BACKGROUND: Inverse associations between dietary protein and hypertension have been reported, which may be attributed to specific amino acids. OBJECTIVE: We examined whether the intake of glutamic acid, arginine, cysteine, lysine, or tyrosine was associated with blood pressure (BP) levels (n = 3086) and incident hypertension (n = 1810) in ...

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the molecular basis of a β-thalassemia defect in subjects with mild microcytosis associated with normal Hb A2 and increased levels of Hb F. METHODS: Six subjects from 3 apparently unrelated families from Campania (Southern Italy) have been investigated by using DNA restriction analysis, Inverse PCR, cloning, sequencing, ...

HOON might be an elusive intermediate of atmospheric photochemical reactions of HONO or recombination of the parent nitrene HN and molecular oxygen. However, no reliable data on HOON structure and stability are available, and the nature of the O-O bond is not well understood. In this study, we used high-level ...

Hippocampal pyramidal neurons are important for encoding and retrieval of spatial maps and episodic memories. While previous work has shown that Zbtb20 is a cell fate determinant for CA1 pyramidal neurons, the regulatory mechanisms governing this process are not known. In this study, we demonstrate that Zbtb20 binds to genes ...

Abstract Patient MW, a known confabulator, and healthy age-matched controls produced past and future events. Events were judged on emotional valence and plausibility characteristics. No differences in valence were found between MW and controls, although a positive emotional bias toward the future was observed. Strikingly, MW produced confabulations about future ...

Drawing on focus group discussions, this article explores how young, Finnish university students view the cultural ideals of health and appearance. The young adults noted how body practices aiming at health can turn into unhealthy obsessions. As a result, a healthy-looking body may serve to cover an underlying body image ...

Polyethylenimine (PEI) is one of the most potent synthetic gene delivery vectors because of its high transfection efficiency. Although PEI has been used as a delivery vehicle for a long while, its toxicity is always an issue for clinical applications. In this study, we introduced a low molecular weight PEI ...

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption is influenced by genetic factors. Previous studies have examined the heritability of alcohol consumption, or related phenotypes, from adolescence into adulthood, frequently finding that total heritability changes over time. However, it remains unclear whether the same genes underlie liability to alcohol consumption across development versus whether novel ...

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the etiologic agent of cervical cancer. In this study, we provide evidence for the human Pygopus (hPygo)2 gene as a cellular biomarker for HPV-related disease. In a tumor microarray of cervical cancer progression, hPygo2 levels were greater in high-grade lesions and squamous cell carcinomas than ...

Kidney stones are a prevalent clinical condition imposing a large economic burden to the healthcare system. Hypercalciuria remains the major risk factor for development of a Ca(2+)-containing stone. The kidney's ability to alter Ca(2+) excretion in response to changes in serum Ca(2+) is in part mediated by the Ca(2+)-sensing receptor ...

In low-birth-weight girls, obesity increases the risk of premature adrenarche and metabolic complications. However, the consistency of this association in normal-birth-weight children and its potential mediators remain unknown. The objectives were to assess the associations between obesity indicators and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) at 7 y of age and to evaluate ...

Cholinergic inhibition of cochlear hair cells via olivocochlear (OC) efferent feedback is mediated by Ca(++) entry through α9/α10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, but the nature of the K(+) channels activated by this Ca(++) entry has been debated (Yoshida et al. 2001). Recent in vitro study (Wersinger et al. 2010) suggests that ...

Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) greatly improves survival and quality of life of HIV-1-infected patients; however, cART must be continued indefinitely to prevent viral rebound and associated disease progression. Inducing HIV-1-specific immune responses with a therapeutic immunization has been proposed to control viral replication after discontinuation of cART as an alternative ...

Aseptic loosening is the most common cause for revision unicompartmental knee arthroplasty and is associated with failure of the bone-cement or cement-implant interface. The purpose of the present study was to analyze different bone lavage techniques for the bone-cement and cement-implant interfaces of the femoral component and to study the ...

Myelin is a biologically active membrane receiving and processing signals from axons. Although much is known about its structure and molecular composition, the intracellular signal transduction pathways, active during specific phases of myelinogenesis for regulating myelin formation, remain poorly understood. Recent genetic loss-of-function studies have suggested a key role of ...

Objective To describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of neonatal intensive care unit patients with a radiographic diagnosis of pneumatocele.Study Design Retrospective chart review.Results Our cohort (n = 27) had a gestational age of 27 ± 5 weeks, birth weight of 1038 ± 760 g, and a predominance of females (59%) and black infants (74%). All infants were ventilated at ...

FixL is a prototype for heme-based sensors: multi-domain proteins that typically couple a histidine protein kinase activity to a heme-binding domain for sensing of diatomic gases such as oxygen, carbon monoxide and nitric oxide. Despite a relatively well-advanced knowledge of FixL, the importance of some of its domains has been ...

