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 ...

BACKGROUND: The stemless shoulder prosthesis is a new concept in shoulder arthroplasty. To date, only a few studies have investigated the results of this prosthesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and radiological midterm results of this implant in comparison with a standard anatomic stemmed shoulder ...

Background: Among euthyroid pregnant women in a large clinical trial, free thyroxine (FT4) measurements below the 2.5th centile were associated with a 17 lb higher weight (2.9 kg/m2) than in the overall study population. We explore this relationship further. Methods: Among 9351 women with second trimester thyrotropin (TSH) measurements between ...

Fungi are implicated in poor indoor air quality and may pose a potential risk factor for building/mold related illnesses. Fungi emit numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as alcohols, esters, ethers, ketones, aldehydes, terpenoids, thiols, and their derivatives. The toxicity profile of these VOCs has never been explored in a model ...

Some central nervous system neurons express receptors of gastrointestinal hormones, but their pharmacological actions are not well known. Previous anatomical and unit recording studies suggest that a group of cerebellar Purkinje cells express motilin receptors, and motilin depresses the spike discharges of vestibular nuclear neurons that receive direct cerebellar inhibition ...

The concept that HLA antibodies are specific for epitopes rather than HLA antigens is important not only for the determination of mismatch acceptability for sensitized patients but also for a better understanding of the antibody response to an HLA mismatch. Numerous publications describe epitope-specific antibodies, but there is no standardized ...

Inspired by the amino acid 2-chloro-4,5-dihydroxyphenylalanine (Cl-DOPA), present in the composition of the proteinaceous glue of the sandcastle worm Phragmatopoma californica, a simple strategy is presented to confer antifouling properties to polymer surfaces using (but not releasing) a bioinspired biocide. Cl-Dopamine is used to functionalize polymer materials and hydrogel films ...

The ectopic expression of transcription factors for reprogramming human somatic cells to a pluripotent state represents a valuable resource for the development of in vitro-based models for human disease and has great potential in regenerative therapies. However, the majority of studies have used skin fibroblasts to generate induced pluripotent stem ...

Metastatic brain tumors provide a formidable obstacle in the survival of affected cancer patients, an obstacle that current treatment is essentially ineffective against. Our understanding of the metastatic cascade has demonstrated the role of incorrectly regulated protein expression and proved it to be a crucial component of this process. Recently, ...

AIM:The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the sclerosing agent Atossisclerol in the treatment of benign, ecolucent, thyroid cysts. METHODS: Two groups of cysts, one between 1 and 3 cm and a group smaller than 0.99 mm in maximum diameter (range 0.6-0.99) were considered in ...

The measurement of cantilever parameters is an essential part of performing a calibrated measurement with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The thermal motion method is a widely used technique for calibrating the spring constant of an AFM cantilever, which can be applied to non-rectangular cantilevers. Given the trend towards high ...

Electric field-induced concentration has the potential for application in highly sensitive detection of nanoparticles (NPs) for disease diagnosis and drug discovery. Conventional two-dimensional planar electrodes, however, have shown limited sensitivity in NP concentration. In this paper, the dielectrophoretic (DEP) concentration of low-abundance NPs is studied using a nanostructured tip where ...

Escherichia coli, including enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), represents the most common cause of diarrhoea worldwide and is therefore a serious public health burden. Treatment for gastrointestinal pathogens is hindered by the emergence of multiple antibiotic resistance, leading to the requirement for the development of new therapies. A variety of mechanisms ...

More than 350,000 new cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year; the vast majority (> 90%) of these are transitional cell carcinomas (TCC). The most important risk factors for the development of bladder cancer are smoking and occupational exposure to toxic chemicals. Painless visible haematuria is the most common ...

Today, developing an optimized nanoparticle (NP) preparation procedure is of paramount importance in all nanoparticulate drug delivery researches, leading to expanding more operative and clinically validated nanomedicines. In this study, a one-at-a-time experimental approach was used for evaluating the effect of various preparation factors on size, loading, and drug release ...

The excited states of UV absorber, ethylhexyl methoxycrylene (EHMCR) have been studied through measurements of UV absorption, fluorescence, phosphorescence and electron paramagnetic resonance spectra in ethanol. The energy levels of the lowest excited singlet (S(1) ) and triplet (T(1) ) states of EHMCR were determined. The energy levels of the ...

IgG4-related disease is an emerging disease entity characterized by elevated serum IgG4 concentration and tumefaction or tissue infiltration by IgG4-positive plasma cells. In IgG4-related disease, tumor-like lesions develop in multiple organs, such as the lacrimal gland, salivary gland, lung, pancreas, kidney, and lymph nodes. We report here three cases of ...

