The overall survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poor, and the molecular pathogenesis remains incompletely defined in HCC. Here, we report that increased expression of αB-Crystallin in human HCC predicts poor survival and disease recurrence after surgery. Multivariate analysis identifies αB-Crystallin expression as an independent predictor for postoperative ...

The complex of myxomas, spotty skin pigmentation and endocrine overactivity, or Carney complex (CNC), is a familial multiple endocrine neoplasia and lentiginosis syndrome. CNC is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner and is genetically heterogeneous. Its features overlap those of McCune-Albright syndrome and other multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndromes. Spotty ...

This report summarizes information discussed at the second Nematostella vectensis research conference, which took place on August 27, 2012 in Boston, MA, USA. The startlet sea anemone Nematostella is emerging as one of leading model organisms among cnidarians, in part because of the extensive genome and transcriptome resources that are ...

BACKGROUND: Thrombocytopenia has been reported to be both a risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development as well as a prognostic factor. Many HCCs also occur in presence of normal platelets. AIM: To examine a cohort of HCC patients with associated thrombocytosis. METHODS: Records were examined of a cohort of ...

Standardized methodology for drug susceptibility testing of second line drugs is vital for treatment of multi/extensively drug resistant tuberculosis. Discrepancy between laboratory methods and clinical interpretation is well established for bacteriostatic drugs such as ethionamide. Optimization of the standard proportion sensitivity testing (PST) method for ethionamide was under taken in ...

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The specific aims of this study were as follows: (1) to describe psychosocial adjustment in adults with end-stage renal disease who underwent maintenance peritoneal dialysis; (2) to explore the influence of demographics, clinical variables, symptom distress and social support on psychosocial adjustment and (3) to determine predictive ...

PURPOSE: Drug delivery to the brain is impeded by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Here, we attempted to enhance the brain uptake of cationic dopamine by utilizing the large amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) at the BBB by prodrug approach. METHODS: Three amino acid prodrugs of dopamine were synthesized and their ...

PURPOSE: Patients with cancer experience acute and chronic symptoms caused by their underlying disease or by the treatment. While numerous studies have examined the impact of various treatments on symptoms experienced by cancer patients, there are inconsistencies regarding the symptoms measured and reported in treatment trials. This article presents a ...

Alterations in gene expression programs are controlled by sequence-specific DNA binding proteins which interact with the epigenetic regulatory machinery. The sum of such processes comprises a gene regulatory network and differentiation processes involve transitions between such networks. However, while great progress has been made to identify network components, this list ...

SUMMARY: Insertional mutagenesis from virus infection is an important pathogenic risk for the development of cancer. Despite the advent of high-throughput sequencing, discovery of viral integration sites and expressed viral fusion events are still limited. Here, we present ViralFusionSeq (VFS), which combines soft-clipping information, read-pair analysis, and targeted de novo ...

BACKGROUND: Because of its superior efficacy to tamoxifen, anastrozole has been widely used in Japan as an adjuvant treatment for postmenopausal, hormone-responsive breast cancer patients. However, anastrozole may affect bone in Japanese patients similar to its effects in Western patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the rate ...

The activated cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) is exclusively responsible for food intake and weight gain and regulates several pathological features associated with obesity in mammals. However, the precise role of CB1R in non-mammalian model systems is poorly understood. To investigate the functions of CB1R in zebrafish liver, we conditionally expressed ...

PURPOSE: Large doses of radiation (8-20 Gy) preferentially target tumor vasculature. This vascular response is suggested to regulate tumor response to radiotherapy. Here, we investigate the relative contributions of direct cell killing by radiation versus tumor cell death due to radiation effects on the vasculature. We also examine Sunitinib's mechanism of ...

Domoic acid (DomA) is a potent marine neurotoxin. By activating AMPA/kainate receptors, DomA induces oxidative stress-mediated apoptotic cell death in neurons. The effect of prolonged (10 day) exposure to a low, non-toxic concentration (5 nM) of DomA on acute (intermediate concentration) neurotoxicity of this toxin was investigated in cerebellar granule ...

We report results of studies of global and targeted neuronal metabolomes by ambient pressure ion mobility mass spectrometry. The rat frontal cortex, striatum, and thalamus were sampled from control nontreated rats and those treated with acute cocaine or pargyline. Quantitative evaluations were made by standard additions or isotopic dilution. The ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Several studies seek biological markers that give diagnostic and degree of tumor development. The aim of this study was to validate the determination of plasma DNA using nanotechnology (NanovueTM-NV) in samples of 80 patients with prostate cancer. METHODS: Blood samples of 80 patients of the Urology Ambulatory of ...

MOTIVATION: In order to recognise remote relationships between RNA molecules, one must be able to align structures without regard to sequence similarity. We have implemented a method which is swift (O(n(2))), sensitive and tolerant of large gaps and insertions. Molecules are broken into overlapping fragments which are characterised by their ...

