We report on the surface characterization, functionalization and application of stable water suspensions of novel surface active maghemite nanoparticles (SAMNs), characterized by a diameter of 11  2 nm and possessing peculiar colloidal properties and surface interactions. These features permitted the acquisition of titration curves and aqueous UV-Vis spectrum and ...

The outcome of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection and course to AIDS are variable among individuals. Both chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) and CCR2 gene polymorphisms play essential roles in the susceptibility of HIV-1 infection. To investigate the main and epistatic effects of the CCR5 promoter and CCR2-V64I polymorphisms on HIV-1 ...

Nano-composite Sm(0.5)Sr(0.5)CoO(3-δ) (SSC)-Ce(0.9)Gd(0.1)O(1.95) (GDC) and La(0.6)Sr(0.4)Co(0.8)Fe(0.2)O(3-δ) (LSCF)-GDC Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) cathodes with various infiltrate loading levels were prepared through multiple nitrate solution infiltrations into porous GDC ionic conducting (IC) scaffolds. Microstructural analyses indicated that the average SSC and average LSCF hemispherical particle radii remained roughly constant, at 25 ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are an effective means of presenting expert-knowledge assumptions when selecting adjustment variables in epidemiology, whereas the change-in-estimate procedure is a common statistics-based approach. As DAGs imply specific empirical relationships which can be explored by the change-in-estimate procedure, it should be possible to combine the ...

The dichloromethane-methanol (1:1) soluble part of Calopogonium mucunoides (Fabaceae) resulted in the isolation of 10 isoflavones (4'-O-methylalpinumisoflavone, 4'-O-methylderrone, alpinumisoflavone, daidzeine, Calopogonium isoflavone A, atalantoflavone, 2',4',5',7-tetramethoxyisoflavone, 7-O-methylcuneantin, cabreuvin and 7-O-methylpseudobaptigenin) and a rotenoid (6a,12a-dehydroxydegueline). Among these, daidzeine, 7-O-methylcuneantin, atalantoflavone and 6a, 12a-dehydroxydegueline have been isolated for the first time from C. ...

We demonstrate control over the orientation of PbS nanoparticles by way of directed assembly, which in turn, affects the crystal structure of alkylamine surfactants such as octadecylamine (ODA, C18H37NH2) and hexadecylamine (HDA, C16H33NH2). This directed assembly method results in the arrangement of PbS nanoparticles with well-defined epitaxial orientation on lamellar ...

Immobilization of enzymes may produce alterations in their observed activity, specificity or selectivity. Although in many cases an impoverishment of the enzyme properties is observed upon immobilization (caused by the distortion of the enzyme due to the interaction with the support) in some instances such properties may be enhanced by ...

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate bone remodelling and soft tissue reactions around immediate nonocclusal loaded implants with different collar configuration in beagle dogs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The mandibular bilateral second, third and fourth premolars of six beagle dogs were extracted. After 3 months of healing, four implants ...

Organ growth depends on cell division and (or) cell growth. Here, we present a study on two organs whose growth depends entirely on cell growth, once they are formed in the embryo: Malpighian tubules and silk glands of the flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella . Between first and last larval instar, ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our investigation was to review the implementation of a comprehensive tobacco dependence education (TDE) curriculum at the Medi School of Dental Hygiene (MSDH), Bern, Switzerland, 2001-2008. METHODS: In 2001, new forms to record patients' tobacco use history and willingness to quit were created for all the ...

Arynes (aromatic systems containing, formally, a carbon-carbon triple bond) are among the most versatile of all reactive intermediates in organic chemistry. They can be 'trapped' to give products that are used as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, dyes, polymers and other fine chemicals. Here we explore a strategy that unites the de novo ...

BACKGROUND: The recent recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force against PSA-based screening for prostate cancer was based, in part, on the lack of demonstrated diagnostic utility of serum PSA values in the low, but detectable range to successfully predict prostate cancer. Though controversial, this recommendation reinforced the critical ...

Aim:  the aim of this study was to assess the effect of apical lymph node (APN) metastasis in predicting prognosis in curatively treated node-positive rectal cancer. We also investigated the relationship between APN metastasis and total number of metastatic lymph nodes. Method:  A retrospective study was performed of 510 curatively ...

Introduction.  Research focusing on the long-term sequelae of diagnosis and treatment for childhood cancer suggests that although the majority of survivors are not at increased risk for psychopathology, many experience persistent problems in other domains that greatly affect quality of life (QoL). One such domain is social functioning. To date, ...

Activating somatic and germline mutations of closely related RAS genes (H, K, N) have been found in various types of cancer and in patients with or developmental disorders, respectively. The involvement of the RAS signalling pathways in developmental disorders has recently emerged as one of the most important drivers in ...

