The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate whether people approve radiological examinations specifically for the documentation of findings for the use in criminal proceedings. Forty two crime victims and 42 controls without a history of sustained violence were asked via telephone interview whether they would agree to forensic ...

OBJECTIVE: To remove extruded disc fragments impinging the exiting root. To spare the interlaminar space and the facet joint. INDICATION: Cranially migrated disc herniation. CONTRAINDICATION: Severe spinal canal stenosis. SURGICAL TECHNIQUE: Microscope from skin to skin, 25 mm skin incision about 5 mm off the midline, conventional subperiosteal route or transmuscular access ...

Dyspnea is a common symptom in emergency medicine and represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. A multitude of differential diagnoses must be considered and checked but where there are indications of a life-threatening situation and also by rapidly reversible causes an (initial) treatment must be initiated without delay. Initially implemented ...

OBJECTIVE: To decompress the lumbar spinal nerve impinged peripherally to the lateral recess. To avoid in selected cases the pedicle screw fixation and fusion of the segment. INDICATION: Single level radiculopathy in degenerative scoliosis or in degenerative disc disease without segmental instability. CONTRAINDICATIONS: Scoliosis > 30° at the index level, lateral ...

The association between the cytochrome P450 1A1 (CYP1A1) Ile462Val polymorphism and prostate cancer risk remains inconclusive owing to the conflicting findings from previous studies. To get a more precise estimate of the possible association, we performed the present meta-analysis. We searched the PUBMED, EMBASE, and Wanfang databases for the studies ...

Bicarbonate plays a crucial role in limiting the growth of submersed aquatic macrophytes in eutrophic lakes, and high ammonia is often toxic to macrophytes. In order to evaluate the combined effect of HCO(3) (-) and total ammonia (i.e., the total of NH(3) and NH(4) (+)) on submersed macrophytes Vallisneria natans, ...

General assessments of orebody types and associated mine wastes with regard to their environmental signature and human health hazards are needed to help in managing present and historical mine waste facilities. Bioaccessibility tests and mineralogical analysis were carried out on mine waste from a systematic sampling of mine sites from ...

BACKGROUND: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a recognized complication of immune tolerance induction (ITI) therapy, a treatment strategy used to treat inhibitors in patients with hemophilia B receiving factor IX concentrate. CASE DIAGNOSIS/TREATMENT: We present a 4-year-old boy with hemophilia B and an inhibitor who underwent ITI, and developed NS 19 months ...

The environmental impact assessment of mining sites represents nowadays a large interest topic in Romania. Historical pollution in the Rosia Montana mining area of Romania caused extensive damage to environmental media. This paper has two goals: to investigate the environmental pollution induced by mining activities in the Rosia Montana area ...

To estimate the 15-year survival following a diagnosis of stage I breast cancer among women who carry a BRCA1 mutation and to determine predictors of mortality, including the use of chemotherapy. Patients were 379 women with stage I breast cancer for whom a BRCA1 mutation had been identified, in herself ...

The gross examination of cystic changes in chronic pancreatitis can cause diagnostic problems particularly in the absence of grossly detectable tumor tissue. Besides the more frequently encountered pancreatitis-associated pseudocysts, pancreatic cysts should always raise attention to the differential diagnosis of a true neoplastic process.

Abstract PHD3 prolyl 4-hydroxylase belongs to 2-oxoglutarate and iron-dependent dioxygenases. Together with the two closest paralogues, PHD1 and PHD2, these enzymes have been identified as cellular oxygen sensors that can mark the hypoxia-inducible factor-alpha (HIF-α) for pVHL-mediated proteasomal destruction. Although having overlapping functions with PHD1 and PHD2, PHD3 markedly differs ...

BACKGROUND: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) often leads to visual impairment, loss of reading ability, reduced quality of life and secondary depression. The present study examined if visual rehabilitation has a preventive effect on secondary depression in these patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In a controlled pilot study 20 patients were randomized ...

Lysophosphatidic acid (lysoPtdOH), a lysophospholipid mediator, exerts diverse physiological effects, including angiogenesis, through its specific G-protein-coupled receptors. Previously, we showed that unfertilized hen egg white contains polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich lysoPtdOH and lysophospholipase D (lysoPLD). Here, we examined whether lysoPtdOH was produced by lysoPLD in the presence and absence of a ...

BACKROUND: In the context of regional anesthesia procedures adverse events rarely occur but are predominantly systemic intoxication due to local anesthetics (0.01-0.035 %), nerve injuries (0.01-1.7 %) and infections (0-3.2 %). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a level 1 trauma centre data from all continuous peripheral nerve blocks (cPNB) were prospectively acquired over a ...

The optical properties of human whole blood and blood plasma with and without Y(2)O(3) and Nd(3+):Y(2)O(3) nanoparticles are characterized in the near infrared region at 808 nm using a double integrating sphere technique. Using experimentally measured quantities of diffuse reflectance and diffuse transmittance, a computational analysis was conducted utilizing the Kubelka-Munk, ...

