While LRYGB has become a cornerstone in the surgical treatment of morbidly obese patients, concomitant cholecystectomy during LRYGB remains a matter of debate. The aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the rate and morbidity of subsequent cholecystectomy after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) in obese patients. A meta-analysis was ...

STUDY QUESTION: What is the role of carbohydrates in the binding of human sperm to the zona pellucida (ZP) and what are potential implications for pathogenesis? SUMMARY ANSWER: Both lectin-like and protein-protein interactions play an essential role in human gamete interactions. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Studies in the mouse and ...

Erionite, a mineral series within the zeolite group, is classified as a Group 1 known respiratory carcinogen. This designation resulted from extremely high incidences of mesothelioma discovered in three small villages from the Cappadocia region of Turkey, where the disease was linked to environmental exposures to fibrous forms of erionite. ...

Crude extract of Rheum palmatum L (CERP) has been used to treat different diseases in the Chinese population for decades. In this study, we investigated the effects of CERP on LS1034 human colorectal cancer cells in vitro and also examined possible mechanisms of cell death. Flow cytometric assays were used ...

A facile thermal decomposing method has been developed for the fabrication of CoxP nanostructures with controlled size, phase and shape (e.g. Co2P rod and spheres, CoP hollow and solid particles). An amorphous carbon layer could be introduced by the carbonization of organic surfactants from the precursors. The electrochemical performance of ...

Mesenchymal stem or stromal cells (MSCs) were initially isolated from the bone marrow and received their name on the basis of their ability to differentiate into multiple lineages such as bone, cartilage, fat and muscle. However, more recent studies suggest that MSCs residing in perivascular compartments of the small and ...

Hyaluronan is a high molecular weight glycosaminoglycan prominent in the extracellular matrix. Emerging relatively late in evolution, it may have evolved to evade immune recognition. Chondroitin is more ancient glycosaminoglycan and a possible hyaluronan precursor. Epimerization of a 4-hydroxyl in N-acetylgalactosamine in chondroitin to the N-acetylglucosamine of hyaluronan is the ...

MOTIVATION: A common question arises at the beginning of every experiment where RNA-Seq is used to detect differential gene expression between two conditions: How many reads should we sequence? RESULTS: Scotty is an interactive web-based application that assists biologists to design an experiment with an appropriate sample size and read ...

SUMMARY: gKaKs is a codon-based genome level Ka/Ks computation pipeline developed and based on programs from four widely used packages: BLAT, BLASTALL (including bl2seq, formatdb and fastacmd), PAML (including codeml and yn00) and KaKs_Calculator (including 10 substitution rate estimation methods). gKaKs can automatically detect and eliminate frame-shift mutations and premature ...

Anion transporters in plants play a fundamental role in volume regulation and signaling. Currently, two plasma membrane located anion channel families - SLAC/SLAH and ALMT - are known. Among the ALMT family the root expressed ALuminium-activated Malate Transporter 1 was identified by a comparative screen between aluminum-tolerant and Al(3+)-sensitive wheat ...

Social interactions occur within a variety of different contexts-cooperative/competitive-and often involve members of our social network. Here we investigated whether social network modulated the value placed on positive outcomes during a competitive context. Eighteen human participants played a simple card-guessing game with three different competitors: a close friend (in-network), a ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: An ageing population is seen as a threat to the quality of life and health in rural communities, and it is often assumed that e-Health services can address this issue. As successful e-Health implementation in organizations has proven difficult, this systematic literature review considers whether this is so ...

PURPOSE: Olanzapine has been shown to be a safe and effective agent for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). Olanzapine may also be an effective rescue medication for patients who develop breakthrough CINV despite having received guideline-directed CINV prophylaxis. METHODS: A double-blind, randomized phase III trial was performed ...

Morphological damage to cardiomyocytes and/or loss of viability (structural cardiotoxicity) is a common cause of attrition in preclinical and clinical drug development. Currently, no predictive in vitro approaches are available to detect this liability early in drug discovery and knowledge of the mechanisms involved is limited. Human embryonic stem cell ...

The role of muscle spasm is not a new concept in the genesis of pain. Botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNTA) has been successfully employed in a variety of muscular and inflammatory conditions. The aim of our study was to review the published literature on the role of BoNTA injection of ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Depression and anxiety are recognised increasingly as serious public health problems among women in low- and lower-middle income countries. The aim of this study was to validate the 21-item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS21) for use in screening for these common mental disorders among rural women with ...

