It has been reported that over-expression of GRP75 can protect cells under different types of stress. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of GRP75 on the liver both in vivo and in vitro. To evaluate the effect of GRP75 over-expression on oxidative damage in the liver in vitro, ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Engagement in Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH) is commonly measured by behavioural scales comprised of specific methods of self-harm. However, there is a scarcity of information about the degree to which the methods relate to the same DSH construct although such scales are routinely used to provide a DSH total ...

Background:Oxygen therapy is usually combined with a humidification device to prevent mucosal dryness. Depending of the cannula design oxygen can be administered pre- or intra-nasally (administration of oxygen in front of the nasal ostia versus cannula system inside the nasal vestibulum). The impact of the cannula design on intra-nasal humidity ...

In 2003, the UK Food Standards Agency and the Department of Health began attempts to reduce national salt intakes via reformulation of processed foods and a consumer awareness campaign on the negative impacts of salt on health. The present study uses large nationally representative samples of households in England to ...

A complete understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing vesicle formation requires quantitative assays and vesicle reconstitution using purified components. We describe a simple model membrane template for studying protein-mediated membrane remodeling and vesicle formation or fission that is amenable to both quantitative biochemical analysis and real-time imaging by epifluorescence microscopy. ...

Background-Although experimental data suggest that statin therapy may improve neurological outcome after acute cerebral ischemia, the results from clinical studies are conflicting. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the relationship between statin therapy and outcome after ischemic stroke. METHODS: The primary analysis investigated statin therapy at stroke onset ...

Natural organic matter (NOM) is ubiquitous and is one of the most complex naturally occurring mixtures. NOM plays an essential role in the global carbon cycle; atmospheric and natural water photochemistry; and the long-range transport of trace compounds and contaminants. There is a dearth of separation techniques capable of resolving ...

A multisensory, hybrid histidine kinase (HK) and a response regulator (RR), which together may well constitute a two-component regulatory system (TCS), have been located in Halomonas anticariensis FP35T by transposon mutagenesis. This TCS is homologous to the GacS/GacA described in many Gram-negative bacteria. An analysis of crude N-acyl homoserine lactone ...

In the mammalian testis, coexisting tight junctions (TJs), basal ectoplasmic specializations, and gap junctions (GJs), together with desmosomes near the basement membrane, constitute the blood-testis barrier (BTB). The most notable feature of the BTB, however, is the extensive network of actin filament bundles, which makes it one of the tightest ...

Inappropriate activation of the GLI/Hedgehog signalling occurs in several human cancers, including haematological neoplasms. However, little is known about its relevance in precursor T-cell lymphoblastic lymphomas development. Moreover, the mechanisms whereby GLI/Hedgehog signalling is activated in haematological malignancies are not fully clear. Here we show that the gene Smoothened (SMO), ...

ObjectiveSomatotroph adenomas causing acromegaly are histologically classified into densely and sparsely granulated subtypes with different morphology, clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes. Granulation pattern has been reported to co-segregate with a recurrent mutation at codon 49 in growth hormone receptor (GHR) and GSP oncogene. This study examines response to the octreotide ...

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection has induced fatal encephalitis in thousands of young children in the Asia-Pacific region since the last decade. EV71 infection continues to cause serious problems in areas with outbreaks, because vaccines and antiviral therapies are not available. Lymphocytes are present in brains of infected patients and mice ...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) represent an important group of flame-retardants extensively used, which tonnage in the environment has been steadily increasing over the past 25 years. PBDEs or metabolites can induce neurotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction (MD) through a variety of mechanisms. Recently, PBDEs with <5 Br substitutions (i.e., BDE-47 and ...

Objectives We have developed and assessed the reliability of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques to measure fetal fat volume in utero. We studied fetal growth in women with and without diabetes in view of the increased prevalence of macrosomia in the former. Methods We studied 26 pregnant women, 14 with ...

The mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) receptor is dysregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and tivantinib (ARQ 197) is an oral, selective, MET inhibitor. This Phase-1b study assessed tivantinib safety as primary objective in patients with previously treated HCC and Child-Pugh A or B liver cirrhosis. Patients received oral tivantinib 360 mg ...

Abstract Aortico-left ventricular tunnel (ALVT) is a rare congenital heart anomaly of unclear pathogenesis causing left ventricular volume overload. Most descriptions are from surgical corrections in the neonatal and infantile period and little is known about ALVT in utero. Here we describe a case of ALVT ending in intrauterine demise ...

In three studies, we tested whether prejudice derives from perceived similarities and dissimilarities in political ideologies (the value-conflict hypothesis). Across three diverse samples in Study 1, conservatives had less favorable impressions than liberals of groups that were identified as liberal (e.g., African Americans, homosexuals), but more favorable impressions than liberals ...

BACKGROUND: There is significant variation in the indications for intervention in patients with recurrent carotid artery stenosis. The aim of the present study was to describe these indications in a contemporary cohort of patients. METHODS: This was a systematic review of all peer-reviewed studies reporting on the indications for carotid ...

