Background. Certain chronic diseases increase risk for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and are indications for receipt of 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23). Since the pediatric introduction of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in 2000, incidence of IPD among adults has declined. The relative magnitude of these indirect effects among persons with ...

Macrocycles made of cholate building blocks were previously found to transport glucose readily across lipid bilayers. In this study, an 15N, 13Cα-labeled glycine was inserted into a cyclic cholate trimer and attached at the end of a linear trimer, respectively. The isotopic labeling allowed us to use solid-state NMR spectroscopy ...

BACKGROUND: Esophageal cancer is unusually frequent in western Kenya, despite the low prevalence of classical risk factors such as heavy drinking and tobacco smoking. Among Kenyans consumption of fermented milk is an old tradition. Our hypothesis is that alcohol and acetaldehyde are produced during the fermentation process and that their ...

We have generated a monoclonal antibody (R-10G) specific to human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS)/embryonic stem (hES) cells by using hiPS cells (Tic) as an antigen, followed by differential screening of mouse hybridomas with hiPS and human embryonal carcinoma (hEC) cells. Upon Western blotting with R-10G, human iPS/ES cell lysates gave ...

Self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds have been studied extensively as biological materials for 3-dimensional cell culture and repairing tissue defects in animals. However, few studies have applied peptide nanofiber scaffolds in the tissue engineering of intervertebral discs (IVDs). In this study, a novel functionalized peptide scaffold was specifically designed for IVD ...

ABSTRACT: Recent literature highlights at Retrovirology are described. Predictions are made regarding "hot" retrovirology research trends for the coming year based on recent journal access statistics. Changes in Retrovirology editor and the frequency of the Retrovirology Prize are announced.

I fully agree with the points made by Macpherson and Akpinar-Elci, who note the significant vulnerabilities faced by small island nations to the health effects of climate change. Small island nations, like the indigenous populations profiled in my article, are considered to be highly vulnerable to the health effects of ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common pathology of women in reproductive age that can lead to serious health complications, and is associated with shifts in the normal microflora from predominance of Lactobacillus spp. to a proliferation of other anaerobes such as G. vaginalis and A vaginae, which can ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical signs, treatment, and outcomes of dogs and cats following envenomation by the eastern coral snake and to report our clinical experience with the use of Coralmyn. DESIGN: Retrospective study (1996-2011). SETTING: University teaching hospital. ANIMALS: Sixteen dogs and 4 cats with eastern coral snake envenomation. ...

Accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) deposits is a primary pathological feature of Alzheimer disease that is correlated with neurotoxicity and cognitive decline. The role of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) in Alzheimer disease pathogenesis has been debated. To study the role of GSK-3 in Aβ pathology, we used 5XFAD mice co-expressing mutated ...

Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) is widespread in the environment and can be used by animal and plants as a communication molecule. Pseudomonas and particularly fluorescent Pseudomonas synthesize GABA and express GABA-binding proteins. In this study, we investigated the effects of GABA on the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. While exposure to ...

Graphene oxide (GO) and graphene oxide-zinc oxide nanocomposites (GO-ZnO) were used as channel materials on SiO(2)/Si to fabricate thin-film transistors (TFT) with an aluminum source and drain. Pure GO-based TFT showed poor field-effect characteristics. However, GO-ZnO-nanocomposite-based TFT showed better field-effect performance because of the anchoring of ZnO nanostructures in the ...

Since the US Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion (Roe v. Wade), there has been a constant and broad attack on all aspects of women's reproductive and parenting rights. The consequences have been devastating, especially for women whose race, age, legal, or economic status makes them targets of discrimination. At the ...

Objective: We investigated the association between unipolar depression and incident hospital admissions due to ischemic heart disease, invasive cardiac procedures and mortality independent of other medical illnesses.Methods: A population-based cohort of 4.6 million persons aged 15 years or older and born in Denmark was followed up from 1995-2009. Incidence rate ...

The terms multivariate and multivariable are often used interchangeably in the public health literature. However, these terms actually represent 2 very distinct types of analyses. We define the 2 types of analysis and assess the prevalence of use of the statistical term multivariate in a 1-year span of articles published ...

Brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35), an intravenously administered CD30-specific antibody-drug conjugate, has recently been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for two indications, including (1) patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) relapsing after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), or after two multi-drug regimens in HL patients who are not candidates for ...

A number of N-aryl ketenimines, substituted at the ortho position either with different non-cyclic acetalic functions (acetals, monothioacetals, dithioacetals) or with only one alkoxymethyl or (alkylthio)methyl group, have been prepared and submitted to thermal treatment in toluene solution. Under smooth heating the ketenimines bearing non-cyclic acetals converted into 3,4-dihydroquinolines following ...

Purpose:The aim of this study was to document the range and frequency of ethical dilemmas associated with genetic testing encountered by genetic health professionals and to determine the strategies used to manage them.Methods:An online survey was used to document how often the 11 key ethical dilemmas have been encountered; whether ...

