N-Silyl oxaziridines were synthesized for the first time. Their tert-butyldiphenylsilyl (TBDPS) derivatives were stable reagents that were prepared on a multi grams scale, in three steps and in 44% overall yield from the corresponding benzylamines. They were mild electrophilic aminating reagents that reacted at room temperature with diversely substituted primary ...

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) repress transcription by deacetylating acetyllysines on specific histone tails. HDAC3 is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, certain leukemias and even in disrupting HIV-1 latency. A recent crystal structure of HDAC3 in complex with the deacetylase activating domain (DAD) of its co-repressor complex revealed an inositol tetraphosphate (IP4) molecule ...

Precise surface nanopatterning is a promising route for predictable control of cellular behaviour on biomedical materials. There is currently a gap taking such precision engineered surfaces from the laboratory to clinically relevant implant materials such as titanium (Ti). In this work, anodization of Ti surfaces was performed in combination with ...

Following synthesis, tRNAs are peppered by numerous chemical modifications which may differentially affect a tRNA's structure and function. Although modifications affecting the business ends of a tRNA are predictably important for cell viability, a majority of modifications play more subtle structural roles that can affect tRNA stability and folding. The ...

BACKGROUND: Evidence on the effectiveness of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) immunoprophylaxis with palivizumab in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) is lacking. METHODS: We utilized Medicaid Extract files from 27 states from 1999 to 2006 linked to the National Cystic Fibrosis Registry to establish a cohort of children 0-2 years with ...

Metabolic syndrome (MeS), a cluster of several metabolic disorders, is increasingly being recognized as a risk factor for type II diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease. Genetic and epigenetic alteration of the phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN) has been associated with components of MeS. The aim of ...

BackgroundAdvanced diagnostic and therapeutic developments may yield novel prognostic factors in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).PurposeTo validate the predictive values of pretreatment quantitative diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRI performed within 72 h after surgery in patients with GBM.Material and MethodsBetween January 2000 and September 2009, 138 patients ...

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an illness that affects patients on multiple levels, both physically and psychologically. While there is a growing body of evidence for the efficacy of self-management among patients with COPD, little evidence is available on the optimal content and methods for delivering self-management support. ...

Classical Test Theory has traditionally been used to carry out post-examination analysis of objective test data. It uses descriptive methods and aggregated data to help identify sources of measurement error and unreliability in a test, in order to minimise them. Item Response Theory (IRT), and in particular Rasch analysis, uses ...

Background: The Dutch postgraduate medical training has been revised to focus on seven competencies. The role as manager is one of these competencies. Recent studies show that this competency receives little attention during the residency training. In an earlier study, we discovered that residents perceived their competency as managers to ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The gamma-gliadins are considered to be the oldest of the gliadin family of storage proteins in Aegilops/Triticum. However, the expansion of this multigene family has not been studied in an evolutionary perspective. RESULTS: We have cloned 59 gamma-gliadin genes from Aegilops and Triticum species (Aegilops caudata L., Aegilops ...

P2X7 receptors are involved not only in physiological functions but also in pathological brain processes. Although an increasing number of findings indicate that altered receptor expression has a causative role in neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, little is known about how expression of P2rx7 gene is controlled. Here we reported the ...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the major causes of mortality in diabetic patients. Mounting studies have shown that garlic exhibits, possibly through its anti-oxidant potential, diverse biological activities. In this study, we investigated the alleviating effects of garlic oil and its two major components, diallyl disulfide (DADS) and diallyl ...

Application of sequential solvent extraction and iterative chromatographic separation in combination with taste dilution analysis recently revealed a series of steroidal saponins as the key contributors to the typical bitter taste of white asparagus spears (Asparagus officinalis L.). Besides six previously reported saponins, (25R)-furost-5-en-3β,22,26-triol-3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-D-glucopyranoside]-26-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, (25R)-furostane-3β,22,26-triol-3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-D-glucopyranoside]-26-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and (25S)-furostane-3β,22,26-triol-3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-D-glucopyranoside]-26-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, and 3-O-[{α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)}{α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)}-β-D-glucopyranosyl]-(25S)-spirost-5-ene-3β-ol were ...

BackgroundOur study aimed to evaluate final height in a cohort of Dutch childhood cancer survivors (CCS) and assess possible determinants of final height, including height at diagnosis.Patients and methodsWe calculated standard deviation scores (SDS) for height at initial cancer diagnosis and height in adulthood in a cohort of 573 CCS. ...

Overexpression of soluble urokinase receptor (suPAR) causes pathology in animal models similar to primary FSGS, and one recent study demonstrated elevated levels of serum suPAR in patients with the disease. Here, we analyzed circulating suPAR levels in two cohorts of children and adults with biopsy-proven primary FSGS: 70 patients from ...

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the impact of different types of stressful events (for example divorce v. bereavement) on unipolar depression compared with bipolar disorder. Inconsistencies exist concerning the association between independent events (beyond an individual's control, such as bereavement) and bipolar disorder. AIMS: To examine the role of specific, ...

