The world population is rapidly growing and ageing at a pace that is projected to continue for at least three decades. This shift towards an older populace has invariably increased the number of individuals with diseases related to ageing, such as chronic kidney disease. The increase in chronic kidney disease ...

This month's Genome Watch highlights new insights into the use of bacteria in industrial processes such as electricity generation and bioremediation.

We present theoretical calculations on the vibrational spectra between the energy range of 2000-4000 cm(-1) for 4 isoenergetic conformers of gas phase OH(-)(H(2)O)(3) and OH(-)(H(2)O)(3)·Ar clusters. The peak positions and associated intensities of the OH stretching vibrations were calculated using an extended local mode model on multi-dimensional ab initio potential ...

OBJECTIVES: Marfan syndrome (MFS) is an autosomal dominant connective tissue disorder with manifestations mainly involving the skeletal, ocular, and cardiovascular systems. The phenotypic variability observed in MFS makes genetic counselling difficult. Prenatal diagnosis (PND) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis are technically feasible when a causal mutation is identified, but both raise ...

In this paper, we report a detailed characterisation of chromium doped iron oxide catalysts using a range of techniques to establish the nature of chromium species in the near surface and bulk of iron oxide, high-temperature shift (HTS) catalysts. In particular we have employed X-ray absorption spectroscopy Cr K-edge near ...

Activation of the immune system has been increasingly recognised to be associated with procoagulatory status in patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease. Changes in endothelial cell and platelet activation, blood flow, expression and activity of different coagulation factors, and impaired fibrinolysis serve as pathophysiological basis for enhanced risk of venous thromboembolism ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: During clinical placements, clinical educators facilitate student learning. Previous research has defined the skills, attitudes and practices that pertain to an ideal clinical educator. However, less attention has been paid to the role of student readiness in terms of foundational knowledge and attitudes at the commencement of practice ...

Background:Organ confined prostate cancer (PCa) can be cured by radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP); however, some tumors will still recur. Current tools fail to identify patients at risk of recurrence. Glutathione-S-transferases (GSTs) are involved in the metabolism of carcinogens, hormones and drugs. Thus, genetic polymorphisms that modify the GST activities may ...

BACKGROUND: Collagen crosslinking has been reported to be effective in treating progressive keratoconus and this study aims to evaluate the long term efficacy of this procedure. DESIGN: Prospective longitudinal interventional study of patients with progressive keratoconus who underwent crosslinking in a tertiary referral hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty five patients (fifty one ...

We examine differential validity of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) diagnoses assessed by the fully-structured Composite International Diagnostic Interview Version 3.0 (CIDI) among Latino, non-Latino Black, and non-Latino White adolescents in comparison to gold standard diagnoses derived from the Schedule for Affective Disorders and ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Nucleolin is a protein over-expressed on the surface of activated cells. Recent studies have underlined the involvement of cell surface nucleolin in angiogenesis processes. This cell surface molecule serves as a receptor for various ligands implicated in pathophysiological processes such as growth factors, cell adhesion molecules like integrins, ...

Background:There is overwhelming evidence that experiences during early life could have long-term health consequences. However, the role of early nutrition in programming obesity and leptin resistance is still poorly understood.Objective:We aimed at determining whether nutritional intakes in early life are associated with body composition and hormonal status at 20 years.Subjects:Healthy ...

Repair of double-strand breaks by homologous recombination requires Repair of double-strand breaks by homologous recombination requires 5'-3' resection of the DNA ends to create 3' single-stranded DNA tails. While much progress has been made in identifying the proteins that directly participate in end resection, how this process occurs in the ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Traditional folk medicinal plants have recently become popular and are widely used for primary health care. Since Thailand has a great diversity of indigenous (medicinal) plant species, this research investigated 52 traditionally used species of Thai medicinal plants for their in vitro cytotoxic, antioxidant, lipase inhibitory and antimicrobial ...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by hyperplastic synovial pannus tissue, which mediates destruction of cartilage and bone. Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) are a key component of this invasive synovium and have a major role in the initiation and perpetuation of destructive joint inflammation. The pathogenic potential of FLS in RA stems ...

Muscle progenitor cells (MPCs) are currently being investigated as cellular vectors to deliver neurotrophic factor (NF) for the promotion of re-innervation after axonal injury. Ideally NF delivery in such a model would enhance axonal regeneration while simultaneously promoting MPC viability. To date, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is one of ...

The activation of the ryanodine Ca2+-release channels (RyR2) by Ca2+ entry through the L-type Ca2+-channels (Cav1.2) is believed to be the primary mechanism of Excitation-Contraction (EC) coupling in cardiac cells. This proposed mechanism of Ca2+-induced-Ca2+-release (CICR), cannot fully account for the lack of a termination signal for this positive feedback ...

