Background: There is variation in the use of radioactive iodine (RAI) as treatment for well-differentiated thyroid cancer. The factors involved in physician decision making for RAI remain unknown. Methods: We surveyed physicians involved in post-surgical management of patients with thyroid cancer from 251 hospitals. Respondents were asked to rate the ...

BACKGROUND:Molecular characterization of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) is pivotal to increasing the diagnostic specificity of CTC assays and investigating therapeutic targets and their downstream pathways on CTCs. We focused on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and genes relevant for its inhibition in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).METHODS:We used the CellSearch® ...

The timely release of the World Report on Disability serves as a challenge to members of the health professions to review and renew their response to inequity of access and provision of services to children and adults with a disability. This paper responds to the lead article by Wylie, McAllister, ...

Adipose fins are enigmatic appendages found between the dorsal and caudal fins of some teleostean fishes. Long thought to be vestigial, degenerate second dorsal fins, remnants of the primitive gnathostome condition, adipose fins have since been recognized as novel morphologies. Unique among the fins of extant fishes, adipose fins have ...

OBJECTIVE: Older persons with coronary heart disease have reduced access to appropriate medical and surgical services if they are also mentally ill. This study determined whether difference exists in access to hospitals that provide on-site invasive cardiac procedures among a national cohort of Medicare acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with ...

Emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from marine sediments are controlled by anaerobic oxidation of methane coupled primarily to sulphate reduction (AOM). Sulphate-coupled AOM is believed to be mediated by a consortium of methanotrophic archaea (ANME) and sulphate-reducing Deltaproteobacteria but the underlying mechanism has not yet been resolved. Here ...

BACKGROUND: Appalachia is a geographic region with high cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates, yet little is known about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in this region. We determined HPV vaccine coverage among adolescent females from Appalachia, made comparisons to non-Appalachian females, and examined how coverage differs across subregions within Appalachia. ...

A new unsymmetrical geminal dianion that contained both a phosphine oxide moiety and a phosphine sulfide moiety has been synthesized. Its reactivity towards Ru(II) was explored, which led to the formation of a highly reactive carbene complex that evolved at room temperature to yield a kinetic orthometalated Ru(II) complex through ...

There is consensus that the modern human lineage appeared in Africa before 100,000 years ago. But there is debate as to when cultural and cognitive characteristics typical of modern humans first appeared, and the role that these had in the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. Scientists rely on ...

Although clinical and experimental observations indicate that the optic nerve head (ONH) is a major site of axon degeneration in glaucoma, the mechanisms by which local retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons are injured and damage spreads among axons remain poorly defined. Using a laser-induced ocular hypertension (LIOH) mouse model of ...

Copy number variations are genomic structural variants that are frequently associated with human diseases. Among these copy number variations, duplications of DNA segments are often assumed to lead to dosage effects by increasing the copy number of either genes or their regulatory elements. We produced a series of large targeted ...

AIMS: To evaluate the results of Faden operations on the medial rectus (MR) muscles with or without recession for the treatment of partially accommodative esotropia associated with a high accommodative convergence to accommodation (AC : A) ratio and to determine whether there was a decrease in the effects of posterior ...

Abstract Objective: the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). Background data: Regardless of the etiology, CKD involves progressive widespread tissue fibrosis, tubular atrophy, and loss of kidney function. This ...

Incorporation of global climate change (GCC) effects into assessments of chemical risk and injury requires integrated examinations of chemical and nonchemical stressors. Environmental variables altered by GCC (temperature, precipitation, salinity, pH) can influence the toxicokinetics of chemical absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion as well as toxicodynamic interactions between chemicals and ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Synthetic biology approaches can make a significant contribution to the advance of metabolic engineering by reducing the development time of recombinant organisms. However, most of synthetic biology tools have been developed for Escherichia coli. Here we provide a platform for rapid engineering of C. glutamicum, a microorganism of ...

Icariin (ICA), a major constituent of flavonoids from the Chinese medical herb Epimedium brevicornum Maxim, is found to be protective for male reproductive ability, with the underlying mechanism largely unknown. Our study here investigated the effects of ICA on Sertoli cells, which act as nurse cells for the germ cells ...

With the rapid development of China's space industry, the importance of radiation protection is increasingly prominent. To provide relevant dose data, we first developed the Visible Chinese Human adult Female (VCH-F) phantom, and performed further modifications to generate the VCH-F Astronaut (VCH-FA) phantom, incorporating statistical body characteristics data from the ...

