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pubmed_969_2628 | The effect of a 3-week treatment with Loderix is examined in an open study in 40 patients suffering from allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Side-effects, mainly sleepiness, fatigue, weakness, were observed in nearly half of the patients. These were, in general, mild and of a transient character. Treatment had to be stopped in 2 patients due to developed adverse effects. Safety parameters as blood picture, liver function tests, renal function parameters showed no alterations during the study course. During the treatment periods rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms disappeared or significantly decreased in 22 patients out of 40. Moderate effect was registered in 14 patients, and treatment was ineffective in 4 cases. In 6 patients the doses were doubled from the 2nd week of treatment causing an increase in effectivity without a change in side-effect profile. | pubmed_969_2628 |
pubmed_992_14994 | Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a nonselective cation channel that interacts with several intracellular proteins in vivo, including calmodulin and Phosphatidylinositol-3-Kinase/Protein Kinase B (PI3K/Akt). TRPV1 activation has been reported to exert neuroprotective effects. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of cold stress on the mouse brain and the underlying mechanisms of TRPV1 involvement. Adult male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to cold stress (4°C for 8h per day for 2weeks). The behavioral deficits of the mice were then measured using the Morris water maze. Expression levels of brain injury-related proteins and mRNA were measured by western blot, immunofluorescence or RT-PCR analysis. The mice displayed behavioral deficits, inflammation and changes in brain injury markers following cold stress. As expected, upregulated TRPV1 expression levels and changes in PI3K/Akt expression were found. The TRPV1 inhibitor reduced the levels of brain injury-related proteins and inflammation. These data suggest that cold stress can induce brain injury, possibly through TRPV1 activation and the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Suppression of inflammation by inhibition of TRPV1 and the PI3K/Akt pathway may be helpful to prevent cold stress-induced brain injury. | 10.1016/j.brainres.2017.06.025 |
pubmed_972_17049 | To control the potential risk of natural gas purification plants, an ion chromatographic method has been developed to determine the heat stable salts (HSS) in alkanolamine desulphurization solution. Seven HSS anions, including CH3COO(-), HCOO(-), Cl(-), SO4(2-), C2O4(2-), S2O3(2-), SCN(-), were determined in a single injection. Before the chromatographic analysis, these industrial samples were pretreated by three steps, i.e. filtration, solid phase extraction and dilution. Using the gradient elution with KOH solution, all of the seven anions have been separated and determined by a conductivity detector. As the calibration results, the linear range of this method was 0.01 - 0.5 mmol/L for the 7 anions. The limit of detection (LOD, S/N = 3) was 0. 1 mg/L for each anion. By spiked standard solutions in the samples, the recoveries were in the range of 80.0% - 100.3%. The repeatability of this method was evaluated at five different concentrations. The relative standard deviations (RSD, n = 10) of the peak areas were in the range of 0.94% to 3.99%. Moreover, the reproducibility of the method was also tested in three different laboratories and it was acceptable with the RSD <5%. The proposed method has been applied to the determination of HSS in eight gas purification plants, three oil refineries and one coal gas plant and to monitor a gas purification plant continuously in 15 days. It's shown that the accuracy and precision of this method are satisfactory. | 10.3724/sp.j.1123.2011.12071 |