The structural characterization of amyloid fibers is one of the most investigated areas in structural biology. Recently, protofibril models for amylin, i.e., the 37-residue human islet amyloid polypeptide or hIAPP were suggested by two groups based on NMR (Luca et al., Biochemistry 2007;46:13505-13522) and X-ray (Wiltzius et al., Protein Sci ...

SUMMARY AT A GLANCE: The clinicoradiological and pathological features of IgG4-related lung disease were assessed. Clinically, this disease is silent, although radiological and pathological examinations showed that it involves lymphatic routes, with spread observed on imaging and infiltration on pathological examination. Clinicoradiological and pathological correlation is necessary for the diagnosis ...

Study design:A cross-sectional study.Objectives:To investigate reliability, discriminative ability and concurrent validity of three functional tests (including the 10-meter walk test (10MWT), timed up and go test (TUGT) and five times sit-to-stand test (FTSST)) using the Functional Independence Measure Locomotor (FIM-L) scores as a standard criterion.Setting:A tertiary rehabilitation center, Thailand.Methods:Subjects were ...

Abstract Objectives. To describe the oral health-related quality-of-life in homebound elderly dependent on moderate and substantial supportive care for daily living. Materials and methods. A total of 302 selected persons in three counties in Sweden over 65 years of age and in need of daily support from society participated in ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Oltipraz, a cancer chemopreventive agent, has an anti-steatotic effect via LXRα inhibition. Since a considerable amount of oltipraz is metabolized to pyrrolopyrazine metabolite (M2), this study investigated whether M2 inhibits liver steatosis and steatohepatitis, and if so, what the underlying basis is. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Blood biochemistry and ...

Abstract Conclusion: The choice of technique will depend on the glottic gap observed by stroboscopy, the alteration of the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and the recorded values of harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), jitter and shimmer, and the general health, age and underlying pathology. There are statistically significant differences between the values ...

The underlying mechanisms that lead to dramatic differences between closely related pathogens are not always readily apparent. For example, the genomes of Yersinia pestis (YP) the causative agent of plague with a high mortality rate and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (YPT) an enteric pathogen with a modest mortality rate are highly similar ...

The significant correlation between disease aggressiveness and the gene and protein structures of the B-cell receptors (BCRs) expressed on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells, together with the evidence for chronic activation of the BCR pathway, have led to the hypothesis that this leukemia initiates and progresses by selecting normal B ...

Data are presented showing the spontaneous formation of electric fields within solid films of the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) CF(3)Cl, CF(2)Cl(2) and CFCl(3) as a function of film deposition temperature from 40 K and above. Electric fields, which arise through dipole alignment and lie in the range of a few times 10(7) ...

Objective:The aim of this study was to evaluate whether dysregulation of molecules involved in FOXO1-dependent insulin signaling in the liver is associated with de novo lipogenesis (DNL) and altered lipid metabolism in severely obese subjects.Design:Observational retrospective study.Subjects:We considered 71 obese subjects (age 20-68 years; body mass index (BMI)>40 kg m(-2) or BMI>35 kg m(-2) ...

A strategy for treating cancer is to surgically remove the tumor together with a portion of apparently healthy tissue surrounding it, the so-called "resection margin", to minimize recurrence. Here, we investigate whether the proteomic profiles from biopsies of gastric cancer resection margins are indeed more similar to those from healthy ...

BACKGROUND: To determine the association between ethnicity and changes in intraocular pressure (IOP) and anterior segment biometric parameters following cataract surgery by phacoemulsification in nonglaucomatous subjects. DESIGN: Prospective clinical cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Caucasian and Asian subjects. METHODS: Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (ASOCT) scans under dark conditions and IOP measurements ...

A fundamental change in management of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis in the past 10 years is the early focussed use of aggressive immunosuppression, using regimens comprised of widely available medications. Using a clinical framework to quantify morbidity, we can induce remission in most patients within 3-6 months using glucocorticoids plus ...

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells generated using Yamanaka factors have great potential for use in autologous cell therapy. However, genomic abnormalities exist in human iPS cells, and most mouse iPS cells are not fully pluripotent, as evaluated by the tetraploid complementation assay (TCA); this is most likely associated with the ...

Molecular beacons (MBs) have shown fascinating applications in many biological fields. However, exploration of cost-effective, sensitive, stable and efficient MB for in situ live cell- based assay has still room for improvement. In this regards, we have developed a novel MB which bears a spherical graphite nanoparticle (GN) as a ...

A new crystalline organic-inorganic nano-composite nylon-6,6 nickel phosphate membrane was synthesised subsequent to which (a) the physico-chemical characteristics of the membrane were evaluated employing FTIR, SEM, EDX, TEM, XRD and porosity measurements, and (b) membrane potential measurements were conducted employing different concentrations (0.0001 ≤ c (M) ≤ 1) of KCl, ...

