AIM: To establish a threshold value of intraocular pressure (IOP) increase after the closed-eyelid test (CET) that correlates with the highest probability of developing overt primary open-angle glaucoma (OAG) in an Italian native population from 1980 to 2010. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of data obtained from 161 patients with ocular hypertension ...

Micrococci are Gram-positive G + C-rich, nonmotile, nonspore-forming actinomycetous bacteria. Micrococcus comprises ten members, with Micrococcus luteus being the type species. Representatives of the genus play important roles in the biodegradation of xenobiotics, bioremediation processes, production of biotechnologically important enzymes or bioactive compounds, as test strains in biological assays for lysozyme and ...

Abstract Objective. This study examined the effects of androgen deprivation on bladder blood flow (BBF) and bladder function during the acute phase in castrated rats. Material and methods. Nine-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into six groups as follows: 24 h post-sham-operation (24hPS), no operation (control), 24 h post-castration (24hPC), ...

AIM:Litigation concerning medical activities is constantly increasing, as society becomes more and more "protective" of citizens who may have suffered any wrong due to malpractice. However, we should bear in mind that the percentage of claims liquidated is minimal. METHODS: From January 2009 to December 2011, 63 claims involving vascular ...

OBJECT: To assess the feasibility of magnetization transfer (MT) imaging of the bowel wall in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), and to evaluate its utility for the detection of intestinal fibrosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, 31 patients (age 39.0 ± 13.2 years) with CD were examined in a 1.5T MR ...

Abstract Objectives. Recent epidemiological studies suggest that metformin treatment may reduce the risks of cancer and overall cancer mortality among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). However, data on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are very limited and inconsistent. This meta-analysis was designed to pool data currently available to determine the association between ...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the importance of arterial enhancement in diagnosing small (<3 cm) hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and to evaluate the added value of dynamic subtraction magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting arterial enhancement in small (<3 cm) hepatic nodules in high-risk patients. METHODS: Eighty-six patients with 135 pathologically confirmed small (<3 cm) hepatic ...

Although Bmi1 is well established as one of the most commonly activated oncogenes, the precise role of Bmi1 during hepatocarcinogenesis remains unclear. In addition, Bmi1 provides a potential therapeutic target for the future treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, the expression of Bmi1 in HCC tissues was evaluated ...

BACKGROUND: In international epidemiological studies, associations between suicides and body height, or body mass index (BMI) were found. Because of the recently growing number of suicides in Germany, a closer look on different anthropometric measures of suicide victims autopsied at the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main, ...

SUMMARY Quinine (QN) and quinidine (QND) have been commonly used as effective and affordable antimalarials for over many years. Quinine primarily is used for severe malaria treatment. However, plasmodia resistance to these drugs and poor patient compliance limits their administration to the patients. The declining sensitivity of the parasite to ...

BACKGROUND: With this study we aimed to design validated outcome prediction models in moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) using demographic, clinical, and radiological parameters. METHODS: Seven hundred consecutive moderate or severe TBI patients were included in this observational prospective cohort study. After inclusion, clinical data were collected, initial ...

Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) catalyze the acetylation of specific lysine residues in histone and nonhistone proteins. Recent studies showed that acetylation is widely distributed among cellular proteins, suggestive of diverse functions of HATs in cellular pathways. Nevertheless, currently available assays for HAT activity study are still quite limited. Here, we evaluated ...

Lung cancer is a common and serious disease, only early stage are curable. It is a logical candidate for a screening policy, especially as current and former smokers are easy to identify. The inefficiency of the chest radiograph is now proven, while the low-dose CT has shown promising data following ...

Aseptic meningitis and acute parotitis have been observed after mumps vaccination. Mumps outbreaks have been reported in Japan because of low vaccine coverage, and molecular differentiation is required to determine whether these cases are vaccine associated. RT-nested PCR was performed in the small hydrophobic gene region, and viruses were differentiated ...

Radical surgical treatment for very low rectal cancer near the anus has generally involved abdominoperineal resection. Various sphincter-saving operations have been developed for such tumors to optimize the patients' postoperative quality of life. Current protocols focus on intersphincteric resection (ISR), which differs from conventional hand-sewn coloanal anastomosis (CAA) after low ...

Risk-based, patient-centred decision-making, supported by best available evidence is an essential component for the correct prevention, control and management of dental caries. This article reviews the importance of caries risk assessment in adults as a prerequisite for appropriate caries preventive and treatment intervention decisions. A clinical case will be used ...

Guanosine has been reported to exert neuroprotective effects. We recently reported that, following intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection to rats, it resulted to be widely distributed. Its metabolic product guanine also rapidly increased in all the tissues, including brain, after i.p. injection of guanosine and consistently we found a significant enzymatic activity ...