An important mechanism contributing to cell cholesterol efflux is aqueous transfer in which cholesterol diffuses from cells into the aqueous phase and becomes incorporated into an acceptor particle. Some compounds can enhance diffusion by acting as shuttles transferring cholesterol to cholesterol acceptors which act as cholesterol sinks. We have examined ...

The first manganese-catalyzed aromatic C-H alkenylation with terminal alkynes is described. The procedure features an operationally simple catalyst system containing commercially available MnBr(CO)5 and dicyclohexylamine (Cy2NH). The reaction occurs readily in a highly chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective manner delivering anti-Markovnikov E-configured olefins in high yields. Experimental study and DFT calculations ...

Shipworms are marine wood-boring bivalve mollusks (family Teredinidae) that harbor a community of closely related Gammaproteobacteria as intracellular endosymbionts in their gills. These symbionts have been proposed to assist the shipworm host in cellulose digestion and have been shown to play a role in nitrogen fixation. The genome of one ...

The glucuronidation of estriol, 16-epiestriol and 17-epiestriol by the human UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) of subfamilies 1A, 2A and 2B was examined. UGT1A10 is highly active in the conjugation of the 3-OH in all these estriols, whereas UGT2B7 is the most active UGT toward one of the ring D hydroxyls, the 16-OH ...

OBJECTIVES: Resistance to anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs has been a great challenge for global TB control. Limited tools have been developed to detect resistance to second-line drugs that are associated with extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB. In this study we aimed to develop a simple and widely applicable assay for detecting mutations ...

Background: Pituitary and thyroid autoimmunity can be triggered by pregnancy. We report the first association of combined growth hormone (GH) and prolactin secretion deficiency due to autoimmune damage to GH- and prolactin- secreting cells in a patient with post delivery lactational failure, presenting subsequently with primary autoimmune hypothyroidism. Patient Findings: ...

Upon chronic microbial exposure and PRR (pattern-recognition receptor) stimulation, myeloid-derived cells undergo a distinct transcriptional program relative to acute PRR stimulation with pro-inflammatory pathways being downregulated. However, other host-response pathways might be differentially regulated and this has been relatively unexplored. Understanding mechanisms regulating chronic microbial exposure outcomes is important for ...

The rhodium-catalyzed reaction of 2-diazo-5-arylpent-4-enoates can be controlled by the appropriate choice of catalyst and catalyst loading to form either 2-arylbicyclo[1.1.0]butane carboxylates or cyclohexene derivatives. Both products are produced in a highly diastereoselective manner, with 2-arylbicyclo[1.1.0]butane carboxylates preferentially formed under low catalyst loadings. When the reaction is catalyzed by Rh(2)(R-BTPCP)(4), ...

Reproductive partitioning is a key component of social organization in groups of cooperative organisms. In colonies of permanently social spiders of the genus Stegodyphus less than half of the females reproduce, while all females, including nonreproducers, perform suicidal allo-maternal care. Some theoretical models suggest that reproductive skew is a result ...

Background:A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to compare the outcomes of oral appliances (OA) with those of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in treatment of patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).Methods:Relevant studies were retrieved from the following electronic databases up to and including Semptember 2012: MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, and ...

We report for the first time on the self-assembly of nanostructures composed exclusively of alternating positively charged and hydrophobic amino acids. A novel arginine/phenylalanine octapeptide, RF8, was synthesized. Because the low hydrophobicity of this sequence makes its spontaneous ordering through solution-based methods difficult, a recently proposed solid-vapor approach was used ...

Phosphate esters in polyhydroxylated systems are normally blighted by uncontrolled migration under a variety of reaction conditions. Cesium fluoride is demonstrated as a reagent to control migration of primary phosphates during transesterifications. This allows easy exchange of phosphoryl protecting groups enabling enhanced synthetic strategic flexibility and regioselective phosphate installation. Mechanistic ...

The pace of pathogen discovery is rapidly accelerating. This reflects not only factors that enable the appearance and globalization of new microbial infections, but also improvements in methods for ascertaining the cause of a new disease. Innovative molecular diagnostic platforms, investments in pathogen surveillance (in wildlife, domestic animals and humans) ...

OBJECTIVESGuidelines proposed bioprosthesis implantation for aortic valve disease if the patients were at least 65 years old at the time of surgery, with a trend towards even younger patients in recent years. Considering the adverse effects of lifetime anticoagulation, new biological valves (less prone to degeneration) and new technologies may ...

Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) causes a significant impairment of the immune system, the thymus being one of the most affected organs. It has been demonstrated that the administration of probiotic fermented milk (PFM) recovered the intestinal barrier, histological alterations and mucosal and systemic immune functions in a non-severe malnutrition model using ...