Congenital kyphoscoliosis (CKS) results from abnormal vertebral chondrification. Congenital fibrous bands occur in several locations with variable impact on vertebral development. We report a previously unreported case of a female infant with CKS presenting with an L2 hypoplastic vertebra and a costo-vertebral fibrous band extending to the skin in the ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of low-flow oxygen, low-flow air and sham treatment given via nasal cannulae in preventing desaturation (falls in oxygen saturation (SpO(2))) in preterm infants. STUDY DESIGN: Infants born at <33 weeks gestation receiving gas at flow rates <1 l/min via nasal cannulae were eligible for inclusion. ...

Our aim was to examine the association between ethnicity, phenotype, sun behaviour and other characteristics, and constitutive and relative facultative skin pigmentation. 191 participants were recruited, with a mean age of 7.6 years (SD 3.4), during 2009-2011 from Maternal and Child Health Centres and schools in Melbourne, Australia. Parental questionnaire ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of powerful, endogenous regulators of gene expression. This study identified 16 differentially expressed miRNAs in ischemic myocardium of rats using TaqMan Low Density Array. In addition, bioinformatics analyses, such as Gene ontology and Pathway assays, were applied to determine the apoptosis pathway, only regulated ...

OBJECTIVE: A new technology is introduced that enables real-time 4D (three spatial dimensions plus time) X-ray guidance for vascular catheter interventions with acceptable levels of ionising radiation. METHODS: The enabling technology is a combination of low-dose tomographic data acquisition with novel compressed sensing reconstruction and use of prior image information. ...

The objective of the study was to examine the effects of wearing compression garments for 24 h post-exercise on the biochemical, physical and perceived recovery of highly trained athletes. Eight field hockey players completed a match simulation exercise protocol on two occasions separated by 4 weeks after which lower-limb compression garments (CG) ...

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is widely used as a tool for expressing of recombinant proteins in insect cells or larvae. However, the expression level of secretion pathway proteins is often lower than that of cytosolic and nucleus proteins. Thus, we attempted to improve production of secreted proteins by ...

HNF4α, the master regulator of hepatocyte differentiation, has been recently shown to inhibit hepatocyte proliferation via unknown mechanisms. We investigated the mechanisms of HNF4α-induced inhibition of hepatocyte proliferation using a novel TAM-inducible, hepatocyte specific HNF4α knockdown mouse model. Hepatocyte specific deletion of HNF4αin adult mice resulted in increased hepatocyte proliferation ...

Post-menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestin is consistently reported to be associated with an increased risk of invasive breast cancer. However, findings on an association between hormone use and ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast (DCIS), a possible precursor lesion of invasive breast cancer, are sparse and inconsistent. ...

BACKGROUND: While several studies have reported a link between the presence of gout and adverse cardiovascular (CV) events in the general population, none has addressed the question of whether the mortality risk of patients with gout is influenced by disease severity. METHODS: We applied survival analysis methodology to prospectively collected ...

STUDY QUESTION: Do reproductive risk factor associations differ across subgroups of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) defined by the dualistic model (type I/II) or a histologic pathway-based classification? SUMMARY ANSWER: Associations with parity, history of endometriosis, tubal ligation and hysterectomy were found to differ in the context of the type ...

Psychophysical studies on human and non-human vertebrate species have shown that visual contrast sensitivity function (CSF) peaks at a certain stimulus spatial frequency and declines in both lower and higher spatial frequencies. The underlying neural substrate and mechanisms remain in debate. Here, we investigated the role of primary visual cortex ...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether intravenous (i.v.) administration allowed docetaxel to penetrate ascites in gastric cancer patients with peritoneal dissemination. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twelve patients with disseminated gastric carcinoma were enrolled in the study. All patients received docetaxel-containing drug regimens: i.v. administration of 40 mg/m(2) docetaxel ...

This article is a contribution to improve the management of serodiscordant couples in Ouagadougou. The aim of the study was to explore sexuality and the risk for sexual transmission of HIV among serodiscordant couples followed-up in CHU-YO. The study consisted of a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted over 6 months, from ...

AIMS: Despite the increasing number of device implants worldwide, little is known about the early and late complications of cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) or the incidence of these complications in patients with different heart failure aetiologies. We aim to determine procedural success and early and late complications in CRT patients.METHODS ...

Lapatinib is an oral 4-anilinoquinazoline derivative that dually inhibits epidermal growth factor receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). This drug is a mere decade old and has only been approved by the FDA for the treatment of breast cancer since 2007. Consequently, the intricacies of the pharmacokinetics ...

PURPOSE: To create and determine the clinical feasibility of a model based on dynamic computed tomography (CT) and a bolus injection of iodine contrast medium for evaluation of pulmonary perfusion for healthy individuals and for patients with lung diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed pulmonary perfusion by means of dynamic ...

