In this paper, an optical solution for the dominating set problem is provided. The solution is based on long ribbon-shaped optical filters, on which some operations can be optically applied efficiently. The provided solution requires polynomial time, exponential length of filters, and exponential number of photons to solve the dominating ...

A grand challenge in synthetic biology is to push the design of biomolecular circuits from purely genetic constructs towards systems that interface different levels of the cellular machinery, including signalling networks and metabolic pathways. In this paper, we focus on a genetic circuit for feedback regulation of unbranched metabolic pathways. ...

Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a hormone that has important physiological effects on energy balance. This study has utilized a stable CCK1 receptor agonist, (pGlu-Gln)-CCK-8, to evaluate the metabolic effects of prolonged administration in normal mice. Twice daily injection of (pGlu-Gln)-CCK-8 for 28 days resulted in significantly lowered body weights (P<0.05) on ...

This study aims to interpret the energetic basis of complex DNA-peptide interactions according to a novel allosteric interaction network approach. In common with other designed peptides, five new conjugates incorporating the XPRK or XHypRK motif (Hyp = hydroxyproline) attached to a N-methylpyrrole (Py) tract with a basic tail have been ...

BACKGROUND: Despite the high sensitivity of screening colonoscopy, polyps and cancers can still go undetected. With the polyp-to-cancer transformation cycle averaging 7-10 years, present guidelines recommend repeat colonoscopy within 10 years after negative screening. However, not all colorectal malignancies follow this decade-long progression. This study evaluates the incidence and pathology of colorectal ...

Psoriasis vulgaris is considered as a chronic inflammatory disease but its immunopathogenesis has not been well understood. TNFAIP3 gene functions in negative feedback regulation of inflammation and its single nucleotide polymorphism is associated with psoriasis. However, the relationship between expression level of TNFAIP3 gene in immune cells and psoriasis is ...

This paper quantifies the allocation of ecosystem services value (ESV) associated with land use pattern and qualitatively examined impacts of land use changes and socio-economic factors on spatiotemporal variation of ESV in the Natural Wetland Distribution Area (NWDA), Fuzhou city, China. The results showed that total ESV of the study ...

Abstract Background: Emergency contraception (EC) has been available behind the counter without a prescription since 2006. Evidence has shown increased use of EC among young women, but no recent findings have been published to date of current use. Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed 482 college heterosexually active college women attending ...

Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) gene possibly plays a key role for cold acclimation process in snow trout during winter months when water temperature goes down to 4-5 °C. In this study, 1,012 bp nucleotide fragment of GPDH gene was obtained from two snow trout species (Schizothorax richardsonii and S. niger; family: Cyprinidae), distributed ...

To determine whether the absence of early epileptiform abnormalities predicts absence of later seizures on continuous EEG monitoring of hospitalized patients. We retrospectively reviewed 242 consecutive patients without a prior generalized convulsive seizure or active epilepsy who underwent continuous EEG monitoring lasting at least 18 hours for detection of nonconvulsive ...

Over the past decade, the zebrafish has become a key model organism in genetic screenings and drug discovery. A number of genes have been identified to affect the development of the shape and functioning of the heart, leading to zebrafish mutants with heart defects. The development of semiautomated microscopy systems ...

The association of alcohol consumption and breast cancer is more pronounced in cases that are positive for estrogen receptor (ER+) than in cases that are negative (ER-). Its mechanism remains to be determined. Deregulation of RNA polymerase III (Pol III) transcription enhances cellular tRNAs and 5S rRNA production, increasing translational ...

Background: Malaria predisposes children in malaria-endemic areas to concurrent bacteremia, often with severe outcome. The importance of bacterial co-infections in patients diagnosed with malaria in non-endemic settings has however not been reported.Methods: A retrospective analysis of microbiology data was performed in 755 travelers diagnosed with malaria in Sweden. Bacterial cultures ...

Pentacene films have been grown on two polar zinc oxide surfaces, i.e., ZnO(0001) and ZnO([Formula: see text]), as well as on the mixed-terminated ZnO([Formula: see text]) and are characterized by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). In all cases, pentacene aggregates in ...

Aortic valve stenosis (AS) shares several similarities with atherosclerosis. Factor XIII (FXIII) has been detected within atherosclerotic plaques and may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis via multiple mechanisms. In the current study, we sought to investigate FXIII expression within human stenotic aortic valves and its association with severity of ...

TGF-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induces the proliferation and migration of the human lens epithelial (HLE) cells. Ganglioside GM3, a simple sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids on mammalian cell membranes, regulates various pathological phenomena such as insulin resistance and tumor progression. However, the relation between ganglioside GM3 and TGF-β-induced EMT in the HLE ...