This review aimed to compare the predictive value between the untreated reduction in intraocular pressure (IOP) from baseline or placebo measured in early phase clinical trials to phase III and IV results for glaucoma medicines. Published, placebo-controlled, randomised, parallel, single-masked or double-masked clinical trials with at least one phase II, ...

The direct observation of small oscillating structures with the help of a scanning electron beam is a new approach to study the vibrational dynamics of cantilevers and microelectromechanical systems. In the scanning electron microscope, the conventional signal of secondary electrons (SE, dc part) is separated from the signal response of ...

T-cell immunodeficiency is a common feature in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and deficiency in CD3 levels was detected in T cells from these patients, which may represent a characteristic that is related to a lower T cell activation. In this study, we explored the possibility that forced TCRζ ...

INTRODUCTION: Doxorubicin (DXR) is one of the most effective and widely used anthracycline antibiotics. However, its clinical application is hampered by toxic effects in many organs. Nephrotoxicity is one of the major side effects of anthracycline antibiotics. This study was designed to investigate the possible protective effects of aliskiren (a ...

Abstract Background: The concept of fractional delivery modality of the energy with both ablative and non-ablative devices is now well known and accepted as an effective method to attain significant aesthetic improvements on facial aging skin. A new multi-modal fractional ablative CO2 laser that can create, using same scanner/handpiece, deep ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate radiation doses in cerebral perfusion computed tomography (CT) examination. As a part of routine patient monitoring, data were collected on patients in terms of the skin dose and CT dose index (CTDI(vol)) and dose-length product (DLP) values. For the estimation of the ...

Two new alkaloids, 2-demethyl-oxypalmatine (1) and 5-ethoxycarbonylsinoracutine (2), were isolated from the rhizomes of Sinomenium acutum, along with thirty-four known compounds. Cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds was examined for the MCF-7, H460, HT-29, and CEM human cancer cell lines. Dauriporphine (16), 6-O-demethylmenisporphine (17), bianfugecine (18), menisporphine (19), and 6-O-demethyldauriporphine (20) ...

Two [1,2,3]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridinium salts have been prepared via a novel Cu(ii)-mediated oxidative cyclization reaction. Both water soluble compounds exhibit broad-range fluorescence emission with huge Stokes shifts as well as color tunability.

The soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) genome contains 18 members of the 14-3-3 protein family, but little is known about their association with specific phenotypes. Here, we report that the Glyma0529080 (SGF14c) and Glyma08g12220 (SGF14l) genes, encoding 14-3-3 proteins, appear to play essential roles in soybean nodulation. QRT-PCR and western ...

ABSTRACT Introduction: Fractional CO2-laser is considered a preferential method for skin resurfacing, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms whereby treatments working. In the present study we investigated the possible role of apoptosis by the sequential analysis of lesional skin after laser treatment, with special attention to power. Moreover ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is increasingly used in various diseases as a clinical tool for assessing the integrity of the brain's white matter. Reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) and an increased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) are nonspecific findings in most pathological processes affecting the brain's parenchyma. At present, there ...

What is known and Objective:  The increasing cost of drug research and development and the decreasing number of new drugs being launched are serious issues for pharmaceutical companies. Biomarkers for predicting drug effectiveness are regarded as useful tools for combating these trends. However, the extent to which these biomarkers actually ...

Introduction.  It is common knowledge among researchers that erectile dysfunction (ED) is an important sentinel marker of cardiovascular and overall men's health. Aim.  Determine whether the delay of time between ED onset and seeking medical help (DSH), considered as a proxy of awareness of the importance of ED for overall ...

Modular proteins have emerged as powerful tools in tissue engineering because both the mechanical and biochemical properties can be precisely controlled through amino acid sequence. Resilin is an attractive candidate for use in modular proteins because it is well-known for having low stiffness, high fatigue-lifetime, and high resilience. However, no ...

Plant cytochrome P450 is a key enzyme responsible for the herbicide resistance but the molecular basis of the mechanism is unclear. To understand this, four typical plant P450s and a widely resistant herbicide chlortoluron were analysed by carrying out homology modelling, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations and binding free energy ...

Aim:  Stapled transanal rectal resection (STARR) is used for patients with Obstructive Defaecation Syndrome (ODS) not responding to conservative management. Reports indicate mixed results and there are no studies publishing the long term outcome. Method:  Following full investigation, 37 patients with ODS underwent a STARR procedure by one of the ...

SUMMARY: TIBA is a tool to reconstruct phylogenetic trees from rearragement data which consists of ordered lists of synteny blocks (or genes) where each synteny block is shared with all of its homologs in the input genomes. The evolution of these synteny blocks, through rearrangement operations, is modeled by the ...

