PURPOSE: To evaluate retinal and choroidal blood flow (BF) using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as well as visual function measured by the electroretinogram (ERG) in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). METHODS: MRI studies were performed in 6 RP patients (29-67 years) and 5 healthy volunteers (29-64 years) on a 3-Tesla scanner ...

Until recently, both the British Society for Haematology and American College of Chest Physicians recommended platelet monitoring in all surgical patients receiving prophylactic low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) for the early diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). These guidelines were reversed in 2012 based upon an analysis considering resource expenditure, assay ...

Bacteriophages encode auxiliary metabolic genes that support more efficient phage replication. For example, cyanophages carry several genes to maintain host photosynthesis throughout infection, shuttling the energy and reducing power generated away from carbon fixation and into anabolic pathways. Photodamage to the D1/D2 proteins at the core of photosystem II necessitates ...

Collection of saliva for DNA extraction has created new opportunities to recruit participants from the community for genetic association studies. However, sample return rates are variable. No prior study has specifically addressed how study design impacts sample return. Using data from three large-scale genetic association studies we compared recruitment strategy ...

Background: Hairy polyps are rare congenital growths of the head and neck, mainly found in the nasopharynx and oropharynx. They are made up of two germ cell layers: the ectoderm and mesoderm. Methods: This paper reports a four-month-old who presented with breathing and feeding difficulties. Clinical examination was unremarkable, but ...

The peptide hormone gastrin is an important factor for the maintenance and homeostasis of the gastric mucosa. We show that gastrin stimulates proliferation in a dose-dependent manner in the human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line AGS-G(R). Furthermore, we demonstrate that the MAPK scaffold protein MEK partner 1 (MP1) is important for ...

We analyzed the genetic diversity (18S rRNA gene) of planktonic microbial eukaryotes in 34 different coastal and inland saline ponds. A wide range of environmental conditions was covered with up to thirty fold differences in salinity concentrations (12.5 to 384 g/L), and in situ temperatures (1.3 to 37.5 °C), and ...

Mastocytosis is an orphan disease rarely encountered by practicing anesthesiologists. Children with mastocytosis often present for procedures or surgery requiring anesthesia. Because many of the medications commonly used in pediatric anesthesia have been reported to initiate mast cell activation, parents are often very anxious about their child's perioperative experience. Laboratory ...

The conditions that can lead to the exploitative depletion of a shared resource, i.e., the tragedy of the commons, can be reformulated as a game of prisoner's dilemma: while preserving the common resource is in the best interest of the group, over-consumption is in the interest of each particular individual ...

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and infantile hemangiomas are vascular disorders that may share common mechanisms. This study examined a potential clinical association between these disorders in populations of preterm infants at two hospitals in the USA and Hungary. Clinically collected data from infants with gestational ages less than 32 weeks born ...

The prevalence of HIV among adults 50 and older in the USA is increasing as a result of improvements in treatment and detection of HIV infection. Substance use by this population has implications for physical and mental health outcomes. We examined patterns of demographics, mental health, and recent substance use ...

BACKGROUND: Specialist short break services aim to provide enhanced support to family carers as a means of preventing children whose behaviours severely challenge from being placed in full-time residential care. To date, there is limited evidence as to the functioning and effectiveness of such services. METHODS: In all, 17 children ...

Presence of selected tomato (Solanum lycopersicon) microRNAs (sly-miRNAs) was validated and their expression profiles established in roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits of tomato variety Jiangshu14 by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). In addition conservation characteristics these sly-miRNAs were analyzed and target genes predicted bioinformatically. Results indicate that some of these miRNAs ...

PROBLEM: This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy and safety of recombinant SP-10 protein for male contraception. METHODS OF STUDY: Adult male mice were divided into five groups. Group I was placebo-treated control while Groups II-V were immunized with recombinant SP-10 protein on day 0 and 21 with different ...

We study a class of coalescents derived from a sampling procedure out of [Formula: see text] i.i.d. Pareto[Formula: see text] random variables, normalized by their sum, including [Formula: see text] -size-biasing on total length effects ([Formula: see text]). Depending on the range of [Formula: see text] we derive the large ...

Several genetically engineered models exist that mimic aspects of the pathological and cognitive hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we report on a novel mouse model generated by targeted knock-in of transgenes containing mutated human amyloid precursor protein (APP) and microtubule-associated protein tau genes, inserted into the HPRT locus and ...

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the expected weight gainthrough midlife for those in a given body mass index (BMI) category in young adulthood. DESIGN AND METHODS: Group-based trajectory modeling and National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 data from 1990-2008were used to quantify weight trajectories through midlife for 10,038 young adult men and ...