pubmed_263_4788 | Extended synaptotagmins (E-Syts) are a recently identified family of proteins that tether the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the plasma membrane (PM) in part by conferring regulation of cytosolic calcium (Ca2+) at these contact sites (Cell, 2013). However, the mechanism by which E-Syts link this tethering to Ca2+ signaling is unknown. Ca2+ waves in polarized epithelia are initiated by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (InsP3Rs), and these waves begin in the apical region because InsP3Rs are targeted to the ER adjacent to the apical membrane. In this study we investigated whether E-Syts are responsible for this targeting. Primary rat hepatocytes were used as a model system, because a single InsP3R isoform (InsP3R-II) is tethered to the peri-apical ER in these cells. Additionally, it has been established in hepatocytes that the apical localization of InsP3Rs is responsible for Ca2+ waves and secretion and is disrupted in disease states in which secretion is impaired. We found that rat hepatocytes express two of the three identified E-Syts (E-Syt1 and E-Syt2). Individual or simultaneous siRNA knockdown of these proteins did not alter InsP3R-II expression levels, apical localization or average InsP3R-II cluster size. Moreover, apical secretion of the organic anion 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA) was not changed in cells lacking E-Syts but was reduced in cells in which cytosolic Ca2+ was buffered. These data provide evidence that E-Syts do not participate in the targeting of InsP3Rs to the apical region. Identifying tethers that bring InsP3Rs to the apical region remains an important question, since mis-targeting of InsP3Rs leads to impaired secretory activity. | 10.1371/journal.pone.0114043 |
pubmed_932_8349 | The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of weight loss on selected serum inflammatory biomarkers in obese dogs. An experimentally induced bodyweight reduction of approximately 2.5%/week was accompanied by significant decreases in metabolic markers of obesity (lipidic profile, fructosamine, and insulin-like growth factor-1). The concentrations of acute phase proteins and of selected cytokines remained within reference ranges in obese dogs during weight loss, suggesting that significant inflammation was not a major component of this experimental model. However, adiponectin concentrations increased following the period of weight loss suggesting reduced susceptibility of these animals to obesity-related inflammation. | 10.1016/j.tvjl.2012.02.015 |
pubmed_10_16599 | Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is the treatment of choice for chronic wounds; yet, it is associated with considerable workload. Prompted by its nonadhesive and wound-healing properties, this study investigated the effect of an additional polymeric membrane interface dressing (PMD; PolyMem WIC) in NPWT. From October 2011 to April 2013, 60 consecutive patients with chronic leg wounds or surgical site infections after revascularization of lower extremities were randomly allocated to either treatment with conventional NPWT (control arm) or NPWT with an additional PMD (intervention arm). The primary outcome was wound healing achieved within 30 days, the secondary endpoints included: number of days between dressing changes, wound-related pain, cost efficiency, and occurrence of adverse events (ClinTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02399722). Forty-seven patients completed follow-up. No difference in wound healing was observed (p > 0.05) between both study arms. The additional PMD allowed significantly longer wearing times (days) between dressing changes (intervention: 8.8 ± 0.5, control: 4.8 ± 0.2; p < 0.001). Pain was slightly higher in patients randomized to NPWT alone (VAS score: 4.8 ± 2.9) compared to NPWT + PMD (VAS score: 3.0 ± 2.9, p = 0.063). No wound infections were observed. Costs were reduced by 34% per patient in the intervention arm. These results suggest that the combination of NPWT and an additional interface PMD is a safe and economic method for the treatment of chronic wounds, which requires significantly fewer dressing changes for a comparable wound healing. | 10.1111/wrr.12457 |
pubmed_526_8240 | The objective of this study was to elucidate the characteristics of swallowing disorder in cerebrovascular disease (CVD) patients in terms of newly developed indices for the basic elements of swallowing movement and muscle tone in the neck. A total of 133 patients participated in our study, 116 patients with CVD and 17 elderly patients who had no history of dysphagia and CVD. These patients were divided into 5 groups according to the existence of swallowing disorder and interval from onset. The effects of CVD and swallowing disorder were elucidated by two-group comparison. Measurement items consisted of and passive neck ROM in 4 directions (flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation.) 5 newly developed indices: distance from the genion to the upper end of thyroid cartilage (GT), distance from the upper end of thyroid cartilage to the upper end of sternum (TS), length of the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles on neck extension (GT+TS), relative larynx position (GT/(GT+TS)), and strength of the suprahyoid muscles (GS grade). Patients with CVD of less than 90 days' duration exhibited GT shortening, decline in GS grade, and limitations in neck extension and rotation ROM. In the chronic phase, TS shortening, laryngeal lowering, and limitations in neck flexion and lateral flexion ROM were observed. Physical therapists should aim to improve the factors that might impede laryngeal movement and to conduct preparatory exercises that facilitate swallowing movements. | 10.1298/jjpta.10.11 |
