In this work we investigate the magnetic field dependence of A(g) octahedra rotation (tilt) and B(2g) symmetric stretching modes frequencies at different temperatures. Our field-dependent Raman investigation at 10 K is interpreted by an ionic displacive nature of the magnetically-induced ferroelectric phase transition. The increasing frequency of the A(g) tilt mode ...

Biobanks provide stored material to basic, translational, and epidemiological research and this material should be transferred without institute-dependent intrinsic bias.
The ISBER Biospecimen Science Working Group has released a "Standard PREanalytical Code" (SPREC), which is a proposal for a standard coding of the preanalytical options that have been adopted in order ...

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate experiences of participating in a feasibility trial of a novel physiotherapy intervention (Blue Prescription). The trial was designed to increase participation in physical activity for people with multiple sclerosis living in the community. Methods: We individually interviewed 27 volunteers from two ...

Increasing the sensitivity of NMR experiments is an ongoing field of research to help realise the exquisite molecular specificity of this technique. Hyperpolarisation of various nuclei is a powerful approach that enables the use of NMR for molecular and cellular imaging. Substantial progress has been achieved over recent years in ...

A novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) assay is demonstrated by developing a cross strand-displacement amplification (CSDA) method to enhance the SERS signals. Highly sensitive and selective detection of any single-stranded DNA is achieved and an aptasensor for proteins is constructed.

The ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) machinery is responsible for scission of the cytokinetic bridge that connects daughter cells at the end of mitosis. Specific endosomes are now found to mediate local bridge constriction and actin clearance in human cells, which contribute to the recruitment of ESCRT components ...

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders, including childhood autism, atypical autism, and Asperger syndrome, with an estimated prevalence of 1.0-2.5% in the general population. ASDs have a complex multifactorial etiology, with genetic causes being recognized in only 10-20% of cases. Recently, copy-number variants (CNVs) have ...

Epidemiologic studies have suggested that magnesium intake may be associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the findings have been inconsistent. We aimed to assess this association by conducting a meta-analysis of prospective studies. We performed a literature search on PubMed database through July 2012 to identify ...

Lupulones, hops β-acids, are one of the main constituents of the hops resin and have an important contribution to the overall bacteriostatic activity of hops during beer brewing. The use of lupulones as natural alternatives to antibiotics is increasing in the food industry and also in the bio-ethanol production. However, ...

The programmed cell death-1 (PD)-1 receptor (CD279) is a potent T cell inhibitor with a critical role in peripheral tolerance, but it can also compromise anti-viral and antitumor T cell responses. The effects of PD-1 on the cell cycle leading to inhibition of T cell expansion are poorly understood. Recently, ...

Aflatoxin M(1) (AFM(1)) has been detected in many parts of the world both in raw milk and many dairy products, causing great economic losses and human disease. Unfortunately, there are few studies dealing with AFM(1) immunotoxicity/interactions with lactic acid bacteria for potential application as a natural preventive agent. The aim ...

ABSTRACT Background: Globally, falls in older people are a leading cause of injury-related mortality and morbidity. Cognitive impairment is a well-known risk factor for falls in this population group. While there is now a large body of evidence to support effective interventions for falls reduction across care settings, very little ...

Effective collection of trace-level lanthanides and actinides is advantageous for recovery and recycling of valuable resources, environmental remediation, chemical separations, and in situ monitoring. Using isotopic tracers, we have evaluated a number of conventional and nanoporous sorbent materials for their ability to capture and remove selected lanthanides (Ce and Eu) ...

Preoperative planning is essential to define anatomy, clarify the operative approach and exposure, and ensure that suitable implants are available.Concerns exist regarding the long-term effectiveness and safety of hip resurfacing arthroplasty for the young dysplastic hip.In light of current evidence, concerns exist regarding the use of metal-on-metal articulations for hip ...

Pulmonary hypertension (PH), defined as elevated pulmonary artery pressure, is common in the general population and associated with increased mortality. Accordingly, physicians commonly encounter patients with dyspnea, exercise intolerance, and/or right heart failure who have elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) on echocardiography. Although pulmonary arterial vasodilators may often be ...

Density functional theory (DFT) has been steadily improving over the past few decades, becoming the standard tool for electronic structure calculations. The early local functionals (LDA) were eventually replaced by more accurate semilocal functionals (GGA) which are in use today. A major persisting drawback is the lack of the nonlocal ...

Background  Depression is a common mental health condition that has been associated with psoriasis. In the absence of prospective data, it remains unclear whether depression precedes psoriasis as a risk factor. Objectives  To examine the association between depression and the risk of new-onset psoriasis. Methods  A prospective cohort of 86 ...