This study investigates the beneficial role of lisinopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and telmisartan, an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), in intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) streptozotocin (STZ) induced dementia of Alzheimer's disease (AD) type in mice. This study also aimed to explore the role of PPAR-γ in lisinopril and telmisartan mediated ...

Adsorption of human serum albumin (HSA) on mica from 0.15 M, NaCl solutions and various pH was studied using in situ streaming potential measurements, AFM imaging and XPS. Results obtained by streaming potential were consistent with AFM measurements and theoretical predictions based on the random sequential adsorption model. This allowed ...

Effective preselection of sex has been accomplished in several species of livestock and also in humans using the flow cytometric sperm sorting method. A guaranteed high sorting accuracy is a key prerequisite for the widespread use of sperm sexing. The standard validation method is flow cytometric remeasurement of the DNA ...

Two new prenylated flavonoids (1, 4) and two new prenylated C-methyl-flavonoids (6, 7), together with four known flavonoids (2, 3, 5, 8), were isolated from the roots of Desmodium caudatum. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses including 1D-, 2D-NMR and MS. The antifungal activities ...

Little data exist regarding the acute assessment of blast concussion and the course of recovery in the combat zone, as most research has examined service members long after they have returned home. This manuscript examined a case series of 377 service members seen for acute concussion evaluation following medical evacuation ...

This study outlines how mechanistic organic chemistry related to covalent bond formation can be used to rationalise the ability of low molecular weight chemicals to cause respiratory sensitisation. The results of an analysis of 104 chemicals which have been reported to cause respiratory sensitisation in humans showed that most of ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: No previous study has examined the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and explored the influence of immigration status and acculturation on overweight/obesity among the Portuguese immigrants to Luxembourg. Our objectives were (1) compare the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors between native Luxembourgers and Portuguese immigrants, (2) examine the ...

Background: Myopia is an important cause of correctable visual impairment worldwide. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to its development. The population of Chinese university students consists of about 30 million young people characterized by academic excellence and similar ages. To date, little is known about their refractive status. Methods: ...

The new GOLD update has moved forward the principles of treatment of stable COPD by including the concepts of symptoms and risks into the decision of therapy; however, no mention of the concept of clinical phenotypes was included. It is recognized that COPD is a very heterogeneous disease and not ...

The codevelopment of delinquent behaviors and depressive symptoms from Grade 9 to 11 was investigated on an Italian sample of 518 adolescents (399 male) after the transition to high school, evaluating the time-invariant effects of past school failure and social failure and the time-varying effects of school achievement and social ...

Immunisation with neural-derived peptides is a promising strategy in models of spinal cord (SC) injury. Recent studies have also demonstrated that the addition of glutathione monoethyl ester (GHSE) to this strategy further improves motor recovery, tissue protection and neuronal survival after SC injury. Since it is realistic to envision that ...

Gas ebullition-facilitated transport of metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the sediment to the water column was investigated in 14 urban waterway locations. Gas ebullition ranged from 2-450 mmol m-2 d-1 with a mean (±1 SEM) of 140±90 mmol m-2 d-1 over four seasons at the field sites and ...

AimsThe prognosis of patients with infective endocarditis (IE) remains poor despite the great advances in the last decades. One of the factors closely related to mortality is the development of septic shock (SS). The aim of our study was to describe the profile of patients with IE complicated with SS, ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Medical simulation and human factors engineering (HFE) may help investigate and improve clinical telemetry systems. Investigators sought to (1) determine the baseline performance characteristics of an Emergency Department (ED) telemetry system implementation at detecting simulated arrhythmias and (2) improve system performance through HFE-based intervention. METHODS: The prospective ...

We have identified a series of modifications of the 2'-deoxyribose moiety of DNA arising from the exposure of isolated and cellular DNA to ionizing radiation. The modi-fications consist of 2'-3'-dideoxyribonucleosides derivatives of T, C, A, and G, as identified by enzymatic digestion and LC-MS/MS. Depending on the conditions, the yield ...

Abstract Background: Infraorbital laxity is a common problem that increases with age. Blepharoplasty with lipectomy is a very commonly performed surgical procedure to treat this problem; however, it is invasive and is associated with the potential for reemergence. Therefore, young patients may prefer a non-surgical procedure to a surgical procedure. ...

INTRODUCTION: The presence of cigarette-related cues has been associated with smoking relapse. These cues are believed to activate brain mechanisms underlying emotion, attention, and memory. Electroencephalography (EEG) alpha desynchronization (i.e., reduction in alpha power) has been suggested to index the engagement of these mechanisms. Analyzing EEG alpha desynchronization in response ...

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests that high-density lipoprotein (HDL) physicochemical characteristics and functional capacity may be more important that HDL-C levels in predicting coronary heart disease. There is little data regarding HDL subclasses distribution in youth with type 1 diabetes. OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationships between glycemic control and HDL subclasses ...