pubmed_727_395 | Three hundred sixty two patients with rectosigmoid cancer are examined by rectoromanoscopy and biopsy in order to establish those of them with manifestations of a proceeding precancer process. Cancer, originated on the base of single polypus was established in 50,94 per cent and 7,54 per cent in relation with preceeding generalized polyposis, in 30,19 per cent malignant villose tumor is concerned, in 4,71 per cent -- cancer, originated on the base of preceeding ulcerohemorrhagic proctocolitis and in only 1,91 per cent -- malignant chronic fibrosclerosed hemorrohoids. Precancer process is established in 29,29 per cent in all of the examined 362 patients with rectosigmoid cancer and in 70,71 per cent of the cases no manifestations of preceeding precancer disease was established, i.e. the malignancy ratio with established precancerosis towards malignancy without established precancerosis is approximately 1 : 2,5. That fact requires acute attention in all cases with established precancerosis of the terminal segment of large intestine, treatment without delay and dispensary control. | pubmed_727_395 |
pubmed_490_20495 | Sustainable food systems are an important component of a planetary health strategy to reduce the threat of infectious disease, minimize environmental footprint and promote nutrition. Human population trends and dietary transition have led to growing demand for food and increasing production and consumption of meat, amid declining availability of arable land and water. The intensification of livestock production has serious environmental and infectious disease impacts. Land clearing for agriculture alters ecosystems, increases human-wildlife interactions and leads to disease proliferation. Context-specific interventions should be evaluated towards optimizing nutrition resilience, minimizing environmental footprint and reducing animal and human disease risk. | 10.1093/trstmh/trx038 |
pubmed_928_13842 | OBJECTIVE
To compare the sensitivities of Doppler echocardiography and cardiac catheterization in the diagnosis of severe valvular heart disease in patients requiring valve surgery.
DESIGN
Retrospective analysis of Doppler echocardiograms and cardiac catheterizations.
SETTING
Tertiary referral cardiovascular centre in a university setting.
PATIENTS
Sixty-nine patients undergoing valve surgery between July 1988 and July 1990.
RESULTS
The sensitivities of echocardiography and cardiac catheterization were 84 and 87%, respectively (P = 1.0) in 32 patients who underwent aortic valve surgery primarily for severe aortic stenosis; 83 and 67%, respectively (P = 1.0) in six patients with severe aortic regurgitation, and 100 and 85%, respectively (P = 1.0) in seven patients with combined severe aortic stenosis and regurgitation. The sensitivities of echocardiography and cardiac catheterization in 11 patients who underwent mitral valve surgery for severe mitral stenosis were 73 and 91%, respectively (P = 0.6) and 69 and 92%, respectively (P = 0.3) in 13 patients with severe mitral regurgitation. Sensitivities of echocardiography and cardiac catheterization in the diagnosis of severe tricuspid regurgitation in five patients who had tricuspid valve repair were 100 and 80%, respectively (P = 1.0). Two patients with severe aortic stenosis by echocardiography, but not by catheterization, did not undergo aortic valve replacement during valvular surgery; both required aortic valve replacement within two years of initial surgery because of heart failure. Four patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation identified by echocardiography did not have tricuspid repair; three had pulmonary hypertension and these patients had resolution of tricuspid regurgitation on follow-up. One patient with severe tricuspid regurgitation and absence of pulmonary hypertension required reoperation for tricuspid valve repair 10 months after initial operation.