Aim This study aims to evaluate changes in the durations of English National Health Service prescriptions, as indicated by the volumes of unit doses supplied between 1998 and 2009, and consider relevant policy implications. BACKGROUND: Around the world, countries are seeking to manage the increase in medicines prescribing. In England, ...

Abstract Objective: To compare the changes in incisor inclination between two compliance-free Class II correction protocols for the treatment of mild to moderate Class II malocclusions. Materials and Methods: Among Class II malocclusion patients a total of 38 consecutive patients treated with the Xbow appliance and later with full brackets ...

Three-dimensional (3D) facial analysis is ideal for high-resolution, nonionizing, noninvasive objective, high-throughput phenotypic, and phenomic studies. It is a natural complement to (epi)genetic technologies to facilitate advances in the understanding of rare and common diseases. The face is uniquely reflective of the primordial tissues, and there is evidence supporting the ...

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Acne can be associated with psychiatric morbidity and suicide, which have been sometimes considered an adverse reaction to some acne therapies. A recent population-based study reports that suicide in acne is related to the psychosocial burden of substantial acne, rather medication effects. As suicidality is not always directly ...

Clusters of boron atoms exhibit intriguing size-dependent structures and chemical bonding that are different from bulk boron and may lead to new boron-based nanostructures. We report a combined photoelectron spectroscopic and ab initio study of the 22- and 23-atom boron clusters. The joint experimental and theoretical investigation shows that B22- ...

We report here a catalyst made of Pd nanoparticles supported on a mesoporous N-doped carbon, Pd@CN0.132, which was shown to be highly active and promoted the biomass refining. Using task-specific ionic liquid (3-methyl-1-butylpyridine dicyanamide) as precursor and silica nanoparticles as hard template, high nitrogen (12 wt%) con-tent, mesoporous carbon material ...

Clinical outcome following 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) intake ranges from mild entactogenic effects to a life-threatening intoxication. Despite ongoing research, the clinically most relevant mechanisms causing acute MDMA-induced adverse effects remain largely unclear. This complicates the triage and treatment of MDMA users needing medical care. The user's genetic profile and interactions resulting ...

Variation at a single nucleotide polymorphism in the μ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1), A118G (Asn40Asp), may moderate naltrexone (NTX) effects in alcohol dependence. Both NTX and A118G variation have also been reported to affect alcohol cue-elicited brain activation. This study investigated whether sub-acute NTX treatment and A118G genotype interacted in their ...

Abstract Proposals to address present-day global warming through the large-scale application of technology to the climate system, known as geoengineering, raise questions of environmental ethics relevant to the broader issue of planetary engineering. These questions have also arisen in the scientific literature as discussions of how to terraform a planet ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: P-type ATPases hydrolyze ATP and release energy that is used in the transport of ions against electrochemical gradients across plasma membranes, making these proteins essential for cell viability. Currently, the distribution and function of these ion transporters in mycobacteria are poorly understood. RESULTS: In this study, probabilistic profiles ...

Analyses of lead (Pb) isotopes have been performed in terrestrial and fresh water environments to estimate historical uses of leaded fuel, but so far this method has not been employed in studies of world-wide marine surface sediments. We analyzed Pb and its isotopes in 23 surface sediments from four continents ...

The hydrogen-methane compound (H(2))(4)CH(4)-or for short H4M-is one of the most promising hydrogen-storage materials. This van der Waals compound is extremely rich in molecular hydrogen: 33.3 mass%, not including the hydrogen bound in CH(4); including it, we reach even 50.2 mass%. Unfortunately, H4M is not stable under ambient pressure and temperature, requiring ...

Angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)), a metabolite of angiotensin I and angiotensin II (Ang II), is a counterregulatory mediator of Ang II. Here, we investigated the effects of Ang-(1-7) on Ang II-induced apoptosis in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining and propidium iodide (PI) staining were used to ...

The appropriate treatment of dens fractures is unclear. We established a staged treatment protocol for dens fractures and conducted a prospective study to evaluate the outcome of treatment based on this protocol. We prospectively evaluated sixty-nine consecutive patients who presented to our institution with a dens fracture. The mean duration ...

ABSTRACT: Isolated Crohn's disease of the esophagus is rare, and accurate diagnosis and treatment in its early course are difficult. Most cases are often found very late, when severe strictures or other complications have occurred. We report the case of a male 60-year-old patient with complaints of progressive dysphagia for ...

Purpose: This paper seeks to contribute to thoughtful description, recording and measurement of functioning, by discussing some fundamental questions to consider before starting, framed as: why, what, how and who. Method: Generic literature on measurement methods and the more specialised literature on application of the ICF over the last decade ...

Colloidal hybrid nanoparticles merge multiple distinct materials into single particles, producing nanostructures that often exhibit synergistic properties and multifunctionality. As the complexity of such nanostructures continues to expand and the design criteria become increasingly stringent, the synthetic pathways required to access such materials are growing in sophistication. Multistep pathways are ...