The brains of teleost fish exhibit remarkable sexual plasticity throughout their life span. To dissect the molecular basis for the development and reversal of sex differences in the teleost brain, we screened for genes differentially expressed between sexes in the brain of medaka (Oryzias latipes). One of the genes identified ...

Some brain malformations have clinical and imaging features that are so specific they lend themselves readily to the diagnosis of a specific syndrome. The autosomal recessive pontocerebellar hypoplasias (PCH) fall into this category. These disorders feature postnatal progressive microcephaly combined with brainstem and cerebellar hemispheres that are hypoplastic at birth, ...

Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is a leading cause of health care associated infection. It has a high rate of attributed mortality and this mortality is increased in patients who do not receive appropriate empiric antimicrobial therapy. As a result of the overuse of broad spectrum antimicrobials such as the carbapenems, ...

Here, we provide direct evidence that the receptor-binding site of measles virus (MV) hemagglutinin protein itself forms an effective conserved neutralizing epitope (CNE). Several receptor-interacting residues constitute the CNE. Thus, viral escape from neutralization has to be associated with loss of receptor-binding activity. Since interactions with both SLAM and nectin4 ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the biological and technical success outcomes of implant-supported fixed dental prostheses with and without cantilevers, after a minimum of one year loading. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and seven subjects with 128 cantilever FDPs (cFDP) supported by 132 implants were compared with 99 individuals with 144 non-cantilever ...

Levels of residual disease (RD) are an independent predictor of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We modified the international standardized approach (ISA) to RD detection using flow cytometry by developing a single tube 10 color antibody assay. METHOD: A single ...

INTRODUCTION: The development of left ventricular remodelling after acute myocardial infarction is a predictor of heart failure and mortality. The purpose of the present study was to assess whether the polymorphism of angiotensinogen (AGT) gene with threonine (T) instead of methionine (M) at amino acid 235 in exon 2 (M235T) ...

The pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis is capable of learning taste aversion and consolidating this learning into long-term memory (LTM) that is called conditioned taste aversion (CTA). Previous studies showed that some molluscan insulin-related peptides (MIPs) were upregulated in snails exhibiting CTA. We thus hypothesized that MIPs play an important role ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Many challenges arise in complex organizational interventions that threaten research integrity. This article describes a Tool for Evaluating Research Implementation Challenges (TECH), developed using a complexity science framework to assist research teams in assessing and managing these challenges. METHODS: During the implementation of a multi-site, randomized controlled trial ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Himalayan forests are the most important source of medicinal plants and other useful species for the local people. Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS) is situated in the interior part of the Himalayan region. The presented study was carried in Madhmeshwar area of KWLS for the ecological status of plant ...

The occurrence of urolithiasis in the United States has increased; however, information on long-term trends, including recurrence rates, is lacking. Here we describe national trends in rates of emergency department visits, use of imaging, and drug treatment, primarily using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to describe trends and ...

The Rab11-Family Interacting Proteins (Rab11-FIPs) facilitate Rab11-dependent vesicle recycling. We hypothesized that Rab11-FIPs define discrete subdomains and carry out temporally distinct roles within the recycling system. We used live cell deconvolution microscopy of HeLa cells expressing chimeric fluorescent Rab11-FIPs to examine Rab11-FIP localization, transferrin passage through Rab11-FIP-containing compartments, and overlap ...

A formalin-fixed left, blue eye, from a 9-year-old, spayed female beagle dog was submitted to the Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin (COPLOW) for light microscopic evaluation. The history included glaucoma and an abnormal appearance for 6 months and then the development of a uveal mass. The histologic diagnosis was a ...

Extremophilic archaea, both hyperthermophiles and halophiles, dominate in habitats where rather harsh conditions are encountered. Like all other organisms, archaeal cells are susceptible to viral infections, and to date about 100 archaeal viruses have been described. Among them, there are extraordinary virion morphologies as well as the common head-tailed viruses. ...

Hydrogen abstraction in the spotlight: UV irradiation (365 nm) of dinuclear ruthenium tetrahydride, [(Cp*Ru)(μ-H)(4) (RuCp*)] (Cp*=η(5) -C(5) Me(5) ), in a 2-alkanone, such as acetone or 2-butanone, resulted in the formation of dinuclear oxatrimethylenemethane complexes, [(Cp*Ru)(μ-η(3) :η(1) -CH(2) COCHR)(μ-H)(2) (RuCp*)] (R=H and CH(3) ), through hydrogen abstraction from the α ...

The articles in this special issue of JAFC were originally presented at the 49th annual Florida Pesticide Residue Workshop (FPRW). The FPRW is an annual meeting for scientists specializing in trace level analysis of pesticides, veterinary drug residues, and other chemicals contaminants in food, animal feed, and environmental samples.

Experimental studies implicate late systolic load as a determinant of impaired left-ventricular relaxation. We aimed to assess the relationship between the myocardial loading sequence and left-ventricular contraction and relaxation. Time-resolved central pressure and time-resolved left-ventricular geometry were measured with carotid tonometry and speckle-tracking echocardiography, respectively, for computation of time-resolved ejection-phase ...