CONCLUSIONS
The sensitivity of echocardiography and cardiac catheterization in the detection of severe valvular lesions requiring surgery is similar. Discordant results should be reviewed carefully with knowledge of the inherent pitfalls of both techniques in order to ensure optimal patient outcome. | pubmed_928_13842 |
pubmed_693_3187 | Adult female guinea pigs received subcutaneous implants of diethylstilbestrol-cholestrol pellets which produced splenomegaly and increased numbers of splenic Kurloff cells. Latex spheres subsequently injected intravenously were not phagocytized by Kurloff cells within the lungs and spleen as examined with the electron microscope. This is considered as evidence that Kurloff cells are probably not phagocytic. The origin of these cells is discussed. | 10.1007/BF00233661 |
pubmed_190_6294 | CASE DESCRIPTION--In April 2012, Salmonella enterica serotype Infantis was detected in an unopened bag of dry dog food collected during routine retail surveillance. PulseNet, a national bacterial subtyping network, identified humans with Salmonella Infantis infection with the same genetic fingerprint as the dog food sample. CLINICAL FINDINGS--An outbreak investigation identified 53 ill humans infected with the outbreak strain during January 1 to July 5, 2012, in 21 states and 2 provinces in Canada; 20 (38%) were children ≤ 2 years old, and 12 of 37 (32%) were hospitalized. Of 21 ill people who remembered the dog food brand, 12 (57%) reported a brand produced at a plant in Gaston, SC. Traceback investigations also identified that plant. The outbreak strain was isolated from bags of dry dog food and fecal specimens obtained from dogs that lived with ill people and that ate the implicated dry dog food. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME--The plant was closed temporarily for cleaning and disinfection. Sixteen brands involving > 27,000 metric tons (> 30,000 tons) of dry dog and cat food were recalled. Thirty-one ill dogs linked to recalled products were reported through the FDA consumer complaint system. CLINICAL RELEVANCE-- A one-health collaborative effort on epidemiological, laboratory, and traceback investigations linked dry dog foods produced at a plant to illnesses in dogs and humans. More efforts are needed to increase awareness among pet owners, health-care professionals, and the pet food industry on the risk of illness in pets and their owners associated with dry pet foods and treats. | 10.2460/javma.244.5.545 |
pubmed_611_18408 | Insulin-like growth factors I and II (IGFI and II) are synthesized by anterior pituitary cells and participate in cellular growth and differentiation, as well as the control of pituitary hormone secretion. Type 1 and 2 IGF receptors (IGFR1 and IGFR2) and the six IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs), which modulate IGF effects, are expressed in the anterior pituitary gland. We used in situ hybridization to analyse the temporal expression pattern of IGFI and II, IGFR1 and 2 and IGFBP1-6 in the anterior pituitary gland during postnatal development in both male and female rats (10, 20, 30, 40 and 60 days of age). We found all of the components of the IGF system to be expressed in the anterior pituitary gland, with each having a specific temporal pattern of expression. In addition, there exist differences between the sexes in the expression of some components of the IGF system. These data emphasize that in the anterior pituitary gland the IGF system is under tight regulation during postnatal life when this gland continues to develop. The distinct temporal expression of each member of the IGF system may indicate specific roles in the development and physiology of the anterior pituitary gland. | 10.1046/j.1365-2826.2001.00590.x |
pubmed_1003_20269 | Imatinib, an inhibitor of the tyrosine kinase activity of c-kit, was used as an adjuvant chemotherapy in two patients who underwent curative surgery for recurrent gastrointestinal stromal tumors. One patient has maintained tumor-free survival for 12 months, while the other had rapid recurrence and metastasis of tumors 3 months after he discontinued the drug. The indication and effects of imatinib for prevention of recurrence of GIST after ablative surgery were discussed. | pubmed_1003_20269 |
pubmed_87_11621 | The patellar ligament angle (PLA) was assessed in 105 normal stifle joints of 79 dogs and 33 stifle joints of 26 dogs with a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL). The PLA of stifles with complete CrCL rupture was significantly lower than that of normal stifles, particularly at a flexion angle of 60 ˜ 80° in both plain and stress views. If the PLA was < 90.55° on the stress view with a 60 ˜ 80° flexion angle, the dog was diagnosed with a complete rupture of the CrCL with a sensitivity of 83.9% and specificity of 100%. In conclusion, measuring the PLA is a quantitative method for diagnosing complete CrCL rupture in canines. | 10.4142/jvs.2014.15.4.563 |