The aim of this study was to explore how the level of shiftwork exposure during an individual's working life might be related to subjectively reported sleep quality and timing during retirement. Telephone interviews regarding past employment and sleep timing and quality (among other variables) were conducted using a pseudo-random age-targeted ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Preoperative characterization of complex solid and cystic adnexal masses is crucial for informing patients about possible surgical strategies. Our study aims to determine the usefulness of apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) for characterizing complex solid and cystic adnexal masses. METHODS: One-hundred and 91 patients underwent diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance ...

Tocilizumab is an anti-interleukin (IL)-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, used since 2010 for the treatment of severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is known to induce infection, similarly to other biotherapies which modulate immune response and cytokines. Few cases of malignancy, however, have as yet been reported. We describe here the case ...

The complement 4 binding protein (C4bp) plays a crucial role in the inhibition of the complement cascade. It has an extraordinary seven-arm octopus-like structure with 7 tentacle-like identical chains, held together at their C-terminal end. The C-terminal domain does oligomerize in isolation, and is necessary and sufficient to oligomerize full-length ...

Most patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are prescribed multiple medications - typically more than one for glycemic control alone, and others for the management of lipids and hypertension. Within a few years following diagnosis, many patients progress beyond an initial starting regimen of metformin and/or sulfonylurea in order ...

Mitochondria must grow with the growing cell to ensure proper cellular physiology and inheritance upon division. We measured the physical size of mitochondrial networks in budding yeast and found that mitochondrial network size increased with increasing cell size and that this scaling relation occurred primarily in the bud. The mitochondria-to-cell ...

A metal-organic framework with open 2,2'-bipyridine sites can efficiently activate molecular oxygen for selective oxidation of a variety of saturated hydrocarbons with unprecedented activities and selectivities.

STAT2 is a positive modulator of the transcriptional response to type I interferons (IFNs). STAT2 acquires transcriptional function by becoming tyrosine phosphorylated and imported to the nucleus following type I IFN receptor activation. Although most STAT proteins become dually phosphorylated on specific tyrosine and serine residues to acquire full transcriptional ...

AIM: Preoperative radiological identification of the Adamkiewicz artery and intraoperative neurologic monitoring are known to be helpful for preventing paraplegia after thoracoabdominal aorta replacement. To answer whether they should be used routinely, we investigated the incidence of spinal cord ischemia after extensive descending aortic repair without using such modalities. METHODS: ...

The 'ionic effect', i.e., changes in xylem hydraulic conductivity (k(xyl)) due to variation of the ionic sap composition in vessels, was studied in four Acer species growing in contrasting environments differing in water availability. Hydraulic measurements of the ionic effect were performed together with measurements on the sap electrical conductivity, ...

Postoperative extradural hematoma (POEH) is a possible complication after head surgery, often neglected in the literature. In a single surgeon experience we found 13 cases of POEH (0.8%). We distinguished two subtypes: (1) larger hematomas (>40 cc) with typical features and overt clinical picture that always needed evacuation, and (2) ...

This study investigated the potential role of folate in the dimethylhydrazine (DMH) colon cancer model in male Wistar rats. For induction of colon cancer, group 1 rats were injected subcutaneously with 30 mg DMH/kg body weight weekly for 30 wk. Group 2 received DMH vehicle. Group 3 rats received DMH as ...

Abstract The need for psychotherapy research to understand the therapist effect has been emphasized in several studies. In a large naturalistic study (255 patients, 70 therapists), this topic was addressed using therapists' self-assessed difficulties in practice and interpersonal functioning in therapeutic work as predictors of patient outcome in three conventional ...

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), an extensive intestinal inflammatory disease of premature infants, is caused, in part, by an excessive inflammatory response to initial bacterial colonization due to the immature expression of innate immune response genes. In a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial, supplementation of very low birth weight infants with probiotics significantly ...

S-Adenosylmethionine (SAM) plays an essential role in a variety of enzyme-mediated radical reactions. One-electron reduction of SAM is currently believed to generate the C5'-desoxyadenosyl radical, which subsequently abstracts a hydrogen atom from the actual substrate in a catalytic or a non-catalytic fashion. Using a combination of theoretical and experimental bond ...

The accurate design of new protein-protein interactions is a longstanding goal of computational protein design. However, most computationally designed interfaces fail to form experimentally. This investigation compares five previously described successful de novo interface designs with 158 failures. Both sets of proteins were designed with the molecular modeling program Rosetta. ...

OBJECTIVES: Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is performed for symptomatic and prognostic reasons. We aimed to determine the factors that contribute to in-hospital mortality and long-term survival in young patients (aged less than 65) undergoing CABG. METHODS: A prospective database was retrospectively analysed and cross-correlated with the United Kingdom's Strategic ...

