Background:Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is involved in the regulation of whole-body energy expenditure and adiposity. The activity and prevalence of BAT decrease with age in humans.Objective:To examine the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms of the genes for uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and β3-adrenergic receptor (β3AR), key molecules of BAT thermogenesis, ...

We investigated the effect of advance information about the sequence of a to-be-signaled motor response on corticospinal excitability during the foreperiod in healthy humans. Advance information about the sequence of a to-be-signaled motor response was provided by a precue signal 600 ms before a response signal during a warned choice reaction ...

49,XXXXY is a rare sex chromosome polysomy with an incidence of 1 in 85 000 male births. It has a characteristic triad of mental retardation, skeletal malformation and hypogonadism. This is the first case report of a child with 49,XXXXY syndrome and renal agenesis. This child was referred for genetic ...

Coordination, not insertion: New ruthenium benzylidenes with a chelating halogen atom were easily prepared and showed excellent stability and activity as metathesis catalysts. Structure-activity studies reveal that strength of the ruthenium-halogen interaction can be tuned across a wide range to set up a family of latent to active catalysts.

Luminous boron: New 1,8-naphthyridine-BF(2) complexes with strong emissions both in solution and in the solid state were developed. Aggregation-induced blueshifts of emissions in DMSO/water mixtures and solvent-influenced luminescence in crystalline states have been observed and discussed.

This paper discusses the eradication challenges of female circumcision in Ethiopia. It argues that despite an overall decline in the practice nationally, eradication efforts have caused significant quandaries for girls and their families. The most common justification by far for its continuance is that circumcision confirms a girl's social place ...

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate current approaches and explore emerging research related to dyslipidemia management.DATA SOURCES:MEDLINE (2004-April 2012) was searched for randomized controlled trials using the terms dyslipidemia and lipid-lowering therapy or statin (>1000 hits). Separate searches (MEDLINE, Google) identified meta-analyses (2010-2011), disease prevalence statistics, and current consensus guidelines (2004-July 2011). Additional references ...

Co-immobilisation approaches for preparation of glucose-oxidising films of [Os(2,2'-bipyridine)(2)(poly-vinylimidazole)(10)Cl] and glucose oxidase on glassy carbon electrodes are compared. Electrodes prepared by crosslinking using glutaraldehyde vapour, without and with a NaBH(4) reduction, provide higher glucose oxidation current than those prepared using a well-established diepoxide method. Addition of multi walled carbon nanotubes ...

We recently conducted several studies regarding the presence of high-risk HPVs in human cervical, colorectal and breast cancers in the Syrian population. Herein, we report that high-risk HPVs type 16, 18, 33, 45, 51, 52 and 58 are frequently present in colorectal cancer in this population. Therefore and based on ...

Adenovirus (Ad) is a potent gene-delivery vehicle and has frequently been used for designing oncolytic viruses. However, lack of selectivity on infection has hampered the achievement of sufficient in vivo efficiency. Here, we developed a novel oncolytic virus system, infectivity-selective oncolytic adenovirus (ISOAd), via direct high-throughput screening of a high-diversity ...

Inwardly rectifying K(+) (Kir) channels set the resting membrane potential and regulate cellular excitability. The activity of Kir channels depends critically on the phospholipid PIP(2). The molecular mechanism by which PIP(2) regulates Kir channel gating is poorly understood. Here, we utilized a combination of computational and electrophysiological approaches to discern ...

Purpose: To evaluate dynamic changes in anterior segment morphology during the Valsalva maneuver with ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM). Methods: This was a prospective observational study. A group of patients with narrow angles and a group of normal subjects were recruited. The anterior segment of subjects was imaged and quantitatively analyzed using ...

As with water ingestion, the activation of the muscle metaboreflex leads to heightened muscle sympathetic nerve activity. Thus, we hypothesized that water ingestion might enhance the pressor effect of the muscle metaboreflex activation. We examined the effect of water ingestion (50 vs. 500 mL) on the cardiovascular and autonomic responses to ...

Stem cell transplantation therapy has emerged as a potential treatment for ischemic stroke and other neurodegenerative diseases. Effective delivery of exogenous cells and homing of these cells to the lesion region, however, have been challenging issues that hinder the efficacy and efficiency of cell-based therapy. In the present investigation, we ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Venous leg ulcers, affecting approximately 1% of the population, are costly to manage due to poor healing and high recurrence rates. We evaluated an evidence-informed leg ulcer care protocol with two frequently used high compression systems: 'four-layer bandage' (4LB) and 'short-stretch bandage' (SSB). METHODS: We conducted a cost-effectiveness ...