pubmed_611_3180 | Specific fibronectin (Fn) fragments found in synovial fluid of arthritic joints potentially contribute to the loss of cartilage proteoglycans by inducing matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression. However, whether or not the Fn fragment-modulated changes in expression of MMPs result in a net increase in matrix-degradative activity through alterations in the balance between MMP activation and inhibition has not been established. To understand the mechanisms by which proteolytic Fn fragments may contribute to joint degeneration, conditioned medium from fibrocartilaginous cells exposed to Fn, its 30-kDa fragment containing the collagen/gelatin-binding domain, its 120-kDa fragment containing the central cell-binding domain, and the RGD peptide were assayed for MMPs, and MMP activators and inhibitors. We found that the 120-kDa fragment of Fn (but not intact Fn), the 30-kDa fragment, and the RGD peptide, dose-dependently induced procollagenase-1 and prostromelysin-1 and decreased levels of the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) -1 and -2. The alpha5beta1 integrin was implicated in the induction of collagenase by the 120-kDa Fn fragment, since collagenase induction was abrogated in the presence of blocking antibody to this integrin. Conditioned medium from cells exposed to the 120-kDa Fn fragment also demonstrated increased levels of the activated collagenase-1, which resulted in significantly elevated collagen degradative activity. That the urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) was involved in the activation of procollagenase-1 was suggested by findings that the 120-kDa Fn fragment induced uPA coordinately with procollagenase-1, and the activation of procollagenase-1 was dose-dependently inhibited in the presence of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. These data demonstrate that the 120-kDa cell-binding fragment of Fn induces a net increase in matrix-degradative activity in fibrocartilaginous cells by concomitantly inducing MMPs and their activator, uPA, while decreasing TIMPs. | 10.1016/s0945-053x(00)00114-1 |
pubmed_111_4893 | To study the factors affecting the serologic response to measles vaccination, we evaluated 595 Haitian infants from 6 through 12 months of age, and their mothers, at the beginning of an immunization program. Thirty-four per cent of the infants had preexisting serologic evidence of measles infections by 11 months of age. Among infants more than nine months of age, those who had had measles had a significantly lower nutritional status than those who had not (P less than 0.01). After vaccination, seroconversion rates increased from 45 per cent at 6 months to 100 per cent at 12 months. The lowest rate of vaccine failure compatible with acceptably low rates of natural infections could be achieved by vaccination after eight months of age. Infants born to mothers with low levels of antibody to measles (hemagglutination-inhibition antibody titers less than 1:40) were significantly more likely to have had natural measles (P less than 0.01) or to have seroconversion after vaccination (P less than 0.001) at 6 to 10 months of age than were infants born to mothers with higher of age than were infants born to mothers with higher titers. Malnutrition and acute infections did not affect seroconversion rates. These data support the World Health Organization recommendation to administer measles vaccine in under-developed countries as soon after nine months of age as possible, regardless of nutritional status or the presence of minor illnesses. | 10.1056/NEJM198508293130904 |
pubmed_707_8966 | BACKGROUND
Sudden cardiac arrest survivors with a reversible cause are not eligible for implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation. This study aims to evaluate the risk of recurrent ventricular arrhythmia in sudden cardiac arrest survivors with a reversible cause and evaluate if ICD implantation increases survival.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic review to identify studies evaluating ICD implantation in sudden cardiac arrest survivors with a reversible cause. Outcomes were mortality and appropriate device therapy. Sudden cardiac arrest patients were divided into 4 subgroups: due to acute myocardial infarction; due to coronary artery spasm; due to takotsubo cardiomyopathy; and studies with various reversible causes of cardiac arrest.
RESULTS
27 studies were included, evaluating 11,402 patients. A total of 2570 patients received an ICD. Studies evaluating coronary artery spasm and with various reversible causes showed a relatively high rate of appropriate device therapy (17% and 20%) and described an increased survival in ICD patients. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy was associated with a low mortality and none of the ICD patients received appropriate device therapy. Studies evaluating acute myocardial infarction survivors reported inconsistent results, with high numbers of appropriate device therapy (12-66%), but the mortality-rate of patients with and without an ICD varied.