Infantile hemangioma (IH) is a rapidly growing vascular tumor affecting newborns. It is composed of immature endothelial cells and pericytes that proliferate into a disorganized mass of blood vessels. We isolated pericytes from IH (Hem-pericytes) to test our hypothesis that Hem-pericytes are unable to stabilize blood vessels. We injected pericytes ...

Platelet granule exocytosis serves a central role in hemostasis and thrombosis. Recently, single-cell amperometry has shown that platelet membrane fusion during granule exocytosis results in the formation of a fusion pore that subsequently expands to enable the extrusion of granule contents. However, the molecular mechanisms that control platelet fusion pore ...

Little is known regarding the immunobiology of regulatory T (Treg) cells in hematopoietic malignancies, particularly in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In the present study, we showed that the frequencies of CD8(+) and CD4(+) Treg cells were significantly increased in progressive as compared with indolent CLL patients and normal subjects. Enriched ...

Whey proteins (WP) exert anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Hyperbaric pressurisation of whey increases its digestibility and changes the spectrum of peptides released during digestion. We have shown that dietary supplementation with pressurised whey improves nutritional status and systemic inflammation in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Both clinical indices are largely ...

Classically, the risk of cancer progression in premalignant conditions of the gastrointestinal tract is assessed by examining the degree of histological dysplasia. However, there are many putative pro-cancer genetic changes that have occurred in histologically normal tissue well before the onset of dysplasia. Here we summarise the evidence for such ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Correct diagnosis is pivotal to understand and treat neurological disease. Herein, we report the diagnostic work-up utilizing exome sequencing and the characterization of clinical features and brain MRI in two siblings with a complex, adult-onset phenotype; including peripheral neuropathy, epilepsy, relapsing encephalopathy, bilateral thalamic lesions, type 2 diabetes ...

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of combining oxaliplatin with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or capecitibine and radiation therapy. The addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy improves overall survival for metastatic disease. We initiated a phase 2 trial to evaluate preoperative capecitabine, oxaliplatin, and bevacizumab with radiation therapy followed by surgery and ...

In-plane vs out-of-plane needle-probe alignment for perineural catheter placement remains controversial. Patients presenting for major knee surgery were randomly assigned to out-of-plane (n = 42) or in-plane (n = 39) needle-probe alignment for femoral nerve catheter placement, with both techniques using short-axis nerve imaging. Twenty millilitres of ropivacaine 0.5% was administered via the catheter ...

Multipotent neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) have the potential to generate a wide range of cell types including melanocytes; peripheral neurons; and smooth muscle, bone, cartilage and fat cells. This protocol describes in detail how to perform a highly efficient, lineage-specific differentiation of human pluripotent cells to a NCSC fate. ...

Microtubule-stabilizing agents (MSAs) are efficacious chemotherapeutic drugs widely used for the treatment of cancer. Despite the importance of MSAs for medical applications and basic research, their molecular mechanisms of action on tubulin and microtubules remain elusive. Here, we determined high-resolution crystal structures of αβ-tubulin in complex with two unrelated MSAs, ...

We examined the effects of fish predation on emergent insect-mediated methyl mercury (MeHg) flux across a gradient of MeHg contamination in experimental ponds. Emergent insects were collected from ponds with (n=5) and without fish (n=5) over a six-week period using floating emergence traps. We found that the potential for MeHg ...

Objective. The aim of this post hoc analysis was to establish the relationship between FE(NO) levels and the asthma predictive index (API) among infants with recurrent wheezing. Methods. Infants with recurrent wheezing (three or more episodes) were recruited consecutively and online FE(NO) tests at tidal breathing with multiple breaths were ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence on complex interaction between the nervous and immune systems in patients with cerebral infarction. This study was conducted to evaluate cytotoxic function of CD8+ T lymphocytes isolated from patients with acute severe cerebral infarction. In order to determine role of immune system in stroke, ...

Abstract Recent data provide evidence that co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and human T lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2) delays progression to AIDS compared to isolated HIV-1 infection. These results were linked to expression of the HTLV-2 transcriptional activating gene known as Tax2. Preliminary studies in lymphocytic ...

The effects of ion-ion and ion-wall correlations in nanochannels are explored, specifically how they influence voltage- and pressure-driven currents and pressure-to-voltage energy conversion. Cations of different diameters (0.15, 0.3, and 0.9 nm) and different valences (+1, +2, and +3) at concentrations ranging from 10-6 M to 1 M are considered ...

Despite growing reports on the biological action of nitric oxide (NO) as a function of NO payload, the validity of such work is often questionable due to the manner in which NO is measured and/or the solution composition in which NO is quantified. To highlight the importance of measurement technique ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) is a relatively new marker of inflammation which has not been previously tested (PPEs) and whether it discriminates complicated from uncomplicated in pleural effusions. We aimed to assess whether PTX-3 is an accurate biomarker of parapneumonic effusions PPEs. METHODS: The concentrations of pleural fluid PTX-3 ...