ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are reported to provide direct protection to many organs by controlling inflammation and decreasing oxidant stress in patients without arteriosclerosis. This study aimed to evaluate (1) whether an ARB (candesartan) decreases values for inflammatory parameters in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus of ...

Oscillatory neural activity within the gamma band (25-90 Hz) is generally thought to be able to provide a timing signal for harmonizing neural computations across different brain regions. Using time-frequency analyses of the dynamics of gamma-band activity in the local field potentials recorded from monkey primary visual cortex, we found ...

Synapses are highly dynamic structures that mediate cell-cell communication in the central nervous system. Their molecular composition is altered in an activity dependent fashion, which modulates the efficacy of subsequent synaptic transmission events. While activity-dependent trafficking of individual key synaptic proteins into and out of the synapse has been characterized ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Human milk contains immune molecules involved in the protection of newborns against infections. We analyzed the concentration of Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumors 1 (DMBT1), a protein with functions in innate immunity, in breast milk. METHODS: DMBT1 was detected in breast milk by Western blotting and its concentration ...

Although studies have evaluated the efficacy of levosimendan in heart failure during sepsis, it still is a subject of controversy whether levosimendan produces an effect on platelets. In this study, the short- and long-term effects of levosimendan on platelet aggregation were investigated in untreated animals and in a rat model ...

The rotavirus spike protein domain VP8* is essential for recognition of cell surface carbohydrate receptors, notably those incorporating N-acylneuraminic acids (members of the sialic acid family). N-Acetylneuraminic acids occur naturally in both animals and humans, whereas N-glycolylneuraminic acids are acquired only through dietary uptake in normal human tissues. The preference ...

We describe the utility of PCR and electrospray-ionization with mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS) of "culture negative" cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in order to identify Gram-positive cocci noted on a Gram stain of CSF from a previously healthy 26-year-old man with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) and multiple brain abscesses. CSF samples were obtained ...

The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in glucose-stimulated insulin release remains controversial because ROS have been shown to both amplify and impede insulin release. In regard to preventing insulin release, ROS activates uncoupling protein-2 (UCP2), a mitochondrial inner membrane protein that negatively regulates glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) by uncoupling ...

OBJECTIVE: The IDH1(R132H) mutation is both a strong prognostic predictor and a diagnostic hallmark of gliomas and therefore has major clinical relevance. Here, we developed a new technique to detect the IDH1(R132H) mutation in the plasma of patients with glioma. METHODS: Small-size DNA (150-250 base pairs) was extracted from the ...

Luminol, Bluestar(®) , and Hemascein(®) were tested to compare detection sensitivities to latent blood. Untreated, EDTA-treated human blood, and a catalytically similar blood substitute were diluted (neat to 1:1,000,000) and pipetted onto a variety of substrates. Luminol and Bluestar(®) performed similarly on all surfaces and fabrics. Hemascein(®) yielded poor results ...

Knowledge of the past variability of climate at high northern latitudes during astronomical analogues of the present interglacial may help to inform our understanding of future climate change. Unfortunately, long-term continuous records of ice-sheet variability in the Northern Hemisphere only are scarce because records of benthic (18)O content represent an ...

Adult zebrafish possess a significant ability to regenerate injured heart tissue through proliferation of pre-existing cardiomyocytes, which contrasts with the inability of mammals to do so after the immediate postnatal period. Zebrafish therefore provide a model system in which to study how an injured heart can be repaired. However, it ...

ABSTRACT: Epigenome mapping consortia are generating resources of tremendous value for studying epigenetic regulation. To maximize their utility and impact, new tools are needed that facilitate interactive analysis of epigenome datasets. Here we describe EpiExplorer, a web tool for exploring genome and epigenome data on a genomic scale. We demonstrate ...

Introduction Traditionally retrobulbar lesions localized in the medial part of the orbit are removed using rather extensive extracranial approaches. A few cases were recently reported in which lesions of a certain type were removed using a transnasal endoscopic approach. We describe a patient in whom we managed to remove a sizable ...

Background:  Vitamin D mediates immunomodulatory functions and beneficial functions in allergic diseases have been suggested. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms are known but have not been studied in atopic dermatitis (AD) patients yet. Objective: We investigated the frequency of 4 common VDR gene polymorphisms in AD patients and their ...

Aims:The potential for participation in creative activity to promote recovery from mental ill health is highlighted in mental health policy and guidance, alongside a perceived dearth of robust evidence of effectiveness. Open Arts has run participatory arts courses in South Essex since 2008 and a course waiting list has developed ...

An unanticipated and tremendous amount of the non-coding sequences of the human genome are transcribed. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) constitute a significant fraction of non-protein coding transcripts; however, their functions remain enigmatic. We demonstrate that deletions of a small non-coding differentially-methylated region at 16q24.1, including lncRNA genes, cause a lethal ...