OBJECTIVE: Exposure to high-calorie foods may promote overeating by stimulating brain reward pathways and appetite. Abdominal fat has particularly adverse metabolic consequences and may alter brain pathways that regulate feeding behavior. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to test the hypothesis that high-calorie food cues activate brain reward regions ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the incidences of metabolic risk factors according to changes in visceral fat area (VFA) in a large Japanese population. DESIGN AND METHODS: The subjects were 973 men who received a computed tomography (CT) examination in health check-ups twice (2004-2005 and 2007-2008), and not having two or more ...

The rapid development of microscopic imaging techniques has greatly facilitated time-lapse imaging of neuronal morphology. However, analysis of structural dynamics in the vast amount of 4-Dimensional data generated by in vivo or ex vivo time-lapse imaging still relies heavily on manual comparison, which is not only laborious, but also introduces ...

In this research, a novel homogeneous liquid phase microextraction method was successfully developed based on applying octanoic acid as low density extraction solvent. The method was applied for extraction and determination of chlorophenols as model compounds. Twelve milliliters of the sample solution was poured into a home-designed glass vial. Sixty ...

Haemolytic anaemia is variable among patients with sickle cell anaemia and can be estimated by reticulocyte count, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase and bilirubin levels. Using principal component analysis of these measurements we computed a haemolytic score that we used as a subphenotype in a genome-wide association study. We identified in ...

Newcastle disease is a contagious and often fatal disease, capable of affecting all species of birds. A velogenic Newcastle disease virus (vNDV) outbreak occurred in an Israeli zoo, in which Little owls (Athene noctua) and African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) were found positive for presence of NDV. Some of them have ...

Since ancient times, human beings have been trying to protect their skin against the adverse effects of the sun. From the first mineral sunscreens used by Egyptians, to the current more sophisticated ultraviolet (UVA/UVB) organic sunscreens, progress has been made in terms of sun protection and deeper knowledge of skin ...

Background: Much attention has been paid to the quality of life (QOL) in dialysis patients worldwide. However, differences in QOL between peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) patients have not been clearly identified. The objectives of this study were to compare the differences of QOL between PD and HD patients, ...

The butterfly Papilio xuthus has compound eyes with three types of ommatidia. Each type houses nine spectrally heterogeneous photoreceptors (R1-R9) that are divided into six spectral classes: ultraviolet, violet, blue, green, red, and broad-band. Analysis of color discrimination has shown that P. xuthus uses the ultraviolet, blue, green, and red ...

We report a theoretical study of the energies of cyclotron resonance (CR) and electron spin resonance (ESR) for fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS) in n-type narrow-gap quantum well (QW) heterostructures. Using the generalized single-mode approximation (GSMA) based on the 8-band k ⋅p Hamiltonian, we calculate the many-body corrections to the ...

We report the total chemical synthesis of human C3a by one-pot native chemical ligation of three unprotected peptide segments, followed by efficient in vitro folding that yielded the anaphylatoxin C3a in high yield and excellent purity. Synthetic C3a was fully active and its crystal structure at 2.1 Å resolution showed ...

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is notorious for local recurrence and metastatic spread to regional lymph nodes. Distant spread is uncommon, and brain involvement is rare. Over the past decade there has been a rising incidence of HPV-related HNSCC, but it is not known if this escalation has ...

Subthalamic stimulation reduces motor disability and improves quality of life in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease who have severe levodopa-induced motor complications. We hypothesized that neurostimulation would be beneficial at an earlier stage of Parkinson's disease. In this 2-year trial, we randomly assigned 251 patients with Parkinson's disease and early ...

The discovery of catalysts that can be used to synthesize complex organic compounds by enantioselective transformations is central to advances in the life sciences; for this reason, many chemists aim to discover catalysts that allow for preparation of chiral molecules as predominantly one mirror-image isomer. The ideal catalyst should not ...

OBJECTIVE: To analyse diagnostic value of somato-sensory evoked potentials (SEP), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and clinical neurological examination in the decision for decompression surgery in mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) VI patients with craniocervical cord compression (CCJ). METHODS: We retrospectively analysed neurological examination, SEP of the median nerve and MRI outcomes from 31 ...

Plasmids have long been recognized as an important driver of DNA exchange and genetic innovation in prokaryotes. The success of plasmids has been attributed to their independent replication from the host's chromosome and their frequent self-transfer. It is thought that plasmids accumulate, rearrange and distribute nonessential genes, which may provide ...