RATIONALE: Many patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by influenza A(H1N1) infection received Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) as a rescue therapy. OBJECTIVES: To analyze factors associated with death in ECMO-treated patients and the influence of ECMO on ICU mortality. METHODS: Data from patients admitted for (H1N1)-associated ARDS ...

Nasal polyps (NPs) are characterized by intense edema or formation of pseudocysts filled with plasma proteins, mainly albumin. However, the mechanisms underlying NP retention of plasma proteins in their submucosa remain unclear. We hypothesized that formation of a fibrin mesh retains plasma proteins in NPs. We assessed the fibrin deposition ...

OBJECTIVES: To compare characteristics of patients exhibiting cetuximab infusion reactions or another adverse drug reaction related to cetuximab and to identify factors associated with the severity of cetuximab infusion reactions. METHODS: All cases of adverse drug reaction reported with cetuximab from 1985 to 2010 were extracted from the French Pharmacovigilance ...

The current study examined the effect of inter-ocular delay in a manual aiming task that required accurate end-point placement, but not precise control of a grip aperture. Participants aimed in binocular, monocular, or alternating monocular vision conditions. For the latter, 25ms monocular samples were provided to alternate eyes without delay ...

1. Focusing on the genetic similarity of CYP3A subfamily enzymes (CYP3A4 and CYP3A5) between monkeys and humans, we have attempted to provide a single-species approach to predicting human hepatic clearance (CL(h)) of CYP3A4 substrates using pharmacokinetic parameters in cynomolgus monkeys following intravenous administrations. 2. Hepatic intrinsic clearance (CL(int,h)) of six ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Many studies have explored approaches to learning in medical school, mostly in the classroom setting. In the clinical setting, students face different conditions that may affect their learning. Understanding students' approaches to learning is important to improve learning in the clinical setting. The aim of this study was ...

Abstract Oxidative stress has been linked to endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis and hypertension. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), a key regulator of the renin-angiotensin system, and the mechanisms underlying ACE regulation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). ...

Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) represent the naïve ground state of the preimplantation epiblast and epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) represent the primed state of the postimplantation epiblast. Studies have revealed that the ESC state is maintained by a dynamic mechanism characterized by cell-to-cell spontaneous and reversible differences in sensitivity to ...

Complexation of trivalent actinides with DTPA (diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid) was studied as a function of pcH and temperature in (Na,H)Cl medium of 0.1 M ionic strength. Formation constants of both complexes AnHDTPA(-) and AnDTPA(2-) (where An stands for Am, Cm, and Cf) were determined by TRLFS, CE-ICP-MS, spectrophotometry, and solvent ...

We propose a new general form of two-dimensional spectroscopy where the indirect 'evolution' dimension is derived using the Radon transform. This idea is applicable to several types of spectroscopy but is illustrated here for the case of NMR. This 'projection spectroscopy' displays characteristic correlation peaks that highlight perturbations of chemical ...

In their recent article Gowda et al. describe a potential pathway by which food insecurity is associated with adverse health outcomes in the US population.(1) By measuring levels of C-reactive protein-a biomarker of inflammation linked to health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease-the study demonstrates a potential mechanism for ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Non-brucellar and non-tuberculous infectious sacroiliitis (ISI) is a rare disease, with misleading clinical signs that delay diagnosis. Most observations are based on isolated case reports or small case series. Our aim was to describe the clinical, bacteriological, and radiological characteristics of ISI, as well as the evolution of ...

Alkaline-earth metal ions were used to tune four new heterometallic frameworks, {[Cd(2.07)Mg(0.93)(BTC)(2)(H(2)O)(4)]·2H(2)O}(n) (), {[Cd(2)Ca(BTC)(2)(H(2)O)(4)]·2H(2)O}(n) (), {[Cd(2)Sr(BTC)(2)(H(2)O)(5)]·H(2)O}(n) () and [Cd(6)Ba(3)(BTC)(3)(H(2)O)(10)](n) () (H(3)BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid), synthesized from H(3)BTC and the corresponding metal salts. Single-crystal X-ray analysis shows that compound is a three-dimensional (3D) framework based on heterometallic Cd-O-Cd-O-Mg inorganic chain subunits, ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Microcontact datasets gathered automatically by electronic devices have the potential augment the study of the spread of contagious disease by providing detailed representations of the study population's contact dynamics. However, the impact of data collection experimental design on the subsequent simulation studies has not been adequately addressed. In ...

We examined the effect of body water deficits on standing balance and sought to determine if plasma hyperosmolality (Posm) and/or volume reduction (%ΔVplasma) exerted independent effects. Nine healthy volunteers completed three experimental trials which consisted of a euhydration (EUH) balance test, a water deficit session and a hypohydration (HYP) balance ...

1. A fast, straightforward and cost-effective assay was validated for the assessment of CYP induction in cryopreserved human hepatocytes cultured in 48-well plates. The cocktail strategy (in situ incubation) was used to assess the induction of CYP1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 by using the recommended probe substrate, i.e. phenacetin, bupropion, diclofenac ...