Haemochromatosis may impair the function of endocrine organs, amongst others the pituitary gland. It was the aim of this study to determine pituitary function in adult patients with genetically defined hereditary haemochromatosis in a prospective diagnostic study using a standardised stimulation test. Therefore, 22 patients (7 females, 15 males; age ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Although the negative health consequences of the exposure to second hand tobacco smoke during childhood are already known, evidence on the economic consequences is still rare. The aim of this study was to estimate excess healthcare costs of exposure to tobacco smoke in German children. METHODS: The study ...

BACKGROUND: -Elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is associated with clinically overt heart failure (HF). However, whether it provides additive prognostic information for incident HF beyond traditional risk factors and the left ventricular (LV) mass index among multi-ethnic asymptomatic individuals has not yet been determined. We studied the associations of ...

Despite the burden of both malnutrition and tuberculosis in children worldwide, there are few studies on the mechanisms that underlie this relationship. From available research, it appears that malnutrition is a predictor of tuberculosis disease and is associated with worse outcomes. This is supported through several lines of evidence, including ...

A series of anthracene and acridine derivatives were hydrogenated under mild reaction conditions (80 °C, 3 bar of H(2)) using the bis(dihydrogen) complex [RuH(2)(η(2)-H(2))(2){P(C(6)H(11))(3)}(2)] () as a catalyst precursor. The influence of a methyl substituent on the substrate was studied. In all our systems, hydrogenation was only observed at the ...

OBJECTIVES:The objective of this study was to access the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) histology in the general population, which had been otherwise difficult to access because of inherent misclassification bias in surrogate marker studies and referral bias in patient case series. The ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Mycoplasmosis is a common infection in human and veterinary medicine, and is associated with chronic inflammation and high morbidity. Mycoplasma species are often intrinsically resistant to many conventional antimicrobial therapies, and the resistance patterns of pathogenic mycoplasmas to commonly used medicinal (antimicrobial) plant extracts are currently unknown. METHODS: ...

PURPOSE: To determine the relative ability of time domain (TD) optical coherence tomography (OCT) compared with spectral domain (SD) OCT to assess vitreoretinal interface abnormalities and pharmacologic treatment of symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion (VMA)/traction (VMT) with or without full-thickness macular hole (FTMH), and the reproducibility of trained readers' evaluation of these ...

PURPOSE: To determine photopic and mesopic distance high-contrast visual acuity (HC-VA) and low-contrast visual acuity (LC-VA) in eyes with early age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: Measurements were made in 22 subjects with early AMD and 28 healthy control subjects. Inclusion criteria included a photopic HC-VA of 20/25 or better. Distance ...

Raising HDL levels is proposed as an attractive target to treat cardiovascular disease. However, a number of clinical studies examining the effect of HDL raising therapies have been prematurely halted due to futility. Therefore there is a need for alternative therapies. Infusion of reconstituted HDL (rHDL) particles is still considered ...

Two triazine-based unconventional dendrimers were prepared and characterized by (1) H and (13) C NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry, polarizing microscopy, and powder XRD studies showed that these dendrimers display columnar liquid-crystalline phases during thermal treatment. This is ascribable to breaking of their C(2) symmetry. The ...

Dystrophin is an essential part of a membrane protein complex that provides flexible support to muscle fiber membranes. Loss of dystrophin function leads to membrane fragility and muscle-wasting disease. Given the importance of cytoskeletal interactions in strengthening the sarcolemma, we have focused on actin-binding domain 2 of human dystrophin, constituted ...

Purpose:  Patients with epilepsy have higher stroke-related morbidity and mortality, leading to the suspicion that the increased stroke events may be associated with antiepileptic drug (AED) exposure. We evaluated the comparative risk of stroke in adult patients with epilepsy receiving phenytoin (PHT), valproic acid (VPA), or carbamazepine (CBZ) to help ...

A copper(I)/2,2'-bipyridyl complex catalyzes an amination reaction of silyl ketene acetals with N-chloroamines, presenting a new preparative method of α-amino esters.

Backgrounds: In China, chronic periodontitis is common in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to identify the sociodemographic characteristics associated with such patients and to assess the periodontal health status and subgingival microbiota of these patients with chronic periodontitis and type 2 diabetes mellitus ...

In this paper, we have demonstrated a novel and simple way to prepare transparent composite fluorescent films by using poly (acrylic acid) co-polymer as a matrix and silica coated photoluminescence (PL) quantum dots (QDs) as light-emitting materials. The strategies include preparing aqueous amphiphilic oligomer (polymaleic acid n-hexadecanol ester, PMAH) modified ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Small non-coding RNAs (smRNAs) are known to have major roles in gene regulation in eukaryotes. In plants, knowledge of the biogenesis and mechanisms of action of smRNA classes including microRNAs (miRNAs), short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and trans-acting siRNAs (tasiRNAs) has been gained mostly through studies with Arabidopsis. In ...

