 and 20 ...

Waist circumference, a proxy measure of abdominal obesity, is associated with cardio-metabolic risk factors in childhood and adolescence. Although there are numerous studies about waist circumference percentiles in children, only a few studies cover preschool children. The aim of this study was to develop age- and gender-specific waist circumference smoothed ...

Two glass-ceramic scaffolds with a simple cubic structure of 500 µm square ligaments and square channels of width 400 or 600 µm have been fabricated by gel-casting into moulds produced by stereolithography, followed by mould removal, polymer burnout and sintering. The scaffolds have crushing strengths of 41 ± 14 and 17 ± ...

This study aimed to investigate the dose-response effects of an herbicide on soil photosynthetic microbial communities, particularly cyanobacteria, using a microcosm approach. Pure mesotrione (active ingredient), and Callisto (a commercial formulation of this triketone herbicide), were spread at different rates on soil microcosm surfaces. Soil Chlorophyll concentrations were quantified to ...

The presence of P2X7 on erythroid cells is well established, but its physiological role remains unclear. The current study aimed to determine if P2X7 activation induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in murine erythroleukaemia (MEL) cells, a commonly used erythroid cell line. ATP induced ROS formation in a time- and ...

Dimethylacetamide (DMAC) and dimethylformamide (DMF) continue to be important, widely used solvents involved in a wide variety of industrial applications. As liquids with relatively low vapor pressures, contact with both the integumentary and respiratory systems is the main source of human exposure. Although airborne control levels for the workplace have ...

Abstract AIM: To investigate the prevalence of titres to four endemic leptospiral serovars in dog sera from the lower half of the North Island, and the South Island of New Zealand submitted to diagnostic laboratories, and to explore the association between the prevalence of seropositive samples to leptospirosis and breed ...

We prepared single crystals of basic copper formate Cu(2) (OH)(3) HCO(2) (1) by hydrolysis of formate anions in an aqueous solution of copper formate. X-ray structure analysis showed that this material has a two-dimensional triangular lattice network with S=1/2. The temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility revealed antiferromagnetic ordering at 5.4 K. ...

A proline-rich peptide product prepared from bovine whey protein that was enriched in several hydrophobic amino acids including proline (whey proline-rich peptide, wPRP) was shown to modulate the folding pathway of human amyloid beta peptide 1-42 (Aβ42) into oligomers. Concentration-dependent changes in ThT-binding to Ab42 by wPRP indicated suppression of ...

The ideal driving force for dye regeneration is an important parameter for the design of efficient dye-sensitized solar cells. Here, nanosecond laser transient absorption spectroscopy is used to measure the rates of regeneration of 6 organic carbazole based dyes by nine ferrocene derivatives whose redox potentials vary by 0.85 V, ...

The ability to monitor breast cancer initiation and progression on the molecular level would provide an effective tool for early diagnosis and therapy. In the present study, we focused on the underglycosylated MUC-1 tumor antigen (uMUC-1), which is directly linked to tumor progression from pre-malignancy to advanced malignancy in breast ...

Today, we are witnessing changes in the spatial distribution and abundance of many species, including ticks and their associated pathogens. Evidence that these changes are primarily due to climate change, habitat modifications, and the globalisation of human activities are accumulating. Changes in the distribution of ticks and their invasion into ...

A field experiment was conducted in Bangladesh Agricultural University Farm to investigate the mitigating effects of soil amendments such as calcium carbide, calcium silicate, phosphogypsum, and biochar with urea fertilizer on global warming potentials (GWPs) of methane (CH(4)) and nitrous oxide (N(2)O) gases during rice cultivation under continuous and intermittent ...

Background: Weight management is considered a key therapeutic strategy in type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, little is known about the impact of weight loss or body mass index (BMI) reduction on type 2 diabetes-related healthcare costs. Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the economic impact of change ...

Evidence indicates that the balance between osteoblastogenesis and adipogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is regulated by several hormones, growth factors, and their downstream signaling cascades. Previous studies suggest that retinoic acid (RA) plays a role in osteoblastogenesis and adipogenesis. However, it is unknown whether RA regulates commitment of MSCs ...

A series of UDP-galactitols were designed as analogues of high-energy intermediates of the UDP-galactopyranose mutase (UGM) catalyzed furanose/pyranose interconversion, an essential step of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell wall biosynthesis. The final compounds structurally share the UDP and the galactitol substructures that were connected by four distinct electrophilic connections (epoxide, lactone and ...

ABSTRACT: Primary cardiac tumors are rare with an incidence ranging from 0.001% to 0.03% in autopsy series. The prognosis of cardiac sarcomas remains poor because it proliferates rapidly and distant metastases are often found at diagnosis. A 47-year-old male complained of persistent cough. The chest roentgenogram was normal. Subsequent computed ...

Mixotrophy, obtaining carbon by mycoheterotrophy and photosynthesis, has been suggested in Cephalanthera species (Orchidaceae) by analyses on stable isotopes of carbon. In this study, we examined the growth of Cephalanthera falcata in pot cultured tripartite symbioses with Thelephoraceae fungi and Quercus serrata. Mycorrhizal fungi were isolated from roots of C. ...