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of children's food requests, and parents' experiences of food marketing directed towards children, in the supermarket environment. A mixed-method design was used. Firstly, intercept interviews were conducted with parents accompanied by a child/children on exiting supermarkets (sampled from a large ...

The synthesis and characterization of a novel family of positively charged fac-[Re(bpy)(CO)(3)(L)]PF(6) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) complexes are reported, where L is a pyridine functionalized in para or meta position with a fulvene moiety, namely, 4-fluoren-9-ylidenemethyl-pyridine (pFpy) and 3-fluoren-9-ylidenemethyl-pyridine (mFpy). The complexes were prepared in high yield (86%) by direct addition ...

Basement membranes (BMs) evolved together with the first metazoan species approximately 500 million years ago. Main functions of BMs are stabilizing epithelial cell layers and connecting different types of tissues to functional, multicellular organisms. Mutations of BM proteins from worms to humans are either embryonic lethal or result in severe ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Treatment of solid tumors with vascular disrupting agent OXi4503 results in over 90% tumor destruction. However, a thin rim of viable cells persists in the tumor periphery following treatment, contributing to subsequent recurrence. This study investigates inherent differences in the microenvironment of the tumor periphery that contribute to ...

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Mechanical ventilation used in patients with acute lung injury (ALI) can damage pulmonary epithelial cells through production of inflammatory cytokines and excess deposition of extracellular matrix protein lumican. Lumican participates in macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 signaling during fibroproliferative phase of ALI, which involves ...

White nose syndrome, caused by Geomyces destructans, has killed more than 5 million cave hibernating bats in eastern North America. During hibernation, the lack of inflammatory cell recruitment at the site of fungal infection and erosion is consistent with a temperature-induced inhibition of immune cell trafficking. This immune suppression allows ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: We report the first multi-site rotavirus genotype analysis in Canada. Prior to this study, there was a dearth of rotavirus G and P genotyping data in Canada. Publically funded universal rotavirus vaccination in Canada started in 2011 and has been introduced by four provinces to date. Uptake of ...

All pregnant women, not just those who seek to end a pregnancy, have benefited from Roe v Wade. Today's system of mass incarceration makes it likely that if Roe is overturned women who have abortions will go to jail. Efforts to establish separate legal "personhood" for fertilized eggs, embryos, and ...

BackgroundNXN-188 is a combined neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibitor and 5-hydroxytryptamine 1B/1D (5-HT(1B/1D)) receptor agonist. Using preclinical models, we evaluated whether these two unique therapeutic principles have a synergistic effect in attenuating stimulated calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) release, a marker of trigeminal activation.MethodsWe examined the effect of NXN-188 on: ...

A modular total synthesis of (-)-isatisine A is described in which four consecutive metal-mediated transformations have been employed at the final stage. These include [Pd]-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling, [Pd]-catalyzed nitroalkyne cycloisomerization leading to isatogens, addition of indoles to isatogens using InCl3 and [Rh]-catalyzed oxidative N-heterocyclization of amino alcohol to form the ...

More than a hundred protein-coding genes are controlled by genomic imprinting in humans. These atypical genes are organized in chromosomal domains, each of which is controlled by a differentially methylated 'imprinting control region' (ICR). How ICRs mediate the parental allele-specific expression of close-by genes is now becoming understood. At several ...

The chemosensory roles of gill neuroepithelial cells (NECs) in mediating the hyperventilatory response to hypoxia are not clearly defined in fish. While serotonin (5-HT) is the predominant neurotransmitter in O2-sensitive gill NECs, acetylcholine (ACh) plays a more prominent role in O2 sensing in terrestrial vertebrates. The present study characterized the ...

We systematically investigated the effects of loop length on the conformation, thermodynamic stability, and hydration of DNA G-quadruplexes under dilute and molecular crowding conditions in the presence of Na+. Structural analysis showed that molecular crowding induced conformational switches of oligonucleotides with the longer guanine stretch and the shorter thymine loop. ...

A novel class of small molecule inhibitors for plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1), represented by AZ3976, was identified in a high throughput screening campaign. AZ3976 displayed an IC(50) value of 26 μm in an enzymatic chromogenic assay. In a plasma clot lysis assay, the compound was active with an ...

Bifidobacterium asteroides, originally isolated from honeybee intestine, was found to grow under 20% O2 conditions in liquid shaking culture using MRS broth. Catalase activity was detected only in cells that were exposed to O2 and grown in the medium containing heme source, and these cells showed higher viability on exposure ...

Abstract Knowledge regarding neuropsychiatric disabilities has increased in recent years, resulting in an increasing number of adults requesting neuropsychiatric evaluation. The aim of this qualitative study was to describe adult clients' experiences of participating actively in a supportive assessment process in which they received a diagnosis of either autism spectrum ...