CONCLUSION
This study shows that the recurrence risk of ventricular arrhythmia varies between different reversible causes of sudden cardiac arrest and should not be evaluated as one entity. Cardiac arrest survivors with a reversible cause can be at risk of recurrent ventricular arrhythmia and selected patients may benefit from ICD implantation. | 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2022.02.019 |
pubmed_794_21282 | Importance
Women with epilepsy frequently need antiseizure medication (ASM) to prevent seizures in pregnancy. Risk of neurodevelopmental disorders after prenatal exposure to AMSs is uncertain.
Objective
To determine whether children exposed prenatally to ASMs in monotherapy and duotherapy have increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Design, Setting, and Participants
The Nordic register-based study of antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy (SCAN-AED) is a population-based cohort study using health register and social register data from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (1996-2017; analysis performed February 2022). From 4 702 774 alive-born children with available mother-child identities and maternal prescription data, this study included 4 494 926 participants. Children from a multiple pregnancy or with chromosomal disorders or uncertain pregnancy length were excluded (n = 207 848).
Exposures
Prenatal exposure to ASM determined from maternal prescription fills between last menstrual period and birth.
Main Outcomes and Measures
We estimated cumulative incidence at age 8 years in exposed and unexposed children. Cox regression adjusted for potential confounders yielded adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) with 95% CIs for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), or any neurodevelopmental disorder (ASD and/or ID).
Results
A total of 4 494 926 children were included; 2 306 993 (51.3%) were male, and the median (IQR) age at end of follow-up was 8 (4.0-12.1) years. Among 21 634 unexposed children of mothers with epilepsy, 1.5% had a diagnosis of ASD and 0.8% (numerators were not available because of personal data regulations in Denmark) of ID by age 8 years. In same-aged children of mothers with epilepsy exposed to topiramate and valproate monotherapy, 4.3% and 2.7%, respectively, had ASD, and 3.1% and 2.4% had ID. The aHRs for ASD and ID after topiramate exposure were 2.8 (95% CI, 1.4-5.7) and 3.5 (95% CI, 1.4-8.6), respectively, and after valproate exposure were 2.4 (95% CI, 1.7-3.3) and 2.5 (95% CI, 1.7-3.7). The aHRs were elevated with higher ASM doses compared with children from the general population. The duotherapies levetiracetam with carbamazepine and lamotrigine with topiramate were associated with increased risks of neurodevelopmental disorders in children of women with epilepsy: levetiracetam with carbamazepine: 8-year cumulative incidence, 5.7%; aHR, 3.5; 95% CI, 1.5-8.2; lamotrigine with topiramate: 8-year cumulative incidence, 7.5%; aHR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.1-4.9. No increased risk was associated with levetiracetam with lamotrigine (8-year cumulative incidence, 1.6%; aHR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.3-2.5). No consistently increased risks were observed for neurodevelopmental disorders after prenatal exposure to monotherapy with lamotrigine, levetiracetam, carbamazepin, oxcarbazepine, gapapentin, pregabalin, clonazepam, or phenobarbital.
Conclusions and Relevance
In this cohort study, prenatal exposure to topiramate, valproate, and several duotherapies were associated with increased risks of neurodevelopmental disorders. | 10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.1269 |
pubmed_248_19544 | A new case of Foreign Accent Syndrome is described. This American woman presented with a British- or Australian- sounding accent after stroke, which resulted in a lacunar infarct in the left internal capsule. The atypical etiology and apparent changes in lexical use are described. It is hypothesized that an abnormally tense vocal tract posture may account for phonetic changes in vowel quality and a higher average fundamental frequency. | 10.1080/02699200400026900 |
pubmed_932_5672 | PURPOSE
The purpose of this project was to characterize the use of heart failure medications during the first year after left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.
METHODS
All patients who received a HeartMate II at our institution between January 1, 2007, and August 1, 2009, and were followed by our multidisciplinary team for at least 6 months were eligible for inclusion. Use of heart failure medications, including dosages, was collected for each patient prior to LVAD implantation, at time of discharge, and at each subsequent monthly office visit for up to 1 year after implantation. The primary end point was the prescription rate for each medication class at discharge. Secondary end points included the use and dosage of these agents during follow up.