BACKGROUND: In the adult human prostate CD133 expression is thought to mark rare prostate epithelial stem cells and malignant tumor stem/initiating cells. Such putative stem cell populations are thought to proliferate slowly, but possess unlimited proliferative potential. Based on this, we hypothesized that CD133(pos) prostate cancer cells proliferate slower than ...

Au-supported Pt-Au mixed atomic monolayer electrocatalyst was prepared by underpotential deposition of Cu on Au and then redox replacement with noble metal atoms, which shows an ultrahigh Pt-mass (or Pt-area) normalized specific electrocatalytic activity of 102 mA μg(Pt)(-1) (124 mA cm(Pt)(-2)) for oxidation of formic acid in acidic aqueous solution.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Influenza A viruses that cause highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) also infect humans. In many developing countries such as Ghana, poultry and humans live in close proximity in both the general and military populations, increasing risk for the spread of HPAI from birds to humans. Respiratory infections such ...

BACKGROUND: Social networking (SN) has become ubiquitous in modern culture. The potential consequences of revealing personal information through SN websites are not fully understood. OBJECTIVE: To assess familiarity with, usage of, and attitudes towards, SN websites by admissions offices at US medical schools and residency programmes. METHODS: A 26-question survey ...

Annealing of MnO@SiO2 nanospheres in a reducing gas environment resulted in the transformation of the core-shell structure into a hollow structure as a result of outward diffusion of MnO species into the thermodynamically more stable silicate phase. When the hollow silicate nanospheres were oxidized, the interior cavities were refilled with ...

PURPOSE: Increasing interest in the role of Class 3 Semaphorins (Sema3s) in plasticity and repair in the injured mammalian central nervous system prompted us to characterize changes in Sema3 expression after optic nerve (ON) injury. Methods: We used unilateral ON transection (ONT) and ON crush (ONC) models in conjunction with ...

BackgroundCancer progression and non-cancer-related morbidities can affect the quality of life and survival of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for the development of non-cancer health events (NCHEs) in HNSCC.Patients and methodsThe study involved 465 previously-untreated ...

Cardiovascular disease begins early in the course of renal decline and is a life-limiting problem in patients with CKD. The increased burden of cardiovascular disease is due, at least in part, to calcification of the vessel wall. The uremic milieu provides a perfect storm of risk factors for accelerated calcification, ...

OBJECTIVE.: This systematic safety review reports multicenter safety results of symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) patients treated with percutaneous lumbar decompression. DESIGN.: All percutaneous lumbar decompression institutional review board-approved study patients, as well as a retrospective safety survey, were included in this review. METHODS.: All study centers followed the same ...

Nanotechnology has the potential to make smart drugs that would be capable of targeting cancer but not normal cells and to load combinations of cooperating agents into a single nanosized particle to more effectively treat this disease. However, to realize the full potential of this technology, the negative aspects associated ...

The synthesis, structures, optical and electrochemical properties, and aromaticity of a series of 5,15-diaza-10,20-dimesitylporphyrins (M-DAP; M = Pb, H(2), Ni, Pd, Pt, Zn; mesityl = 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) are reported. Treatment of mesityl-substituted bis(5,5'-dibromodipyrrin) with sodium azide in the presence of lead(II) acetylacetonate afforded Pb-DAP, which was quantitatively converted to H(2)-DAP by ...

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of emerging adult women are engaging in heavy drinking behavior, placing them at risk of negative outcomes and alcohol use disorders (AUDs). The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of 5 pathways to impulsive behavior (negative urgency [NU], positive urgency, lack of deliberation [DEL], ...

As a target of anti-viral drugs, the influenza A M2 protein has been the focus of numerous structural studies and has been extensively explored as a model ion channel. In this study we capitalize on the expanding body of high-resolution structural data available for the M2 protein to design and ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Fungal load quantification is a critical component of fungal community analyses. Limitation of current approaches for quantifying the fungal component in the human microbiome suggests the need for new broad-coverage techniques. METHODS: We analyzed 2,085 18S rRNA gene sequences from the SILVA database for assay design. We generated ...

A supramolecular diatomic receptor, hemoCD, was modified with PEGylated dendrons to extend its circulation time in the bloodstream. The core component was 4-oxo-4-[[4-(10,15,20-tris(4-sulfonatophenyl)-21H,23H-porphin-5-yl)phenyl]amino]butanoic acid (Por-COOH). The building block of the dendrons was Fmoc-4-amino-4-(2-carboxyethyl)heptanedioic acid (FmocTA), which was condensed with α-amino-ω-methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG5000-NH2) to yield an FmocG1-dendron. After deprotection, the G1-dendron ...

OBJECTIVE: This was a retrospective cohort study of type 2 diabetes patients, to evaluate the association between initial metformin or sulfonylurea treatment and cancer incidence. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Patients identified in the U.K. Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), previously General Practice Research Database, during 1995-2008 who were initially stabilized ...