Abstract Toxoplasma gondii is an important protozoan parasite that can infect virtually all warm-blooded animals, including humans; oocysts in the environment are an important infection source. Microtus fortis can be used as a sentinel reflecting the distribution of T. gondii oocysts in the environment indirectly. In the present study, we ...

Exposure to stressors results in a spectrum of autonomic, endocrine, and behavioral responses. A key pathway in this response to stress is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which results in a transient increase in circulating cortisol, which exerts its effects through the two related ligand-activated transcription factors: the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) ...

A fast, simple and quantitative approach was established for monitoring autophagy in HeLa cells by directly detecting the conversion of green fluorescent protein (GFP) labelled autophagy markers, GFP-LC3-I to GFP-LC3-II, in crude cellular extract using capillary electrophoresis (CE) with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). Compared with the traditional methods, this proposed method ...

The cellular prion protein (PrP (C) ) is subjected to various processing under physiological and pathological conditions, of which the α-cleavage within the central hydrophobic domain not only disrupts a region critical for both PrP toxicity and PrP (C) to PrP (Sc) conversion but also produces the N1 fragment that ...

The first mechanical heart valve prosthesis designed by Dr Charles Hufnagel was implanted to the descending aorta of a 30 year old woman with severe aortic regurgitation in 1952(1). Eight years after the initial succesful prosthetic valve implantation, Dr Harken sutured a prosthetic valve (Starr Edwards Valve) to the aortic ...

Angiotensin IV (AngIV: VYIHPF)-related peptides have long been recognized as procognitive agents with potential as antidementia therapeutics. Their development as useful therapeutics, however, has been limited by physiochemical properties that make them susceptible to metabolic degradation and impermeable to gut and blood-brain barriers. A previous study demonstrated that the core ...

Both our environment and our behavior contain many spatiotemporal regularities. Preferential and differential tuning of neural populations to these regularities can be demonstrated by assessing rate dependence of neural responses evoked during continuous periodic stimulation. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure regional variations of temporal sensitivity along ...

Vascular hyperpermeability contributes to morbidity in inflammation. Current methodologies for in vivo assessment of permeability based on extravasation of Evans Blue (EB)-bound albumin are cumbersome and often lack sensitivity. We developed a novel infrared fluorescence (IRF) methodology for measurement of EB-albumin extravasation to quantify vascular permeability in murine models. Vascular ...

The photochemical isomerization of resveratrol has been the subject of recent studies in which contradictory results were reported. The photoproduct mixture of this reaction needs to be considered more complex than the coexistence of cis and trans isomers. An unidentified third product, at least, has been detected in various studies ...

This work aimed to investigate the effectiveness of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on the degradation of the antimicrobial triclocarban (TCC). We investigated the effects of several operational parameters, including solution pH, initial TCC concentration, photocatalyst TiO(2) loading, presence of natural organic matter, and most common anions in surface waters (e.g., bicarbonate, ...

The open reading frame 7a of the Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV orf7a, Bm7a) encodes a predicted polypeptide consisting of 53 amino acid residues. While this polypeptide's homologues were found in certain baculoviruses, its function has not yet been studied. A protein structural assay revealed that the polypeptide expressed from this ...

The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of 12 weeks of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) consumption on the capacity of HDL to promote cholesterol efflux (CE) and to determine which CE pathways are modulated by EVOO consumption. Whole HDL and HDL2/HDL3 subclasses were isolated from the plasma of ...

The first complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Tachinidae Exorista sorbillans (Diptera) is sequenced by PCR-based approach. The circular mitogenome is 14,960 bp long and has the representative mitochondrial gene (mt gene) organization and order of Diptera. All protein-coding sequences are initiated with ATN codon; however, the only exception is Cox I ...

The four mammalian phosphatidylinositol 4-kinases, together with the PI(4,5)P(2) depleting 5-phosphatases of the oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe and synaptojanin families, modulate neuronal pools of PI4P lipid and regulate intracellular membrane trafficking in the endocytic and secretory pathways. Dysfunctions in these enzymes have been associated with a broad spectrum of disorders ...

Natural killer T (NKT) cells constitute an important subset of T cells that can both directly and indirectly mediate antitumor immunity. However, we and others have reported that cancer patients have a reduction in both NKT cell number and function. NKT cells can be stimulated and expanded with α-GalCer and ...

To recognize α-amino acids with highly polar side chains in water, poorly water soluble scandium complexes with both Lewis acidic and basic portions were synthesized as artificial receptors. A suspension of some of these receptor molecules in an α-amino acid solution could remove acidic and basic α-amino acids from the ...

In the context of long-range electron transfer for solar energy conversion, we present the synthesis, photophysical, and computational characterization of two new zinc(II) phthalocyanine oligophenylene-ethynylene based donor-bride-acceptor dyads: ZnPc-OPE-AuP(+) and ZnPc-OPE-C(60). A gold(III) porphyrin and a fullerene has been used as electron accepting moieties, and the results have been compared ...