Terminase enzymes are responsible for the excision of a single genome from a concatemeric precursor (genome maturation) and concomitant packaging of DNA into the capsid shell. Here, we demonstrate that lambda terminase can be purified as a homogeneous "protomer" species, and we present a kinetic analysis of the genome maturation ...

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data concerning the energy requirements (ERs) of preschool-age children with cerebral palsy (CP), the knowledge of which is essential for early nutritional management. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the ERs for preschool-age children with CP in relation to functional ability, motor type, and distribution ...

Rhizobial surface polysaccharides are required for nodule formation on the roots of at least some legumes but the mechanism(s) by which they act are yet to be determined. As a first step to investigate the function of exopolysaccharide (EPS) in the formation of determinate nodules, we isolated Mesorhizobium loti mutants ...

The present study is an examination of sex offender treatment outcome in a large national cohort of Canadian Federally incarcerated sex offenders followed up an average of 11.7 years postrelease. A brief actuarial risk scale (BARS), which predicted sexual and violent recidivism, was created for the purposes of the present ...

The kinase MEKK2 (MAP3K2) has recently been implicated in tumor growth and metastasis. Thus, selective inhibition of MEKK2 may be a novel strategy for cancer therapy. To identify inhibitors of MEKK2 kinase activity, we have developed a novel activity assay for MEKK2 based on the discovery that recombinant purified MEKK2 ...

The very first microfluidic device used for the production of (18)F-labeled tracers for clinical research is reported along with the first human Positron Emission Tomography scan obtained with a microfluidically produced radiotracer. The system integrates all operations necessary for the transformation of [(18)F]fluoride in irradiated cyclotron target water to a ...

Preclinical drug development studies currently rely on costly and time-consuming animal testing because existing cell culture models fail to recapitulate complex, organ-level disease processes in humans. We provide the proof of principle for using a biomimetic microdevice that reconstitutes organ-level lung functions to create a human disease model-on-a-chip that mimics ...

Bone marrow is one of the best characterized stem cell microenvironment that contains Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs). MSCs have been indicated as a new option for regenerative medicine because of their ability to differentiate into bone, cartilage and adipose tissues. However, in vitro-cultivation of MSCs could be associated with some ...

Research on stem cells has developed as one of the most promising areas of neurobiology. In the beginning of the 1990s, neurogenesis in the adult brain was indisputably accepted, eliciting great research efforts. Neural stem cells in the adult mammalian brain are located in the "neurogenic" areas of the subventricular ...

The control of normal cell growth is a balance between stimulatory and inhibitory signals. MYC is a pleiotropic transcription factor that both activates and represses a broad range of target genes and is indispensable for cell growth. Whereas much is known about gene activation by MYC, there is no established ...

The present study characterized the receptor-dependent regulation of dendrite formation of noradrenaline (NA) and dopamine (DA) in cultured neurons obtained from embryonic day 16 rat cerebral cortex. Morphological diversity of cortical dendrites was analyzed on various features: dendrite initiation, dendrite outgrowth and dendrite branching. Using a combination of immunocytochemical markers ...

BACKGROUND: In a previous study we found significantly decreased N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) and total N-acetyl (tNA) groups in the thalamus of patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) compared with healthy individuals (HI). No significant difference between the groups could be found in the frontal deep white matter (FDWM). OBJECTIVE: ...

Formation on demand: An organocatalytic cross-coupling reaction of aldehydes with N-hydroxyimides, hexafluoroisopropyl alcohol, and sulfonimides has been developed. The resulting active intermediates can be directly converted into amides or esters in one pot. This simple method makes use of readily available starting materials, and the newly discovered activating reagents should ...

Background: Post-partum thyroiditis (PPT) is characterized by the development of post-partum thyroid dysfunction which may occur up to 12 months after delivery. The syndrome usually presents with transient thyrotoxicosis, followed by transient hypothyroidism. The association of this condition with resistance to thyroid hormones (RTH) has never been described. Patient findings: ...

Common complex diseases are likely influenced by the interplay of hundreds, or even thousands, of genetic variants. Converging evidence shows that genetic variants with low marginal effects (LMEs) play an important role in disease development. Despite their potential significance, discovering LME genetic variants and assessing their joint association on high-dimensional ...

Mammalian genomes encode a large number of small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) that play regulatory roles during development and adulthood by means of affecting gene expression. Several sncRNA species, including microRNAs (miRNAs), piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), endogenous small interfering RNAs (endo-siRNAs) and small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) have been identified to be abundantly ...

Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are valuable reagents for efficient gene silencing in a sequence‑specific manner via the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. The current synthetic siRNA structure consists of symmetrical duplexes of 19‑21 base pairs (bp) with 2 nucleotide (nt) 3' overhangs. In this study, we report that an asymmetric siRNA (asiRNA) consisting of ...