PURPOSE: To compare optic disc area measurement between optic nerve head drusen (ONHD) and control subjects using fundus photography, time-domain optical coherence tomography (TD-OCT) and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). We also made a comparison between each of the three techniques. METHODS: We performed our study on 66 eyes (66 ...

Apoptosis can be detected reliably by assaying for cleaved caspase-3, for which active caspase-3 antibodies are used in several methods, such as immunocytochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and western blot. In this study, we used TaqMan protein assay (TPA), a novel method for protein detection and quantification that detects proteins by ...

Physical aging below the glass transition temperature, Tg, is generally understood to be governed by the same slow degrees of freedom that are responsible for structural relaxation in the equilibrium state above Tg. Provided a reliable model of aging is at hand, it should thus be possible to extract very ...

Currently, there is the potential to generate over 200,000 mutant mouse strains between existing mouse strains (over 24,000) and genetically modified mouse embryonic stem cells (over 209,000) that have been entered into the International Mouse Strain Resource Center (IMSR) from laboratories and repositories all over the world. The number of ...

Copper (Cu) could serve as antibacterial coating for Ti6Al4V implants. An additional cell-adhesive layer might compensate Cu cytotoxicity. This study aimed at in vitro and in vivo evaluation of low-temperature plasma treatment of Ti6Al4V plates with Ti/Cu magnetron sputtering (Ti6Al4V-Ti/Cu), plasma-polymerized ethylenediamine (Ti6Al4V-PPEDA), or both (Ti6Al4V-Ti/Cu-PPEDA). Ti6Al4V-Ti/Cu and Ti6Al4V-Ti/Cu-PPEDA had ...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to measure the level of job satisfaction and the work factors associated with it among practicing dentists in Suez Canal governorates hospitals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four hundred forty nine dentists were contacted, and 277 agreed to participate (response rate 61.7%). They were surveyed ...

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Multichannel urodynamic testing is commonly used to diagnose urodynamic stress incontinence (USI). It has been claimed that USI may be diagnosed by imaging. In this study we determined the predictive value of ultrasound findings for USI. METHODS: This is an observational study utilising data obtained during urodynamic ...

BackgroundOverfeeding amino acids (AAs) increases cellular exposure to advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), a mechanism for protein intake to worsen diabetic kidney disease (DKD). This study assessed receptor for AGE (RAGE)-mediated apoptosis and inflammation in glomerular cells exposed to metabolic stressors characteristic of high-protein diets and/or diabetes in vitro with proof-of-concept ...

BACKGROUND: Most modalities for tissue confirmation during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) suffer from low sensitivity and poor diagnostic accuracy. Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) was prospectively evaluated in a multicenter registry including 102 patients with indeterminate strictures and demonstrated excellent sensitivity (98 %). Yet, several false-positive cases were induced by benign ...

STUDY QUESTION: Is it possible to replicate the previously identified genetic association of four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs12700667, rs7798431, rs1250248 and rs7521902, with endometriosis in a Caucasian population? SUMMARY ANSWER: A borderline association was observed for rs1250248 and endometriosis (P = 0.049). However, we could not replicate the other previously ...

BACKGROUND: The optimal treatment of appendiceal phlegmon or abscess with an appendicolith is controversial. This study aimed to evaluate outcomes and prognosis of nonoperative management of appendiceal phlegmon or abscess with an appendicolith in children. METHODS: From 2007 to 2011, 105 children with appendiceal phlegmon or abscess who were treated ...

ABSTRACT Purpose: Accelerated rate of bone turnover and increased resorption due to primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) result in osteopenia and an increase in the fracture risk. However, there are no data about the relative frequency of the PHPT in the subpopulation with the low bone mass. The aim of the study ...

Short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases (SDR) encompass a large and functionally diverse family of enzymes with representative members in all kingdoms of life. Despite the wealth of reactions catalyzed by SDR, they operate through a well-conserved and efficient reaction mechanism centered in a conserved catalytic tetrad (Asn-Ser-Tyr-Lys), and the employment of an appropriate ...

Heroin is a highly addictive drug, and heroin abuse is considered to be a serious criminal act. The major metabolite of heroin, morphine, can usually be detected as evidence of heroin abuse. However, it is difficult to determine heroin use when morphine and codeine are both detected, because codeine use ...

PURPOSE: Preoperative range of motion (ROM) has been regarded as one of the most important factors in predicting postoperative ROM following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Mobile-bearing TKA designs have been suggested to possibly improve the knee kinematics compared to fixed-bearing designs. The purpose of this study was to examine the ...

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play crucial roles in physiology and pathology. In this report, we use NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS) to demonstrate that proteins (galectin-1, ubiquitin, RNase, cytochrome c, myoglobin, and lysozyme) under reducing conditions with dithiothreitol (DTT) become alkylated at lysine-Nζ groups and O-phosphorylated at serine and ...