PURPOSE: The elderly population with severe aortic stenosis (AS) requiring aortic valve replacement (AVR) is increasing. The optimal timing of AVR in these patients has been under discussion. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the data from severe AS patients (n = 84) who underwent AVR with/without concomitant procedures from 2005 to 2010. The ...

Complex midfacial trauma requires interdisciplinary management. A wide range of reconstructive procedures are needed and if necessary secondary and even tertiary interventions should be performed at the appropriate time. We present the case of a 45-year-old man who was involved in a car accident and presented with severe injuries to ...

Oxidative stress may be the most significant threat to the survival of living organisms. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) serve as the primary defences against xenobiotic and peroxidative-induced oxidative damage. In contrast to other well-defined GST classes, the Omega-class members are poorly understood, particularly in insects. Here, we isolated and characterised the ...

Purinergic pathways are considered important in pain transmission, and P2X receptors are a key part of this system which has received little attention in the horse. The aim of this study was to identify and characterise the distribution of P2X receptor subtypes in the equine digit and associated vasculature and ...

Published data regarding the association between the XPC polymorphisms and lung cancer susceptibility remained controversial. This meta-analysis was performed to draw a precise estimation of the relationship. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Elsevier, and Web of Science with a time limit of September 10, 2012. Summary odds ratios (ORs) with ...

Plants are often exposed to a combination of stresses, which can occur simultaneously or at different times throughout their life. In this study, the effects of salinity, drought and cadmium pre-treatments were evaluated on the subsequent response of Cakile maritima, a halophytic species, to various levels of salinity (from 100 ...

Multifunctional Fe(3)O(4)-TiO(2) nanocomposites with Janus structure for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and potential photodynamic therapy (PDT) were synthesized, in which Fe(3)O(4) was used as a MRI contrast agent and TiO(2) as an inorganic photosensitizer for PDT. Their morphology, structure, and MRI and PDT performance were characterized, respectively. Moreover, the location ...

The effect of protein-glutaminase (PG) on the heat-induced conformational changes in whey protein isolate (WPI) and its relation to gel properties was investigated. The structural properties of WPI treated with PG were examined by several analytical methods. The analysis of the fluorescence spectrum and the binding capacity of a fluorescent ...

The aim of the present study was to develop a novel transfection method for short interfering RNA (siRNA). A nanotube with surfactant activity, A6K, consisting of six alanine residues and a hydrophilic head, lysine, was compared to the conventional cationic transfectant reagents siFECTOR and Lipofectamine 2000. Cytotoxicity for the human ...

Using the information of the federal statistics, a detailed description of the hospitalisation rate for cranial and non-cranial embolic events in Germany is given for the years 2005-2010. Detailed lists of the ICD codes I63.0 (stroke) and I74 (arterial embolism and thrombosis) as principal diagnosis and of I48.0 (atrial fibrillation) ...

The zigzag edges of graphene on Ir(111) (image) are studied by ab initio simulations and low-temperature scanning tunneling spectroscopy, providing information about their structural, electronic, and magnetic properties. No edge state is found to exist, which is explained in terms of the interplay between a strong geometrical relaxation at the ...

The early 21st century has witnessed a steady push by scientists, industry leaders, and government officials to make medicine more personalized. To date, the concept of personalized medicine has referred largely to the field of pharmacogenomics. In contrast, relatively few data exist regarding the application of preventive strategies such as ...

The 17-phenyl PGF(2α) analogue bimatoprost (10a) is the most efficacious ocular hypotensive agent currently available for the treatment of glaucoma or ocular hypertension. A novel convergent synthesis of 13,14-en-15-ol prostamideF(2α) analogues was developed employing Julia-Lythgoe olefination of the structurally advanced phenylsulfone (+)-(5Z)-15 with an enantiomerically pure aldehyde ω-chain synthon (-)-(S)-16a. ...

We have developed the IPolQ method for fitting non-polarizable point charges to implicitly represent the energy of polarization for systems in pure water. The method involves iterative cycles of molecular dynamics simulations to estimate the water charge density around the solute of interest followed by quantum mechanical calculations at the ...

Imatinib has been the preferred initial therapy for newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients for the last 10 years. Today, other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are licensed for first-line use. In this paper we analyze the pros and cons of the various alternatives to imatinib and try to give some ...

PURPOSE: Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is a well-studied disease. Although spinal tumors are frequent, many issues concerning their prognosis and management still have to be clarified. The authors studied the clinical impact and radiological progression of spinal tumors in patients with NF2 to determine their prognostic value. METHODS: A total ...

OBJECTIVES: Suicide is a notable cause of death worldwide, and while suicidal behavior appears to be associated with variations in temperature, no estimations are available of climate change impacts on suicide rates. The study aims to evaluate the influence of temperature on suicide mortality, especially on multi-decadal and longer time ...

This review is an exhaustive representation of the electrochemical processes reported in the literature to produce superhydrophobic surfaces. Due to the intensive demand in the elaboration of superhydrophobic materials using low-cost, reproducible and fast methods, the use of strategies based on electrochemical processes have exponentially grown these last five years. ...