Abstract Background: Narrowband ultraviolet B (UVB) provides complete response (CR) in 54 to 91% of early mycosis fungoides (MF) patients. Data concerning relapse rate and relapse-free interval after discontinuation of therapy need clarification. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relapse rate and the relapse-free intervals of early ...

In addition to the canonical double helix, DNA can fold into various other inter- and intramolecular secondary structures. Although many such structures were long thought to be in vitro artefacts, bioinformatics demonstrates that DNA sequences capable of forming these structures are conserved throughout evolution, suggesting the existence of non-B-form DNA ...

Acids, esters and amides have to date been the only isolated products from the dehydrogenation of primary alcohols with [Rh(trop(2)N)(L)] (trop = 5-H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5yl) type complexes. With the reported method the available product family is finally to aldehydes. Using nitrosobenzene as a hydrogen acceptor the aldehydes could be isolated in up ...

We report on the decomposition of platinum acetylacetonate (Pt(acac)(2)) in hydrogen induced by flash heating. The changes in the local Pt structure were followed by high energy resolution off-resonant spectroscopy uniquely performed with sub-second time resolution. The decomposition consists of a two-step reduction process of the Pt(ii) species.

We report on the elastic and piezoresistive properties of individual epitaxial Si-NWs grown on n-doped Si(111) by pulsed laser deposition. Using scanning probe microscopy, we obtained a Young's modulus between 82 and 900 GPa for the nanowires, unaffected by the nanowire shape. A relative resistivity change is observed in the prestrained ...

Mutations leading to inappropriate activation of Akt isoforms contribute to proliferation and survival of a significant proportion of human cancers. Akt is activated by phosphorylation of its T-loop residue (Thr308) by the 3-phosphoinositide dependent kinase-1 (PDK1) and its C-terminal hydrophobic-motif (Ser473) by mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2). Potent PDK1 inhibitors such ...

Background: Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) exhibit difficulties in many cognitive and behavioral domains and also have high comorbidity with other disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorder as well as autism. Although the FASD profile is shown to be distinct from ADHD and conduct ...

Introduction: Empirical support regarding effective interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within a postsecondary community is limited. Video modeling, an empirically supported intervention for children and adolescents with ASD, may prove effective in addressing the needs of individuals with ASD in higher education. Objective: This study evaluated the ...

This is the second paper in a two-part series. The first paper presented a study that provided a more contextual description of the commonly applied definition of interprofessional education (IPE) offered in 2002 by the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education (CAIPE) in the UK. The study's results confirm ...

The impact of pediatric chronic kidney disease (CKD) on acquisition of volumetric bone mineral density (BMD) and cortical dimensions is lacking. To address this issue, we obtained tibia quantitative computed tomography scans from 103 patients aged 5-21 years with CKD (26 on dialysis) at baseline and 12 months later. Gender, ...

The structures and relative energies of the three naturally occurring modifications of titanium dioxide (rutile, brookite and anatase) were investigated. For an accurate description, atom-pairwise dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D) was applied. The DFT-D3 scheme was extended non-empirically to improve the description of Ti atoms in bulk systems. New dispersion ...

Overexpression of drug efflux pump P-gp is one of the major reasons to cause multidrug resistance (MDR). To overcome P-gp mediated MDR, modulators, so called P-gp inhibitors, can be used to block efflux pump activity. Elacridar is one of the most potent P-gp inhibitors, which can cause irreversible and total ...

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To determine awareness, use and attitudes of Turkish women towards prenatal screening tests (PST) for Down syndrome (DS). BACKGROUND: The technology of screening and diagnosing congenital diseases and abnormalities of foetuses has rapidly developed in the past few decades and prenatal screening for DS in early pregnancy ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Influenza is a well known and common human respiratory infection, causing significant morbidity and mortality every year. Despite Influenza variability, fast and reliable outbreak detection is required for health resource planning. Clinical health records, as published by the Diagnosticat database in Catalonia, host useful data for probabilistic detection ...

We investigated population pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetics of ritonavir-boosted atazanavir (ATV), using drug intake times exactly recorded by the Medication Event Monitoring System. The ANRS 134-COPHAR 3 trial was conducted in 35 HIV-infected treatment-naive patients. ATV (300 mg), ritonavir (100 mg), and tenofovir (300 mg) + emtricitabine (200 mg), in bottles ...

A series of triterpene-based gamma-secretase modulators is optimized. An acetate present at the C24 position of the natural product was replaced with either carbamates or ethers to provide compounds with better metabolic stability. With one of those pharmacophores in place at C24, morpholines or carbamates were installed at the C3 ...