Background. Many methods with different analytical sensitivity and clinical specificity have been developed to detect the presence of high-risk (HR) types of the human papillomavirus (HPV) in cervical samples. The Hybrid Capture-II assay (HC-II) is broadly used for primary screening. In addition, several HPV genotyping assays, based on polymerase chain ...

Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) and Wolman disease are two members of a family of storage disorders caused by mutations of genes encoding lysosomal proteins. Deficiency in function of either the NPC1 or NPC2 protein in NPC disease or lysosomal acid lipase in Wolman disease results in defective cellular cholesterol ...

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate protective effects of brief repetitive bilateral arm ischemic preconditioning (BAIPC) on stroke recurrence in patients with symptomatic atherosclerotic intracranial arterial stenosis (IAS). METHODS: A total of 68 consecutive cases with symptomatic IAS, diagnosed by imaging, were enrolled in this prospective and randomized study. All ...

In this issue of the Journal, Parent et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2012;000(0):000-000) report significant associations between night-shift work and risk of cancer at several sites among men. These findings not only address the need for shift-work studies that evaluate cancers other than breast and prostate cancer but also support ...

BACKGROUND: There are few prospective data on the prognosis of insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant normal-weight (NW) or obese individuals. OBJECTIVES: The estimated liver fat content, incidences of hyperglycemia and cardiovascular disease, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates were investigated in a population-based cohort of 1658 individuals who were categorized according to ...

In anesthetized rats, opioid analgesia is accompanied by a specific pattern of tonic activity in two neuronal populations within the medullary raphe magnus (RM): opioids silence pain-facilitatory ON cells and produce sustained discharge in pain-inhibitory OFF cells. These tonic activity patterns, hypothesized to generate a tonic analgesic state, have not ...

In this case study, an early-career mechanical engineer interviews an established translational bioscientist about mechanisms for merging engineering and biomedicine to pursue clinically informed research questions.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The histone variant H2A.Z has been implicated in nucleosome exchange, transcriptional activation and Polycomb repression. However, the relationships among these seemingly disparate functions remain obscure. RESULTS: We mapped H2A.Z genome-wide in mammalian ES cells and neural progenitors. H2A.Z is deposited promiscuously at promoters and enhancers, and correlates strongly ...

Mammalian reoviruses display serotype-specific patterns of tropism and disease in the murine central nervous system (CNS) attributable to polymorphisms in viral attachment protein σ1. While all reovirus serotypes use junctional adhesion molecule-A as a cellular receptor, they differ in their utilization of carbohydrate coreceptors. This observation raises the possibility that ...

To investigate further the contribution of the adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) E1B 55-kDa protein to genome replication, viral DNA accumulation was examined in primary human fibroblasts and epithelial cells infected with Ad5 or the E1B 55-kDa-null mutant Hr6. Unexpectedly, all cell types were observed to contain a significantly higher concentration ...

Oenococcus oeni, a lactic acid bacterium, possesses a lysine racemase, which has a specific activity toward basic amino acids. A comparison of amino acid residues around the active site suggested that Ile222 and Tyr354 of the Geobacillus stearothermophilus alanine racemase, which shares 60% sequence similarity with lysine racemase, were replaced ...

Hypoxia inducible factors 1-3 (HIF1-3) are transcription factors that regulate gene expression in response to hypoxia. Compared to our extensive understanding of HIF-1 and -2, our knowledge of HIF-3 is limited. In this study, we characterized the zebrafish hif-3α gene and determined its temporal and spatial expression, physiological regulation, and ...

Unexpected consequences arise from our incomplete knowledge of the immune system. Who, for example, would have predicted that natalizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting α4 integrin on leukocytes, would dramatically increase the risk of developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy without causing notable immunosuppression? Thus, any new immunomodulatory therapy in humans must be ...

ABSTRACT: DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification involved in gene regulation, which can now be measured using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing. However, cost, complexity of the data, and lack of comprehensive analytical tools are major challenges that keep this technology from becoming widely applied. Here we present BSmooth, an alignment, ...

Polypeptide toxins have played a central part in understanding physiological and physiopathological functions of ion channels. In the field of pain, they led to important advances in basic research and even to clinical applications. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are generally considered principal players in the pain pathway, including in humans. ...

Neural crest cells generate a range of cells and tissues in the vertebrate head and trunk, including peripheral neurons, pigment cells, and cartilage. Neural crest cells arise from the edges of the nascent central nervous system, a domain called the neural plate border (NPB). NPB induction is known to involve ...