RESULTS
A total of 28 patients were included (mean age = 50±11.5 years; sex 75% male; race 57.1% white; bridge-to-transplant rate 25%). There was a statistically significant decrease in use of digoxin (42.9% vs. 7.1%), spironolactone (50% vs. 17.9%), nitrates (39.3% vs. 7.1%), and milrinone (71.4% vs. 3.6%) postimplantation compared with baseline (p<0.05, for all comparisons). More than 50% of patients received vasodilators, beta-blockers, and hydralazine both preimplantation and postimplantation (p>0.05 for each class). Furthermore, more patients reached target doses of beta-blockers (0% vs. 28.6%; p=0.04) after LVAD implantation.
CONCLUSION
Our pilot study shows consistent prescription of heart failure pharmacotherapy in LVAD patients at our institution, with more patients able to tolerate target doses of beta-blockers. | 10.5301/ijao.5000068 |
pubmed_1111_20779 | An outbreak of disease in Seriola dumerili occurred from August to October in 2007 and 2008. The fish developed lesions of the caudal peduncle, pectoral and/or dorsal fin and the heart. The lesions were characterized by moderate to severe infarction with areas of microabscessation and multifocal granulomatous inflammation associated with the presence of Streptococcus dysgalactiae antigen. This is the first report to describe the immunohistology of the lesions induced in S. dumerili following natural infection with S. dysgalactiae. | 10.1016/j.jcpa.2011.01.001 |
pubmed_801_12846 | Meningiomas are the second most common primary brain tumor and are primarily treated with surgery (with or without embolization) and radiotherapy. Increasingly today, meningiomas undergo multiple resections and two radiotherapy treatments (either stereotactic or conventional external beam) before consideration for hormonal, chemotherapy or targeted therapy. The failure of hormonal and cytotoxic chemotherapy in the treatment of recurrent meningioma and increasing understanding of potential molecular targets in meningioma has resulted in multiple studies utilizing single-agent targeted therapy directed at biologically relevant signaling pathways, such as somatostatin (Sandostatin(®) LAR, SOM230c), PDGF (imatinib), EGF (erlotinib) and VEGF (sunitinib and vatalanib). Early results using a targeted approach have been modest at best and are often associated with significant toxicity. Consequently and at present, the brain tumor guidelines recognize only three medical therapies for inoperable and radiation-refractory meningiomas: hydroxyurea, IFN-α and Sandostatin LAR, a somatostatin analogue. Clearly, there remains an unmet need in neuro-oncology with respect to the medical treatment of recurrent meningiomas. | 10.1586/ern.11.38 |
pubmed_500_11454 | In a double-blind study of epidural anesthesia, 30 young volunteers were given either 2% mepivacaine (400 mg), 0.5% bupivacaine (100 mg), or 1.5% etidocaine (300 mg), all solutions containing epinephrine (1:200,000). The spread of analgesia was equal in the groups, whereas the longest duration was noted in the etidocaine and bupivacaine groups. With use of a method for determining muscle force, motor blockade during anesthesia was recorded quantitatively for hip flexion, knee extension, and plantar flexion of the big toe. Onset of motor blockade was significantly more rapid with etidocaine than with bupivacaine and mepivacaine. All subjects given etidocaine developed complete motor blockade, but with the other local anesthetics 5%-33% of the initial muscle force remained. The least motor blockade was found in the L5-S2 segment (plantar flexion of the big toe). The duration of maximal motor blockade varied between 60 min (mepivacaine) and 360 min (etidocaine). With each of the three local anesthetics, motor function returned simultaneously in the three muscle groups tested. Complete restoration of muscle function occurred significantly later for etidocaine (600 min) than for bupivacaine (360 min) and mepivacaine (180 min). With etidocaine, the motor blockade outlasted the sensory blockade by 150 min. The Bromage scale corresponded to the motor blockade only during the first half of the regression phase. Not until 1-3 h after attainment of Bromage grade 0 was the muscle force of all movements restored (90% of control values). | pubmed_500_11454 |