In addition to classical stereo-disc photography, various glaucoma imaging devices were developed in the last two decades to quantitatively measure and record glaucoma-related structural parameters of the eye. In determining whether or not the glaucomatous damage progressed from baseline and in estimating the number of test results' optimal frequency needed ...

BACKGROUND: patients with mitral valve disease can progress to having pulmonary congestion, which increases the work the respiratory muscles. This overload can change the breathing pattern with a predominance of rib cage displacement or presence of paradoxical movements. OBJECTIVE: a) to study the breathing pattern and thoracoabdominal movement of patients ...

It is estimated that by 2050 there will be 2 billion people aged 60 years and older in the world. The evidence base for the health benefits of good nutrition and physical activity, as well as weight loss among overweight and obese adults, is growing and a number of policies ...

The stability and association of polymer-fullerene films upon thermal annealing depends strongly on exposure to light, even at ambient conditions. As a result, dewetting of nanocomposite films can be prevented and the characteristic lengthscales of phase separated morphologies finely tuned. Coupling photopatterning with either self-organization process provides a powerful route ...

ABSTRACT Background: The aim was to develop a brief screening battery, Cognitive State Test (COST), for detecting the presence of dementia in both illiterate and literate patients and to assess its validity and reliability. Methods: COST is a cognitive screening tool that consists of almost all cognitive domains. It takes ...

Previously, we proposed a 2D/3D registration method that uses Powell's algorithm to obtain 3D motion of a knee joint by 3D computed-tomography and bi-plane fluoroscopic images. The 2D/3D registration is performed consecutively and automatically for each frame of the fluoroscopic images. This method starts from the optimum parameters of the ...

N-type inactivation of potassium channels is controlled by cytosolic loops that are intrinsically disordered. Recent experiments have shown that the mechanism of N-type inactivation through disordered regions can be stereospecific and vary depending on the channel type. Variations in mechanism occur despite shared coarse grain features such as the length ...

Aim This prospective, randomised, parallel, controlled study was conducted firstly to compare the onset of local anaesthesia (LA) when using the conventional technique versus the Wand computer-controlled LA and secondly to assess the pain experience in children.Method Thirty children were randomly allocated to the treatment group (Wand) or the control ...

Despite tremendous advances in microbial ecology over the past two decades, traditional cultivation methods have failed to grow ecologically more relevant microorganisms in the laboratory, leading to a predominance of weed-like species in the world's culture collections. In this review, we highlight the gap between culture-based and culture-independent methods of ...

AIM: The PAS-Port® Proximal Anastomosis System (Cardica, Inc, Redwood City, CA, USA) has been used worldwide since March 2003. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of the PAS-Port® Proximal Anastomosis System. METHODS:All the patients who underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting in the Catharina ...

Palindromic sequences are important DNA motifs related to gene regulation, DNA replication and recombination, and thus, investigating the evolutionary forces shaping the distribution pattern and abundance of palindromes in the genome is substantially important. In this article, we analyzed the abundance of palindromes in the genome, and then explored the ...

PURPOSE: The liver and peritoneum are common sites of colorectal metastases. Hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases (CLM) is considered gold standard treatment. We attempt to compare the survival outcomes for CLM patients after hepatectomy to that of patients with colorectal peritoneal metastases (CPM) who underwent cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic ...

The toxicology and epidemiology of formaldehyde were discussed on the 2nd International Formaldehyde Science Conference in Madrid, 19-20 April 2012. It was noted that a substantial amount of new scientific data has appeared within the last years since the 1st conference in 2007. Progress has been made in characterisation of ...

OBJECTIVE: In the past, the comparability of empirical studies that examined the course and outcome of schizophrenia was limited by their use of different diagnostic systems. Focussing on the psychopathological long-term outcome, the present article aims to review follow-up studies that used modern operationalized diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia (DSM-III, DSM-III-R, ...

BACKGROUND:   β-caryophyllene (BCP) is a common constitute of the essential oils of numerous spice, food plants and major component in Cannabis. The present study investigated the contribution of peripheral cannabinoid (CB) and opioid systems in the antinociception produced by intraplantar (i.pl.) injection of BCP. The interaction between peripheral BCP ...

The human Ribosomal Protein SA (RPSA or LamR1) belongs to the ribosome but is also a membrane receptor for laminin, growth factors, prion, pathogens and the anticarcinogen epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG). It contributes to the crossing of the blood-brain barrier by neurotropic viruses and bacteria, and is a biomarker of metastasis. RPSA ...

As if it is a disease, it has been reported that as many as one third of orthodontic patients have 'clinically significant ITSD'.

The hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus catalyses the hydrogenation of a broad range of carboxylic acids selectively to the corresponding primary alcohols. Other functional groups such as isolated C[double bond, length as m-dash]C-double bonds are not touched. The chemoselectivity of the carboxylate reduction may be directed towards aldehydes by simple medium engineering.

INTRODUCTION: Patellar dislocation is a common knee injury with mainly lateral dislocations, leading to ruptures of the medial patellofemoral ligament in most of the cases. Even though several prognostic factors for patellofemoral instability have been identified so far, the appropriate therapy for patients with patellar dislocation remains a controversial issue. ...

The time course of attention is a major characteristic on which different types of attention diverge. In addition to explicit goals and salient stimuli, spatial attention is influenced by past experience. In contextual cueing, behaviorally relevant stimuli are more quickly found when they appear in a spatial context that has ...

Does mental rotation depend on the readiness to act? Recent evidence indicates that the involvement of motor processes in mental rotation is experience-dependent, suggesting that different levels of expertise in sensorimotor interactions lead to different strategies to solve mental rotation problems. Specifically, experts in motor activities perceive spatial material as ...

OBJECTIVE: This study tested the potential hampering effects of acidic sulfur compounds (ASC) containing hydroxybenzene sulfonic acid, hydroxymethoxybenzene sulfonic acid, and sulfuric acid, prior to self-etch and etch-and-rinse bonding procedures on enamel and dentin. According to the manufacturer, ASC should be applied after cavity preparation and prior to application of ...

Exciton states and related optical properties of a single-walled carbon nanotube are reviewed, primarily from a theoretical viewpoint. The energies and wavefunctions of excitons are discussed using a screened Hartree-Fock approximation with an effective-mass or k ⋅p approximation. The close relationship between a long-range electron-hole exchange interaction and a depolarization ...

Objective: To evaluate the mean overall effects over a 1-year period of a multidisciplinary in-patient rehabilitation programme for patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Design: Observer-blinded, randomized controlled trial, with assessments made after 4 and 12 months. Patients: Forty-six patients received a 3-week in-patient rehabilitation programme and 49 patients received treatment as ...

The increasing number of prenatal diagnostic tests in prenatal screening strategies, raises the question what tests to offer and why. This qualitative study investigated the views and preferences of professionals and potential users regarding four diagnostic test options for women at increased risk for common aneuploidies. Seven focus group sessions ...

The goal of this study was to perform a meta-analysis to examine the association between the use of antidepressants (AD) and the risk of breast cancer. We searched the EMBASE and MEDLINE databases from inception through February 25, 2012, using search terms related to ADs and breast cancer. Two evaluators ...

During establishment of primary cell culture from the kidney of a dead Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), a cytopathic effect was observed. Polymerase chain reaction with a set of herpesvirus consensus primers yielded a fragment of the expected size. Nucleotide sequencing of the product indicated that the isolated virus was ...

The electronic structure of the newly discovered superconductor KNi(2)Se(2) is studied by first-principles calculations. Our results show that its ground state is a quasi-two-dimensional metal and the Fermi surface is contributed by the Ni 3d and Se 4p states. These states determine the significant physical properties of the heavy-fermion superconductor ...

With increased awareness of nutrition and the advocacy for healthier food choices, there exists a great demand for a simple, easy-to-use test that can reliably measure the antioxidant capacity of dietary products. We report development and characterization of a portable nanoparticle based-assay, similar to a small sensor patch, for rapid ...

AIM:he aim of this pilot, single-blinded study was to evaluate the efficacy of a proprietary, dietary supplement Lady Prelox® for supporting and improving sexual function in generally healthy, post-menopausal women. METHODS: The Lady Prelox® and placebo control groups were comparable at inclusion with regard to the total Female Sexual Function ...

The effect of angiotensin 1-7 (Ang 1-7) on cytosolic Ca(2+) concentrations ([Ca(2+)](i)) in MDCK renal tubular cells was explored. The Ca(2+)-sensitive fluorescent dye fura-2 was applied to measure [Ca(2+)](i). Ang 1-7 at concentrations of 10-50 µM induced a [Ca(2+)](i) rise in a concentration-dependent manner. The response was reduced partly by ...

To evaluate corneal thickness and volume in subclinical and clinical keratoconus in Asian population with the aim of discriminating between normal and ectatic cornea. Eyes were placed into one of the following three groups: normal, subclinical, and mild-moderate keratoconus. Pentacam Scheimpflug imaging (Oculus Inc., Wetzlar, Germany) was performed for each ...

A new approach for the determination of kinetic parameters of the cis-trans isomerization during the oxidation process of 24 virgin olive oils belonging to 8 different varieties is presented. The accelerated process of degradation at 100 ºC was monitored recording the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectra. The parameters obtained confirm a ...