This study investigated the relationship between mothers' daily occupational experiences of productivity, restoration and pleasure with their subjective well-being (SWB) and with their child's developmental skills. Forty caregivers parenting young children with autism spectrum disorders served as a convenience sample in this study. Participants rated their occupational experience in a ...

The widely used antipsychotic drug, olanzapine (OLA) shows large interindividual variability in metabolic clearance. Although the role of the enzymes CYP1A2, CYP2D6 and UGT1A4 has been extensively explored, little is known about the in vivo role of flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMOs) catalyzing the N-oxidation of OLA in vitro. We investigated the ...

Abstract Objectives. Because of its good matching performance the VITA 3D-Master shade guide (3D) is frequently used for determination of tooth color. Numerous composites/ceramics are, however, available in VITA Classical (VC) shades only. The objective of this study was to investigate the possibility of performing a shade match with 3D ...

The presence of pre-existing corneal opacities during cataract surgery can cause scattering of light from the operating microscope, limiting the surgeon's view of the anterior chamber (AC). In this context, combined corneal transplantation and cataract surgery may be preferential. However, patients with mild to moderate nebulae may prefer to undergo ...

Phage-display peptide biopanning has been successfully used to identify cancer-targeting peptides in multiple models. For cancer-binding peptides, identification of the peptide receptor is necessary to demonstrate the mechanism of action and to further optimize specificity and target binding. The process of receptor identification can be slow and some peptides may ...

The electronic structure and geometry of redox-active metal cofactors in proteins are tuned by the pattern of hydrogen bonding with the backbone peptide matrix. In this study we developed a method for selective amino acid labeling of a hyperthermophilic archaeal metalloprotein with engineered Escherichia coli auxotroph strains, and applied this ...

OBJECTIVES:Previous research has indicated that obesity may be linked to the severity of acute pancreatitis. However, the association between abdominal and total adiposity as risk factors in the development of acute pancreatitis in a general population has not been studied.METHODS:A follow-up study was conducted, using the Swedish Mammography Cohort and ...

Reaction of an ethylenediamine solution of K(3)As(7) with the low-valent, low-coordinate cobalt(ii) complex [Co(mes)(2)(PEt(2)Ph)(2)] yielded the novel dianionic species [Co(η(3)-As(3)){η(4)-As(4)(mes)(2)}](2-) (1). The [η(4)-As(4)(mes)(2)](2-) moiety present in 1 is a rare example of a group 15 analogue of a butadienediide.

To assess the overall efficacy and safety of photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) vs transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) for treating patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). A systematic search of the electronic databases, including MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and ...

Continuum solvent treatments based on the Poisson-Boltzmann equation have been widely accepted for energetic analysis of biomolecular systems. In these approaches, the molecular solute is treated as a low dielectric region and the solvent is treated as a high dielectric continuum. The existence of a sharp dielectric jump at the ...

Background and aims: The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to analyze how knee replacement affects performance in activities of daily living (ADL), mobility, and pain in older patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: Knee osteoarthritis patients aged ≥ 75 years scheduled for knee replacement (Group 0, n=68), or having ...

Knowledge about gene expression in animals involved in abnormal behaviours can contribute to understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms. The present study aimed to explore the motivational background to tail biting, an abnormal injurious behavior and severe welfare problem in pig production. Affymetrix microarrays were used to investigate gene expression ...

Yorkshire gilts either remained in their individual stall from d 40 to term (CON; n = 7), or were subjected to exercise for 30 min 3 times per week from mid to late gestation (EX; n = 7) to determine the impact of increased maternal activity during gestation on maternal ...

Abstract Osteoimmunology, i.e. the cross-talk between cells from the immuno and skeletal systems, suggests a role of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the stimulation of osteoclasts activity. Endotoxin or bacterial challenges to inflammatory cells are directly relevant to dental implants pathologies involving bone resorption, such as osteointegration failure and periimplantitis. While the ...

AIMS: To update and summarise the scientific knowledge on the long-term outcomes of the different pharmacological treatment options for opioid dependence currently available and to provide a critical discussion on the different treatment options based on these results. METHODS: We performed a literature search using the PubMed databases and the ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi), a hematophagous ectoparasite of Cervids, is currently spreading in Scandinavia. In Norway, keds are now invading the south-eastern part of the country and the abundant and widely distributed moose (Alces alces) is the definitive host. However, key factors for ked abundance are poorly ...

BACKGROUND Although current guidelines recommend measuring lipid levels in a fasting state, recent studies suggest that nonfasting lipid profiles change minimally in response to food intake and may be superior to fasting levels in predicting adverse cardiovascular outcomes. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between fasting ...