Background:  While contact sensitization is frequent in the general population and arises from excessive or repeated skin exposure to chemicals and metals, little is known about genetic susceptibility. Objectives:  To determine the role of glutathione s-transferases (GST) and claudin-1 (CLDN1) gene polymorphisms on the risk of contact sensitization taking common ...

Graphene oxide has attracted intense research interest recently because the graphene oxide synthesis route, as a promising alternative for cost-effective mass production of graphene, has been explored. To further study the oxidation process and possible mechanism and to explore applicability of the oxidized products, we have performed a computational study ...

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that deficits in the domain of emotions strongly characterize alcoholism. Patients diagnosed with alcoholism show impairments in emotional mimic recognition, as well as in the domain of emotional prosody. These data suggest that male alcoholics might suffer from a generalized emotional impairment associated with dysfunctions ...

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) is tumor resistant to all cytotoxic agents. During the last decade, effective targeted therapies emerged including sunitinib, pazopanib and the combination of bevacizumab with IFN-α. The use of bevacizumab plus IFN-α combination in mRCC is supported by the AVOREN trial. Although the primary end point ...

Successful replication of the influenza A virus requires both viral proteins and host cellular factors. In this study we used a cellular assay to screen for small molecules capable of interfering with any of such necessary viral or cellular components. We used an established reporter assay to assess influenza viral replication ...

Context: Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don (Apocynaceae) is a medicinal plant that produces more than 130 alkaloids, with special attention given to the production of the anti-hypertensive monomeric indole alkaloids, serpentine and ajmalicine, and the antitumor dimeric alkaloids, vinblastine and vincristine. Objective: This study evaluated the cytotoxic activity of the ...

Porous BiOCl micro-flowers constructed from ultrathin nanosheets with nearly 100% {001} facets exposed were selectively prepared. The exposed {001} facets terminated with a high density of oxygen atoms and are not only favorable for the adsorption of the cationic dye RhB but also can accumulate the photogenerated electrons injected from ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Chrysanthemyl diphosphate synthase (CDS) is a key enzyme in biosynthetic pathways producing pyrethrins and irregular monoterpenes. These compounds are confined to plants of the tribe Anthemideae of the Asteraceae, and play an important role in defending the plants against herbivorous insects. It has been proposed that the CDS ...

Hydrogenases are metalloenzymes that catalyze 2H(+) + 2e(-) ↔ H(2). A multisubunit, bidirectional [NiFe]-hydrogenase has been identified and characterized in a number of bacteria, including cyanobacteria, where it is hypothesized to function as an electron valve, balancing reductant in the cell. In cyanobacteria, this Hox hydrogenase consists of five proteins ...

ABSTRACT: The Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm) has put into place a bold financing plan for artemisinin-combination therapy in a pilot phase in seven countries covering half the population at risk of malaria in Africa. A report of the AMFm independent evaluation, conducted by ICF International and the London School of ...

BACKGROUND: Decisions regarding Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) orders remain demanding, as does including patients in the process. OBJECTIVES: To explore physicians' justification for CPR/DNAR orders and decisions regarding patient inclusion, as well as their reports of how they initiated discussions with patients. METHODS: We administered ...

Impairment of pulmonary endothelium function in the pulmonary artery is a direct result of chronic hypoxia. This study is to investigate the vasculoprotective effects of U50,488H (a selective κ-opioid receptor agonist) and its underlying mechanism in hypoxia-induced pulmonary artery endothelial functional injury. Chronic hypoxia was simulated by exposing the rats ...

Phenotypic compound screens can be used to identify novel targets in signaling pathways and disease processes, but the usefulness of these screens depends on the ability to quickly determine the target and mechanism of action of the molecules identified as hits. One fast route to discovering the mechanism of action ...

BackgroundThere is no proven benefit of adjuvant treatment of uterine sarcoma (US). SARCGYN phase III study compared adjuvant polychemotherapy followed by pelvic radiotherapy (RT) (arm A) versus RT alone (arm B) conducted to detect an increase ≥ 20% of 3-year PFS.MethodsPatients with FIGO stage ≤ III US, physiological age ≤ 65 years; chemotherapy: four cycles ...

Mitochondrial biogenesis disorders appear to play an essential role in cardiac dysfunction. Acetylcholine as a potential pharmacologic agent exerts cardioprotective effects. However, its direct action on mitochondria biogenesis in acute cardiac damage due to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) remains unclear. The present study determined the involvement of mitochondrial biogenesis and function in ...

The structurally related gangliosides N-glycolyl GM3 and N-acetyl GM3 are potential targets for tumor immunotherapy. 14F7 is a monoclonal antibody able to discriminate the tumor-specific antigen N-glycolyl GM3 from the closely related N-acetyl GM3 on the basis of the presence of a single additional hydroxyl group in the former. A ...