PURPOSE: Acute respiratory failure that requires invasive mechanical ventilation is a leading cause of death in critically ill cancer patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome and prognostic factors of patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilator for acute respiratory failure, within 1 month of ambulatory chemotherapy for solid ...

ABSTRACT Purpose: To evaluate the significance of the hypertrophy concept in patients requiring extended liver resections for colorectal metastasis in the time of computer assisted surgery. Methods: Retrospective analysis of patient collective undergoing major liver surgery. 2D CT, 3D CAS with Fraunhofer MeVis Sofware. Portal vein embolisation (PVE) with the ...

The complex, tetraploid genome structure of peanut (Arachis hypogaea) has obstructed advances in genetics and genomics in the species. The aim of this study is to understand the genome structure of Arachis by developing a high-density integrated consensus map. Three recombinant inbred line populations derived from crosses between the A ...

This article describes the use of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) as a pretreatment technique for the determination of aflatoxins B(1), G(1), B(2), and G(2) in grains and grain products. The optimal operation parameters, including extraction solvent, temperature, and time, were identified to be acetonitrile as the extraction solvent at 80 °C with ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Though general antibiotic consumption data is available, information on the actual patterns of prescribing antibiotics locally is difficult to obtain. An easy to use methodology was designed to assess ambulatory management of infections by Latvian general practitioners (GPs). METHODS: GPs were asked to record data in a patient ...

PURPOSE: Based on biomechanical cadaver studies, anatomical double-bundle reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was introduced to achieve better stability in the knee, particularly in respect of rotatory loads. Previously, the success of ACL reconstruction was believed to be mainly dependent on correct positioning of the graft, irrespective of ...

SUMMARY: NGSUtils is a suite of software tools for manipulating data common to next-generation sequencing experiments, such as FASTQ, BED, and BAM format files. These tools provide a stable and modular platform for data management and analysis.Availability and Implementation: NGSUtils is available under a BSD license and works on Mac ...

To better understand the factors that contribute to the accumulation of unmetabolized parabens (p-hydroxybenzoic acid esters) in breast cancer tissue, we investigated the binding of a series of parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, butyl-, benzyl-paraben) to human serum albumin (HSA) by fluorescence spectroscopy and their ability to modify the binding parameters of ...

Oviraptorids are a group of specialized non-avian theropod dinosaurs that were generally one to 8 m in body length. New specimens of baby oviraptorids from the Late Cretaceous of Henan Province are some of the smallest individuals known. They include diagnostic characters such as the relative position of the antorbital fenestra ...

The health of Eucalyptus gomphocephala is declining within its natural range in south-western Australia. In a pilot study to assess whether changes in mycorrhizal fungi and soil chemistry might be associated with E. gomphocephala decline, we set up a containerized bioassay experiment with E. gomphocephala as the trap plant using ...

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) have recently attracted the attention of the scientific community challenging the well accepted structure-function paradigm. In the characterization of the dynamic features of proteins nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is a strategic tool of investigation. However the peculiar properties of IDPs, with the lack of a ...

This study was conducted to evaluate longitudinal neuropsychological testing performance over a 12-month period among HIV + individuals, and to evaluate the impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation on neuropsychological test changes in Uganda. The study examined 77 HIV + individuals recruited from the Infectious Diseases Clinic at Makerere University, Uganda. They underwent detailed ...

AimsThe purpose of this pre-specified analysis of the PROlonging Dual antiplatelet treatment after Grading stent-induced Intimal hyperplasia studY (PRODIGY) was to assess device-specific outcomes relative to different duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after Everolimus- (EES), Paclitaxel (PES), Zotarolimus- (ZES-S) eluting, or bare metal stents (BMS).Methods and resultsWe randomized 2013 ...

BACKGROUND: Osteoid osteomas consist of a nidus surrounded by reactive sclerotic bone. The diagnosis typically is based on imaging and clinical presentation involving nocturnal pain. Removal of the lesion is essential and currently is performed mainly with image-guided, minimally invasive techniques. We describe a case involving an osteoid osteoma of ...

The oral administration of the amino acid, tyrosine, has been for years recommended in order to improve fertility, especially to improve copulation behaviour in female dogs. However, evidence is comparatively poor. The objective of our study was to determine whether oral administration of tyrosine has an effect on oestradiol-17β concentrations ...

Abstract This study aimed at exploring adolescents' perceptions of unwanted sexual experiences (USE) in order to set up definitions, categories, and boundaries on the continuum between consensual and non-consensual sex. Methods: We conducted a qualitative thematic analysis of four focus group discussions gathering a total of 29 male and female ...

Few epidemiological studies have examined the relationship between dietary fat, which may affect immune function and risk of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that high dietary intake of fat and specific subtypes of fat is associated with the risk of HL among ...