Partial genomic sequences of two divergent grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) variants, NZ1-B and NZ2, from New Zealand were determined and analysed (11,827 nt and 7,612 nt, respectively). At the nucleotide level, both variants are more than 20 % different from the previously published GLRaV-3 sequences, from phylogenetic groups 1 to ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Non-medical prescription opioid use (NMPOU) and prescription opioid (PO) related harms have become major substance use and public health problems in North America, the region with the world's highest PO use levels. In Ontario, Canada's most populous province, NMPOU rates, PO-related treatment admissions and accidental mortality have risen ...

A feruloyl esterase (FAE) gene was isolated from a rumen microbial metagenome, cloned into E. coli, and expressed in active form. The enzyme (RuFae2) was identified as a type C feruloyl esterase. The RuFae2 alone released ferulic acid from rice bran, wheat bran, wheat-insoluble arabinoxylan, corn fiber, switchgrass, and corn ...

To study the prevalence and systemic control and evaluate the adequacy of therapy of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HT) in glaucoma patients visiting a tertiary care eye facility at a university hospital. Consecutive cases with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) or primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) attending the outpatient services were ...

We present a 10-year-old girl with typical clinical features of H syndrome. Complete agenesis of the inferior vena cava was found on echocardiography and radiologic studies. Mutation analysis of the SLC29A3 gene revealed a novel nonsense mutation. This unique case extends the clinical and mutation spectrum associated with H syndrome ...

Ipilimumab is a novel immunomodulator demonstrating promising efficacy in treatment of melanoma and other cancers. The clinical benefit from ipilimumab can be hampered by the immure-related adverse events (irAEs) caused by dysregulation of host immune system. Ipilimumab associated hepatitis is also an important irAE, however, there have been limited descriptions ...

OBJECTIVES: While healthy eating patterns are of high importance in adolescence, most adolescents portray quite unhealthy eating behaviour. One reason for this may be that social norms among peers tend to be unsupportive of healthy eating. The current study investigates whether communicating health-promoting descriptive and injunctive norms influences adolescents' intended ...

OBJECTIVE: To improve the prenatal diagnosis of thanatophoric dysplasia by defining the change in fetal size across gestation and the frequency of sonographic features, and developing non-invasive molecular genetic diagnosis based on cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) in maternal plasma. METHODS: Fetuses with a confirmed diagnosis of thanatophoric dysplasia were ascertained, ...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Research evaluating enforcement and compliance with smoking partial bans is rather scarce, especially in countries with relative weak tobacco control policies, such as Portugal. There is also scarce evidence on specific high risk groups such as vehicle workers. In January 2008, Portugal implemented a partial ban, followed by ...

OBJECTIVE: We conducted a prevalence study to examine the putative association among Caesarean section and BMI in 21 051 adult Danish men born in 1977-1983, who presented for mandatory conscription evaluation around age 18 years. DESIGN AND METHODS: We extracted data on body mass index (BMI) from conscription records, and ...

Acetaminophen, also called paracetamol, is found in Tylenol, Excedrin and other products as over-the-counter medicines. In this study, acetaminophen as a luminol signal enhancer was used in the chemiluminescence (CL) substrate solution of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) for the first time. The use of acetaminophen in the luminol-HRP-H(2) O(2) system affected ...

Pheochromocytomas (PHEOs) are neuroendocrine tumours, originating from chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla. They are either sporadic or hereditary. It is important to identify the hereditary cases, so that patients and relatives with germline mutations can be offered regular surveillance. The objective of this study was the detection of pathogenic ...

There is concern about an emerging diabetes epidemic in Turkey. We aimed to determine the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes, prediabetes and their 12-year trends and to identify risk factors for diabetes in the adult Turkish population. A cross-sectional, population-based survey, 'TURDEP-II' included 26,499 randomly sampled adults aged ≥ 20 years (response ...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), transforming growth factor-β 1 (TGF-β1), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in chronic pancreatitis (CP). METHODS: Blood samples were obtained from 71 patients with CP and 100 control subjects, and plasma levels of MMP-9, TGF-β1, ...

PURPOSES: We conducted a case-control analysis to explore the association between occupational exposure to asbestos and cholangiocarcinoma (CC). METHODS: The study was based on historical data from 155 consecutive patients with CC [69 intrahepatic CC (ICC) and 86 extrahepatic CC (ECC)] referred to Sant'Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital between 2006 and 2010. ...

In the nano-aerosol mass spectrometer, individual particles in the 10-30 nm size range are trapped and irradiated with a high pulse energy laser beam. The laser pulse generates a plasma that disintegrates the particle into atomic ions, from which the elemental composition is determined. Particle-to-particle variations among the mass spectra are ...

Breast cancer survival rates have improved, new disease classifications have been adopted, and increased awareness about symptom management has arisen. Nevertheless, it is unknown to what extent these changes have had any impact on the way clinical trials are conducted. To address this question, the evolution of clinical trials in ...