PURPOSE:To evaluate whether a relationship exists between the presence of retinal hemorrhages and confessions and/or identified perpetrators in cases of abusive head trauma. METHODS:A retrospective chart review was conducted of all abusive head trauma cases. All cases that met criteria for abusive head trauma were placed into one of three ...

A facile synthesis of trifluoromethylated alkenes by the radical-mediated trifluoromethylation of vinyltrifluoroborates has been developed. Togni's reagent serves as a CF(3) radical precursor in the presence of the photoredox catalyst [Ru(bpy)(3)](PF(6))(2) under visible light irradiation. This new photocatalytic protocol can be applicable to a wide variety of vinylborates containing electronically ...

A blended approach encompassing problem-based learning (PBL) and structured inquiry was used in this laboratory exercise based on the congenital disease Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), to introduce commonly used techniques in biomolecular analysis within a clinical context. During a series of PBL sessions students were presented with several scenarios involving a ...

We report a novel microwave-induced fast and efficient synthesis of sub-10 nm sized palladium-decorated FeCo@Fe core-shell nanoparticles (ca. 3-7 nm) from a large-sized FeCo@Fe (0.21-1.5 μm) precursor, suggesting 'top-down' nanosizing. The high electrochemical surface area, tolerance to methanol during oxygen reduction reaction, and the excellent stability of FeCo@Fe@Pd in alkaline ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Microarrays have been a popular tool for gene expression profiling at genome-scale for over a decadedue to the low cost, short turn-around time, excellent quantitative accuracy and ease of data generation.The Bioconductor package puma incorporates a suite of analysis methods for determining uncertainties from Affymetrix GeneChip data and ...

A pilot study was conducted for human biomonitoring of the suspected carcinogen 2-chloroprene. For this purpose, urine samples of 14 individuals occupationally exposed to 2-chloroprene (exposed group) and of 30 individuals without occupational exposure to alkylating substances (control group) were analysed for six potential mercapturic acids of 2-chloroprene: 4-chloro-3-oxobutyl mercapturic ...

ABSTRACT: The RGD Pathway Portal provides pathway annotations for rat, human and mouse genes and pathway diagrams and suites, all interconnected via the pathway ontology. Diagram pages present the diagram and description, with diagram objects linked to additional resources. A newly-developed dual-functionality web application composes the diagram page. Curators input ...

Leucocyte infiltration in the decidua (maternal-foetal interface) before, during and after term (TL) and preterm labour (PTL) was studied in mouse. We also investigated the mechanism of peripheral leucocyte recruitment into decidua by analysing the tissue cytokine profiles. Decidual tissues were collected during late gestation, TL and post-partum (PP). PTL ...

To provide optimal patient care, all members of the health care team must effectively communicate patient status and the current plan of care. The Crew Resource Management (CRM) training system has been successfully used in the aviation industry to manage human error and reduce risk in the operational environment. CRM ...

Using primers and fluorescent probes specific for the most common food-borne Campylobacter species (Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli), we developed a multiplex, most probable number (MPN) assay using quantitative PCR (qPCR) as the determinant for binomial detection: i.e., number of p positive pathogen growth responses out of n = 6 observations each ...

Protein phosphatase 2A is one of four major classes of serine/threonine phosphatases. Overexpression of brain-specific regulatory subunit PPP2R2 in neuron cells is implicated in pathogenesis. The alternative splicing of PPP2R2B encodes two isoforms. They are subunit of cytoplasmic specific Bβ1 and mitochondria-targeted Bβ2. The two constructs were transfected into human ...

Breast carcinoma is one of the most common neoplasia and the first cause of women cancer related deaths worldwide. In the past few years with diagnostic increment, the number of patients diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) increased considerably and opened up new ways in research and new dilemmas ...

Image-guided percutaneous biopsy of abdominal masses is among the most commonly performed procedures in interventional radiology. While most abdominal masses are readily amenable to percutaneous biopsy, some may be technically challenging for a number of reasons. Low lesion conspicuity, small size, overlying or intervening structures, motion, such as that due ...

New, target specific, oral anticoagulants have been shown to be safe and effective in prevention and treatment of thromboembolism without laboratory monitoring. However, clinical use of the drugs dabigatran, rivaroxaban, and apixaban requires laboratory measurement of their anticoagulant effect in specific clinical situations. This paper reviews the data available on ...

Given the uncertainty surrounding solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure and risk of lymphoid neoplasms, we performed an ecological analysis of national Australian data for incident cases diagnosed between 2002-2006. Subtype-specific incidence was examined by latitude band (<29°S, 29-36°S, ≥37°S), a proxy for ambient UVR exposure, using multiple Poisson regression, adjusted ...

Neurology is one of the most underrecognized and underappreciated specialties in Pakistan.(1) The beginnings of clinical and academic neurology in Pakistan can be traced to the 1960s when 3 neurology departments were established in 2 major cities of Pakistan: 2 in Karachi and 1 in Lahore.(2,3) One of the 2 ...