Selective catalysis is critical for the development of green chemical processes, and natural enzymes that possess specialized three-dimensional reaction pockets with catalytically active sites represent the most sophisticated systems for selective catalysis. A reaction space in an enzyme consists of an active metal center, functional groups for molecular recognition (such ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Very few studies examine the longitudinal prevalence of problems and the awareness or use of clinical programs by patients who report these problems. Of the studies that examine age, gender and marital status as predictors of a range of patient outcomes, none examines the interactions between these demographic ...

Cancer cachexia induces loss of fat mass that accounts for a large part of the dramatic weight loss observed both in humans and in animal models; however literature does not provide consistent information regarding the set point of weight loss and how the different visceral adipose tissue depots contribute to ...

Atomic and molecular self-assembly are important phenomena that underpin many important technologies. Typically, thermally enabled diffusion allows a system to sample many areas of configurational space, and ordered assemblies evolve that optimize interactions between species. Herein we describe a system in which the diffusion is quantum tunneling in nature and ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Apixaban reduces stroke with comparable bleeding risks when compared with aspirin in patients with atrial fibrillation who are unsuitable for vitamin k antagonist therapy. This analysis explores patterns of bleeding and defines bleeding risks based on stroke risk with apixaban and aspirin. METHODS: The Apixaban versus Acetylsalicylic ...

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) at the gene level are commonly used to understand biological mechanisms underlying complex diseases. In general, one response or outcome is used to present a disease of interest in such studies. In this study, we consider a multiple traits association test from the gene level. We ...

The functionalized calixarene derivatives exhibit remarkable properties towards organic and bioorganic molecules. However, the ability of calixarene derivatives to form stable complexes with biomolecules allows them to be applied for the development of biosensors and in the field of biology, biotechnology, and drug discovery. The applications of the functionalized calixarenes ...

A series of visible light responsive nanorods of InGaZn mixed oxide photocatalyst are designed by varying the concentration of In(NO(3))(3)via a solid state reaction method without the need for a surfactant or template. The photocatalysts are characterized by XRD, diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectra, TEM, BET surface area analysis, PL, and ...

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a 6-month community-based diabetes prevention and management program in rural Gujarat, India.MethodsA community-based participatory research method was used to plan and tailor the intervention by engaging trained community health workers as change agents to provide lifestyle education, serve as ...

Photochemical switches represent a powerful method for improving pharmacological therapies and controlling cellular physiology. Here we report the photoregulation of GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)Rs) by a derivative of propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol), a GABA(A)R allosteric modulator, which we have modified to contain photoisomerizable azobenzene. Using α(1)β(2)γ(2) GABA(A)Rs expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes and ...

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells are resistant to anticancer drugs. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a key mediator of chemoresistance. We have reported that disulfiram (DS), an aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) inhibitor, targets breast CSC-like cells. In this study, the effect of DS and combination of DS and gemcitabine (dFdC) on GBM ...

Aims: Age-related change of ankle-brachial index (ABI) within the general population, especially <40 years, has not been determined in large population studies. We evaluated the value of the ABI by age- and sex-related differences in a screened cohort.Methods and results: The ABI was examined in 13,211 participants (aged 21-89 years) ...

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has gained considerable notoriety during the past decade of conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, the relationship between combat-related mTBI and residual mTBI symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and neurocognitive deficits remains unclear. The purpose of the study was to compare residual mTBI and ...

Up-regulation of an acidophilic protein kinase, CK2, has been established in several types of cancer. This cognition has made CK2 an important target for drug development for cancer chemotherapy. The characterization of potential drug candidates, determination of the structure and clarification of the functions of CK2 could be facilitated by ...

The requirement of a multifunctional scaffold for tissue engineering capable to offer at the same time tunable structural properties and bioactive interface is still unpaired. Here we present three-dimensional biodegradable polymeric (PCL) scaffolds with controlled morphology, macro-, micro-, and nano-mechanical performances endowed with bioactive moieties (RGD peptides) at surface. Such ...

Markers of insulin resistance such as the adiponectin:leptin ratio (A:L) and the homeostasis model assessment ratio (HOMA-IR) are associated with obesity and hyperinsulinemia, both established risk factors for endometrial cancer, and may therefore be informative regarding endometrial cancer risk. This study investigated the association between endometrial cancer risk and markers ...

Ferrate [Fe(VI); FeO42-] is an emerging oxidizing agent capable of controlling chemical and microbial water contaminants. Here, inactivation of MS2 coliphage by Fe(VI) was examined. The inactivation kinetics observed in individual batch experiments was well described by a Chick-Watson model with first-order dependences on disinfectant and infective phage concentrations. The ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: In a standard total knee replacement, tibial component alignment is a key factor for the long term success of the surgery. The purpose of this study is to compare the accuracy of extramedullary and intramedullary tibial cutting guides used in indigenous and imported implants respectively, in positioning of ...