A developmental disruption of prefrontal cortical inhibitory circuits is thought to contribute to the adolescent onset of cognitive deficits observed in schizophrenia. However, the developmental mechanisms underlying such a disruption remain elusive. The goal of this study is to examine how repeated exposure to the NMDA receptor antagonist dizocilpine maleate ...

The characteristic oscillations of the sleeping brain, spindles and slow waves, show trait-like, within-subject stability and a remarkable interindividual variability that correlates with functionally relevant measures such as memory performance and intelligence. Yet, the mechanisms underlying these interindividual differences are largely unknown. Spindles and slow waves are affected by the ...

Catalytic dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane (NH(3)·BH(3), AB) and dimethylamine borane (NHMe(2)·BH(3), DMAB) by the Pd(II) complex [((tBu)PCP)Pd(H(2)O)]PF(6) [(tBu)PCP = 2,6-C(6)H(3)(CH(2)P(t)Bu(2))(2)] leads to oligomerization and formation of spent fuels of general formula cyclo-[BH(2)-NR(2)](n) (n = 2,3; R = H, Me) as reaction byproducts, while one equivalent of H(2) is released per amine-borane ...

Context:In multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2, American Thyroid Association (ATA) management guidelines recommend continuous biochemical screening for pheochromocytoma and/or primary hyperparathyroidism. This implicit assumption of linear tumor development is difficult to reconcile with current thinking that cells accrue somatic mutations stochastically, yielding a bell-shaped distribution.Objective:This investigation aimed at evaluating the ...

Increased Angiotensin II (AngII) or adenosine can potentiate each other in the regulation of renal hemodynamics and tubular function. Diabetes is characterized by hyperfiltration yet the roles of AngII and adenosine receptors for controlling baseline renal blood flow (RBF) or tubular Na(+) handling in diabetes is presently unknown. Accordingly, the ...

Photoalignment of nematic liquid crystals is demonstrated using a di-π-methane rearrangement of a designed polymer. The alignment mechanism makes use of the strong coupling of the liquid crystal directors to dibenzobarrelene groups. The large structural changes that accompany photoisomerization effectively passivate segments of the polymer, allowing the remaining dibenzobarrelene groups ...

Influenza A virus is an important pathogenic virus known to induce host cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase and create beneficial conditions for viral replication. However, how the virus achieves arrest remains unclear. We investigated the mechanisms underlying this process and found that the non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is required. ...

To evaluate the use of general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs) to improve the performance of MODFLOW, an unstructured preconditioned conjugate gradient (UPCG) solver has been developed. The UPCG solver uses a compressed sparse row storage scheme and includes Jacobi, zero fill-in incomplete, and modified-incomplete lower-upper (LU) factorization, and generalized least-squares ...

The huge pool of hypothetical zeolites can be screened for likely candidates for successful targeted synthesis on the basis of a set of reliable criteria derived from the observation that the local interatomic distances in all existing zeolites strictly obey several rules. For example, the average TT and TO distances ...

Previous studies have shown that motion onset is very effective at capturing attention and is more salient than smooth motion. Here, we find that this salience ranking is present already in the firing rate of retinal ganglion cells. By stimulating the retina with a bar that appears, stays still, and ...

Abstract Purpose: To report a case of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in an HIV-negative, iatrogenically immunosuppressed patient with chronic uveitis following intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA). Design: Observational case report. Methods: A 56-year-old female with chronic idiopathic panuveitis on azathioprine received a single 4-mg IVTA injection for macular edema and presented after ...

Societal pressure on the global land and freshwater resources is increasing as a result of the rising food demand by the growing human population, dietary changes, and the enhancement of biofuel production induced by the rising oil prices and recent changes in United States and European Union bioethanol policies. Many ...

Inflammation is the body's first line of defence against infection or injury, responding to challenges by activating innate and adaptive responses. Microbes have evolved a diverse range of strategies to avoid triggering inflammatory responses. However, some pathogens such as the Influenza virus and the Gram negative bacterium Francisella tularensis, do ...

Salmonella infects and survives within B cells, but the mechanism used by the bacterium to promote its survival in these cells is unknown. In macrophages, flagellin secreted by Salmonella activates the Nod-like receptor (NLR) family CARD domain containing protein 4 (NLRC4) inflammasome, leading to the production of IL-1β and pyroptosis ...

Recent experimental and clinical studies suggest a causal role of uric acid in the development of chronic kidney disease. Most studies have focused on uric acid-induced endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and inflammation in the kidney. Direct effects of uric acid on tubular cells have not been studied in detail, and ...

Bipolar disorder seasonality has been documented previously, though information on the effect of demographic and clinical variables on seasonal patterns is scant. This study examined effects of age, sex, index admission, and predominant polarity on bipolar disorder seasonality in a nationwide population. An inpatient cohort admitted to hospital exclusively for ...