OBJECTIVE: Current research on the etiology of thin-ideal internalization focuses on psychosocial influences (e.g., media exposure). The possibility that genetic influences also account for variance in thin-ideal internalization has never been directly examined. This study used a twin design to estimate genetic effects on thin-ideal internalization and examine if environmental ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The human inferior frontal junction area (IFJ) is critically involved in three main component processes of cognitive control (working memory, task switching and inhibitory control). As it overlaps with several areas in established anatomical labeling schemes, it is considered to be underreported as a functionally distinct location in ...

Repeatability of in vivo measurement of multicomponent T(2) * relaxation in articular cartialges in human knee is important to clinical use. This study evaluated the repeatability of two-component T(2) * relaxation on seven healthy human subjects. The left knee was scanned once a day in three consecutive days, on a ...

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the nationwide trend in the survival of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Japan and the differences in incidence and survival by age group and origin of arrest. METHODS AND RESULTS: A nationwide, prospective, population-based observation covering the whole population of Japan and involving consecutive OHCA ...

Toxoplasmosis is a world-wide infection that may cause severe disease and is regarded as a serious health problem in France. Detection of the parasite by molecular methods is crucial to diagnose the disease. The extreme diversity of methods and performances of Toxoplasma-PCR assays makes the use of commercial PCR kits ...

Tau is a major member of the neuronal microtubule-associated proteins. It promotes tubulin assembly and stabilizes axonal microtubules. Previous studies have demonstrated that Tau forms cross-bridges between microtubules, with some particles located on cross-bridges, suggesting that some proteins interact with Tau and might be involved in regulating Tau-related microtubule dynamics. ...

Estimating another person's subjective confidence is crucial for social interaction, but how this inference is achieved is unknown. Previous research has demonstrated that the speed at which people make decisions is correlated with their confidence in their decision. Here, we show that (i) subjects are able to infer the subjective ...

BACKGROUND: A diet high in fruit and vegetables (FV) is inversely related to chronic diseases, and some studies suggest that increasing the intake of FV reduces the intake of unhealthy snacks. OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to analyze changes in the frequency of consumption of unhealthy snacks (soda, candy, and potato ...

Background. Our objective was to evaluate serial procalcitonin (PCT) levels compared with an initial PCT level at admission in predicting bacteremia in pediatric febrile neutropenic oncology patients. Procedure. Serum PCT levels were measured at admission (t0) and within 24 hours of admission (t1) in pediatric oncology patients presenting with fever ...

The orthopoxvirus (OPV) vaccinia virus (VACV) requires an intact F13L gene to produce enveloped virions (EV) and to form plaques in cell monolayers. Simultaneous introduction of an exogenous gene and F13L into F13L-deficient VACV results in expression of the foreign gene and restoration of plaque size. This is used as ...

In order to obtain a better molecular understanding of recurrent urinary tract infection (RUTI), we collected 75 cases with repeatedly occurring uncomplicated UTI. The genetic relationships among uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolates were analyzed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. While 39 (52%) of the RUTI were defined as persistence with ...

Gaussian processes, a class of stochastic processes including Brownian motion and the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, are widely used to model continuous trait evolution in statistical phylogenetics. Under such processes, observations at the tips of a phylogenetic tree have a multivariate Gaussian distribution, which may lead to suboptimal model specification under certain ...

A 48-year-old man was seen in the Wills Eye Institute emergency room for pain and decreased vision after having a diesel engine fuel cylinder explosion in his face. Clinical examination showed proptosis, decreased extraocular motility, and increased intraocular pressure; CT scan imaging revealed hypodense areas within the orbit. His orbital ...

Objective:To compare the effects of platelet-rich plasma injection with those of dry needling on shoulder pain and function in patients with rotator cuff disease.Design:A single-centre, prospective, randomized, double-blinded, controlled study.Setting:University rehabilitation hospital.Participants:Thirty-nine patients with a supraspinatus tendon lesion (tendinosis or a partial tear less than 1.0 cm, but not a ...

Protein-peptide interactions are a common occurrence and essential for numerous cellular processes, and frequently explored in broad applications within biology, medicine, and proteomics. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanism(s) of protein-peptide recognition, specificity, and binding interactions will be essential. In this study, we report the first detailed analysis of antibody-peptide interaction ...

Objective Necrotizing pneumonia, pulmonary abscess, and lung gangrene are rare complications of severe pulmonary infection with devitalization and sloughing of lung tissue. Pulmonary necrosis is often associated with alcoholism and other chronic disorders with known immunodeficiency. Mortality is significant and both treatment strategies as well as the role of surgery are ...

We report a case of neuropathic pain following peripheral venous cannulation for an elective surgical procedure and discuss the various mechanisms by which this could occur. The mostly likely trigger in this case is phlebitis as the onset of symptoms coincided with the local infection. Neuropathic pain can occur following ...