Background: There is a need for effective continuing medical education (CME) programs to increase healthcare providers' knowledge and skills in lifestyle medicine so that healthcare providers are better equipped to assist patients in adopting and maintaining healthier lifestyle behaviors. Aims: To evaluate the impact of five live face-to-face CME programs ...

BACKGROUND: The "Gross Motor Function Measure" (GMFM-88) is a commonly used measure for evaluating gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP). The relative reliability of GMFM-88 has been assessed in children with CP. However, little information is available about the absolute reliability or responsiveness of GMFM-88. OBJECTIVE: The ...

Obesity is increasingly common before and after liver transplantation (LT), yet optimal management remains unclear. Our aim was to analyze the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary protocol for obese patients requiring LT, including a noninvasive pretransplant weight loss program, and a combined LT plus sleeve gastrectomy (SG) for obese patients who ...

AIM:The study objective was to examine the application of excimer laser atherectomy (ELA) in patients with refractory occlusions in femoropopliteal arteries, where the initial conventional percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) recanalization attempts, were unsuccessful. METHODS: The average age of the 40 patients (32 men, 8 women) included in this study was ...

Sensory-directed fractionation of extracts prepared from raw and cooked asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.), respectively, followed by LC-TOF-MS, LC-MS/MS, and 1D/2D-NMR experiments revealed the chemical structures of nine bitter tasting mono- and bidesmotic saponins as well as the previously not reported 1,2-dithiolan-4-carboxylic acid 6-D-α/β-glucopyranose ester exhibiting an interesting buttery mouth-coating effect. ...

Alcohol consumption synergistically increases the risk and severity of liver damage in obese patients. To gain insight into cellular or molecular mechanisms underlying the development of fatty liver caused by ethanol-obesity synergism, we have carried out animal experiments that examine the effects of ethanol administration in genetically obese mice. Lean ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of our study was to examine surgical practice in the therapy of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage in Germany over a period of 10 years. METHODS: In 1999 and 2009 a questionnaire with 10 different cases of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage was sent to all neurosurgical centers in ...

Abstract Understanding the relationship between a search algorithm and the space of problems is a fundamental issue in the optimization field. In this paper, we lay the foundations to elaborate taxonomies of problems under estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs). By using an infinite population model and assuming that the selection ...

We present a patient that is the index case of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in a child due to the bone morphogenetic protein type II (BMPR2) missense mutation p.K230N, also known as c.690A>T. Missense mutations typically have earlier onset and more severe disease in PAH, so pulmonologists should be aware ...

We have identified the major conformers of CL-20 explosive, otherwise known as 2,4,6,8,10,12- hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane, more formally known as 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitrohexaazatetracyclo [5.5.0.0]-dodecane, via Monte-Carlo search in conformational space through molecular mechanics and subsequent quantum mechanical refinement using perturbation theory. Our search produced enough conformers to account for all of the various forms ...

Lifelong neurogenesis in the mouse olfactory epithelium (OE) is regulated by the response of stem/progenitor cells to local signals, but embryonic and adult OE progenitors appear to be quite different - with potentially different mechanisms of regulation. A recently identified progenitor unique to embryonic OE - the nestin+ radial glia-like ...

A thorough understanding of the genetic basis of rice grain traits is critical for the improvement of rice varieties. In this study, we generated an F(2) population by crossing the large-grain japonica cultivar CW23 with Peiai 64 (PA64), an elite indica small-grain cultivar. Using QTL analysis, 17 QTLs for five ...

The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a versatile model for fundamental and biotechnological research. A wide toolset for genetic manipulation has been developed for this alga, but specific modification of nuclear genes is still not routinely possible. Here, we present a nuclear gene targeting strategy for Chlamydomonas that is ...

BACKGROUND: Circadian rhythm disturbance has been implicated in depression, and polymorphisms of circadian genes Cry1, Cry2, and Tef are associated with depression. However, the relationship between these genes and depression symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been established. METHODS: Four hundred eight subjects with PD participated in this study. ...

OBJECTIVE.: Potential peripheral sources of pain from subcutaneous tissue can require invasive evocative tests for their localization and assessment. Here, we describe studies whose ultimate goal is development of a noninvasive evocative test for subcutaneous, painful tissue. DESIGN.: We used a rat model of a focal and subcutaneous neuroma to ...

PURPOSE: Our purpose was to investigate the role of the axial resolution of optical coherence tomography on the measurement of corneal and epithelial thickness by evaluating the repeatability and agreement among different optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices with different axial resolutions. METHODS: Twenty right eyes of 20 healthy subjects (age: ...

OBJECTIVE: New tobacco control policies have been introduced in Massachusetts which restrict tobacco product sales in pharmacies. The purpose of this investigation was to outline the scope of pharmacy involvement in the tobacco market by assessing the availability and range of tobacco products sold in Massachusetts pharmacies. METHODS: Public listings ...