Although past research has demonstrated a "health disadvantage" for Puerto Rican adults, very little is known about correlates of health among this group. Given Puerto Ricans' unique experiences of migration and settlement, an ethnic enclave framework that integrates nativity, ethnic density, and neighborhood SES may offer insight into factors influencing ...

In order to investigate the prevalence of urinary tract infections (UTI) in sow, lower urinary tract (LUT), kidney and urine samples were collected at slaughterhouse from 65 multiparous culled sows. Histopathology was performed on urethra, urinary bladder and -kidney sections. Urine collected by cystocentesis was analysed for physical and biochemical parameters, in ...

Viruses such as Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) have been linked to mechanisms that support autoantibody production in diseases such as lupus. However, the mechanisms by which viruses contribute to autoantibody production remain poorly defined. This stems in part, from the high level of seropositivity for EBV (>95%) and the exquisite species ...

A Gram-positive bacterium, designated SCSIO 15042(T), was isolated from a sediment of the South China Sea and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The isolate grew at 20-60 °C, pH 6.0-10.0 and it could grow with up to 10 % (w/v) NaCl. The cell-wall diamino acid was found to be meso-diaminopimelic ...

A recently proposed mechanism-based disease systems model for osteoporosis (Schmidt et al., J Pharmacokinet Pharmacodyn 38:873-900, 2011) was applied to clinical data from post-menopausal women (n = 767) receiving various doses of the selective estrogen receptor modulator tibolone. Plasma bone-specific alkaline phosphatase activity and urinary N-telopeptide were used as biomarkers reflecting the ...

Congenital tuberculosis is a rare disease which is curable after early diagnosis. Making an early diagnosis of tuberculosis in an infant is difficult, however, because of its nonspecific clinical findings. It therefore requires a high index of suspicion. In this paper we report the case of an infant with disseminated ...

PURPOSE: In this study we examine neuroretinal function in five amblyopes, who had been shown in previous functional MRI (fMRI) studies to have compromised function of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), to determine if the fMRI deficit in amblyopia may have its origin at the retinal level. METHODS: We used ...

Women represent a significant and growing segment of jail detainees and persons living with HIV. This paper examines gender differences in health status, care and social service needs, and care engagement among jail releasees with HIV. Data are from 1,270 participants in the HRSA-funded Enhancing Linkages to HIV Primary Care ...

Fifteen flavobacterium strains were isolated from raw chicken meat, raw goat meat and poultry soil in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Most of the isolates developed yellow pigmented colonies with mucoid-spreading edges on food flavobacterium medium. The flavobacteria were Gram-negative rods and failed to produce indole and were non-fermentative. Moreover, they produced ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Healthcare waste management options are varying in Ethiopia. One of the first critical steps in the process of developing a reliable waste management plan requires a widespread understanding of the amount and the management system. This study aimed to assess the health care waste generation rate and its ...

Spatio-temporal patterns in sun exposure underlie variations in skin cancer incidence and vitamin D deficiency, indicate effectiveness of sun protection programs and provide insights into future health risks. From 558 adults across four regions of Australia (Brisbane (latitude 27ºSouth), Newcastle (33ºSouth), Geelong and the Western Districts of Victoria (37ºSouth) and ...

Water plays a fundamental role in the folding, structure, dynamics and function of proteins and peptides. The extracellular N-terminal domain of chemokine receptors is crucial in mediating binding affinity, receptor selectivity, and regulating function. The flexible N-terminal domain becomes ordered in membranes and membrane-mimetic assemblies, thereby indicating that the membrane ...

Alcohol acyltransferases (AAT) play a key role in ester biosynthesis. In Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis, AATs are encoded by a gene family of four members (CmAAT1-4). CmAAT1, CmAAT3 and CmAAT4 are capable of synthesizing esters, being CmAAT1 the most active. CmAAT2 is inactive and has a 268-alanine residue instead of ...

A method using microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) is described for the determination of seven antipsychotic drugs in human plasma. The studied compounds were chlorpromazine (CPZ), haloperidol (HAL), cyamemazine, quetiapine, clozapine, olanzapine (OLZ), and levomepromazine; promazine, protriptyline, and deuterated CPZ were used as internal ...

BACKGROUND: Apparently balanced chromosomal rearrangements (ABCR) are associated with an abnormal phenotype in 6% of cases. This may be due to cryptic genomic imbalances or to the disruption of genes at the breakpoint. However, breakpoint cloning using conventional methods (ie, fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH), Southern blot) is often laborious ...

This review highlights new developments in scientific and clinical research presented at the British Thoracic Society Winter Scientific Meeting held from 5 to 7 December 2012. Although a wide spectrum of respiratory research was presented at the meeting the content of the review focuses specifically on the key themes of ...

Online social networking is vastly popular and permits its members to post their thoughts as microblogs, an opportunity that people exploit, on Facebook alone, over 30 million times an hour. Such trivial ephemera, one might think, should vanish quickly from memory; conversely, they may comprise the sort of information that ...