The recently emerged concept of "vessel normalization" implies that judicious blockade of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling may transiently "normalize" the tumor vasculature, making it more suitable for tumor disposition of subsequently administered drugs. In this study, therefore, the effect of pre-treatment with SU5416, a selective VEGF receptor-2 inhibitor, ...

Background:Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a condition of raised cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure with normal ventricular size. Although the pathogenesis of IIH remains controversial, increased CSF formation may be important. We hypothesised that if increased CSF formation was an aetiologic factor, it might result in a macroscopic increase in size ...

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether, in patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC),  tumor uptake of [(11)C]erlotinib can be quantified and imaged using positron emission tomography, and to assess whether the level of tracer uptake corresponds with the presence of activating tumor epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Ten ...

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), particularly lanthanide-doped nanocrystals, which emit high energy photons under excitation by the near-infrared (NIR) light, have found potential applications in many different fields, including biomedicine. Compared with traditional down-conversion fluorescence imaging, the NIR light excited upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging relying on UCNPs exhibits improved tissue penetration depth, ...

A copper-catalyzed efficient one step three component strategy for preparing a library of aminoindolizino[8,7-b]indoles from N-substituted 1-formyl-9H-β-carbolines, secondary amines and substituted alkynes with high atom economy has been developed.

Using a suite of biophysical tools, we assess the mechanical, structural, and functional properties of microtubules stabilized by the chemotherapeutic compounds epothilone-A, epothilone-B, and taxolin vitro. We demonstrate that microtubules stabilized by epothilone-A or epothilone-B are competent to bind tau proteins, and support kinesin translocation. Kinesin speed is sensitive not ...

A novel gene fragment containing a xylanase was identified from a Holstein cattle rumen metagenomic library. The novel xylanase (Xyln-SH1) belonged to the glycoside hydrolase family 10 (GH10) and exhibited a maximum of 44% identity to the glycoside hydrolase from Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405. Xyln-SH1 was heterologously expressed, purified and ...

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: It is well established that during mechanical ventilation of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome cyclic recruitment/derecruitment and overdistension are potentially injurious for lung tissues. We evaluated whether the forced oscillatory technique (FOT) could be used to guide the ventilator settings in order to minimize cyclic lung recruitment/derecruitment ...

Microtubules are highly dynamic cytoskeletal polymers of α/β-tubulin heterodimers that undergo multiple posttranslational modifications essential for various cellular functions in eukaryotes. The lysine 40 (K40) is largely conserved in α-tubulins in many eukaryote species, and the post-translational modification by acetylation at K40 is critical for neuronal development in vertebrates. However, ...

UV-C radiation is the US EPA recommended technology to remove N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) during drinking and recycled water production. Frequently, H2O2 is added to the treatment to remove other recalcitrant compounds and to prevent NDMA reformation. However, the transformation of NDMA precursors during the UV and UV/H2O2 process and the consequences ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) exerts action on both germline and somatic compartment in both ovary and testis although FSH receptors (FSHR) are localized only on the somatic cells namely granulosa cells of growing follicles and Sertoli cells in the seminiferous tubules. High levels of FSH in females are ...

Doing fine with Ni-Fe: The calcination and reduction of a hydrotalcite precursor containing Ni and Fe ions gives uniform Ni-Fe alloy nanoparticles mixed with Mg(Ni, Fe, Al)O particles. The uniformity of the Ni-Fe alloy nanoparticles is connected to the catalyst's high activity and resistance to coke formation in toluene and phenol steam ...

Background: Research on the correlation between personality and students' specialty choice is helpful in their career counselling process and in predicting the future distribution of the specialties in a country. Aims: This study is the first of its kind in the Arab world. The research questions were: (1) What is ...

Health is best understood within an ecological context. Accordingly, health promotion involves processes that foster supportive environments and healthful behavior. Thus, effective health promotion programs are typically multilevel, focusing not only on the population at risk but also on the environmental conditions that contribute so importantly to health and health ...

Background: To compare the IVF outcomes of letrozole/antagonist and microdose GnRH agonist flare up protocols in poor ovarian responders undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Materials and methods: A randomized controlled trial was performed in patients with one or more previous failed IVF cycles in which four or less oocytes were retrieved ...

BackgroundDespite advances in cancer therapy, mortality is still high except in early-stage tumors, and screening remains a challenge. The randomized National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), comparing annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) and chest X-rays, revealed a 20% decrease in lung-cancer-specific mortality. These results raised numerous questions. The French intergroup for ...