In this study, we tested the relationship between error-related signals of cognitive control and cortisol reactivity, investigating the hypothesis of common systems for cognitive and emotional self-regulation. Eighty-three participants completed a Stroop task while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. Three error-related indices were derived from the EEG: the error-related negativity (ERN), ...

Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a potentially devastating and sight-threatening infection of the cornea caused by the ubiquitous free-living amoebae, Acanthamoeba species. Its eradication is difficult because the amoebas encyst, making it highly resistant to anti-amoebic drugs. Acriflavine neutral (ACF) has been used for treatment of microbial infections for humans and ...

The outcome of the 2012 election will have far-reaching ramifications for the future of U.S. health care. Rarely in a national election have the two major candidates' views about health care been so diametrically opposed. The views of President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney differ on whether ...

We use the LOCal oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) method as a fabrication technique to define submicrometer photonic waveguides. We attempted fabricating the wire waveguides with two different masking processes, one with a stack of pad oxide and silicon nitride layers, and the other with a single silicon nitride layer. The ...

MOTIVATION: The existence of families with many individuals affected by the same complex disease has long suggested the possibility of rare alleles of high penetrance. In contrast to Mendelian diseases, however, linkage studies have identified very few reproducibly linked loci in diseases like diabetes and autism. Genome-wide association studies have ...

A rectoseminal vesicle fistula is a rare complication after a low anterior resection for rectal cancer, usually developing in the outpatient postoperative period with pneumaturia, fever, scrotal swelling or testicular pain. A diagnostic water-soluble contrast enema, cystography and computed tomography reveal a tract from the rectum to the seminal vesicle. ...

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision, states should not rush to expand eligibility for Medicaid. They cannot be certain that the federal support promised in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will remain available, and a better deal might be possible after the election. Adding millions more ...

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. The main cause of death of colorectal cancer is hepatic metastases which can be treated using isolated hepatic perfusion (IHP), allowing treatment of colorectal metastasis with various methods. In this study we present a novel potent multimodality ...

BACKGROUND: Rituximab (RTX) is a promising option for treating childhood-onset steroid-dependent (SDNS), frequently relapsing (FRNS), and steroid-resistant (SRNS) nephrotic syndrome. METHODS: We retrospectively surveyed RTX treatment for these conditions to evaluate its indications, efficacy and adverse events. Questionnaires were sent to 141 hospitals in Japan. RESULTS: Seventy-four patients (52 SDNS; ...

BACKROUNDFollicle culture and oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) are emerging assisted reproductive technologies with potentially important future applications in the fertility clinic. There is concern that these technologies might interfere at the epigenetic level and, in particular, with genomic imprinting. The timely acquisition of correct imprinting patterns in oocytes and ...

BACKGROUND: Findings have shown laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) to be feasible and safe, but the data in the literature regarding oncologic outcomes are scant. This study aimed to compare the perioperative and short-term oncologic outcomes between LLR and open resection of colorectal liver metastasis (CLM). METHODS: Between January 2006 and ...

The standard procedure to increase microfluidic chip performance is to grow the number of parallel test systems on the chip. This process is accompanied by miniaturizing biochemical workflows and micromechanical elements, which is often a major challenge for both engineering fields. In this work, we show that it is possible ...

Here it goes again: A tandem catalytic process that effects sequential Pd(0) -catalyzed allylic alkylations through leaving group ionization and Pd(II) -catalyzed allylic alkylations by CH activation is reported. By employing an oxidative trigger to convert the catalytic species from Pd(0) to Pd(II) , both transformations can be conducted in ...

We describe an ink-jet printing assisted cooperative-assembly method for high-throughput generation of catalyst libraries (multi-component mesoporous metal oxides) at a rate of 1,000,000-formulations/hour with up to eight-component compositions. The compositions and mesostructures of the libraries can be well controlled and continuously varied. Fast identification of an inexpensive and efficient quaternary ...

BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of the endoscopic endonasal approaches in the field of skull base surgery during the last two decades, several variants of the sella turcica endoscopic surgery have been described. The aim of this study is to provide a stepwise description of one of these variants in a ...

BACKGROUND: The treatment of tinea capitis using radiotherapy was introduced at the beginning of the twentieth century. In Israel, between 1949 and 1960, approximately 17,000 children underwent radiotherapy treatments for tinea capitis (actual numbers are probably higher due to irradiation in countries of origin as a prerequisite for immigration). Skin ...

The relationships between the psyche and cancer are manifold. Psycho-oncology focuses on the psychological adjustment to life-threatening illnesses. Crises are not unusual in health care, but the perception of cancer is totally different because the diagnosis of cancer often results in an irrational shock reaction in all parties involved. A ...