pubmed_974_1894 | In epidemiologic studies, measurement error in dietary variables often attenuates association between dietary intake and disease occurrence. To adjust for the attenuation caused by error in dietary intake, regression calibration is commonly used. To apply regression calibration, unbiased reference measurements are required. Short-term reference measurements for foods that are not consumed daily contain excess zeroes that pose challenges in the calibration model. We adapted two-part regression calibration model, initially developed for multiple replicates of reference measurements per individual to a single-replicate setting. We showed how to handle excess zero reference measurements by two-step modeling approach, how to explore heteroscedasticity in the consumed amount with variance-mean graph, how to explore nonlinearity with the generalized additive modeling (GAM) and the empirical logit approaches, and how to select covariates in the calibration model. The performance of two-part calibration model was compared with the one-part counterpart. We used vegetable intake and mortality data from European Prospective Investigation on Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. In the EPIC, reference measurements were taken with 24-hour recalls. For each of the three vegetable subgroups assessed separately, correcting for error with an appropriately specified two-part calibration model resulted in about three fold increase in the strength of association with all-cause mortality, as measured by the log hazard ratio. Further found is that the standard way of including covariates in the calibration model can lead to over fitting the two-part calibration model. Moreover, the extent of adjusting for error is influenced by the number and forms of covariates in the calibration model. For episodically consumed foods, we advise researchers to pay special attention to response distribution, nonlinearity, and covariate inclusion in specifying the calibration model. | 10.1371/journal.pone.0113160 |
pubmed_49_16376 | Acute angle-closure glaucoma is an ophthalmological emergency. Not all eyes will be responsive to an arbitrary medical regimen. Successful therapy is based upon understanding the mechanism of the angle-closure. A step-by-step flow chart for diagnosis of acute angle-closure glaucoma is presented with explanation of various signs and descriptions of appropriate diagnostic tests. | 10.1016/0039-6257(89)90050-7 |
pubmed_1061_25028 | In Taiwan, the incidence rate of oral cancer is constantly increasing. Polymorphisms and lifestyle habits are major contributing factors to the development of oral cancer in such cases. Casein kinase 1 epsilon (CK1ε) gene expression plays a role in numerous cancers, and the knockdown of CK1ε induces tumor cell-selective cytotoxicity. The present study was designed to determine the effects of CK1ε gene polymorphisms combined with environmental carcinogens on susceptibility to developing oral squamous cell carcinoma and its clinicopathological status. Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CK1ε gene (rs135745, rs135764, rs1997644 and rs2075984) from 741 oral cancer patients and 462 healthy controls were analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our results shown that variant types (GC) of CK1ε polymorphic rs135745 exhibited a significantly higher risk of 1.41 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.036-1.919) for oral cancer than did wild type alleles. Furthermore, these CK1ε gene SNPs along with betel-quid chewing and/or tobacco use further increased susceptibility to oral cancer. Moreover, variant genotypes (GC+CC) of CK1ε rs135745 were significantly associated with lymph node metastasis. These results suggested that the CK1ε gene polymorphism is associated with the clinicopathological development of oral cancer and increases individuals' susceptibility to environmental carcinogens (e.g., smoking and betel-quid chewing) in terms of developing oral cancer. | 10.7150/jca.34592 |
pubmed_795_21478 | An in sacco mobile bag technique was used to determine the rate and extent of disappearance of unmolassed sugar-beet pulp, soyabean hulls, hay cubes and an oat hull-naked oats mixture (67:33, w/w) in the foregut and total digestive tract of ponies. Ponies were administered naso-gastrically polyester mesh bags containing 350 mg feed, in a Latin square design. Bags were collected at the ileo-caecal junction (small intestine bag, SIB) and in the faeces (faecal bag, FB) and their residues analysed for proximate constituents and NSP composition and content. DM disappearances from individual bags were fitted to degradation profiles (Ørskov & McDonald, 1979) and effective degradability values determined. Significant differences (P<0.05) in DM, organic matter and crude protein losses from SIB were noted between feeds with hay cubes and oat hulls-naked oats > sugar-beet pulp and soyabean hulls. Acid-detergent fibre, neutral-detergent fibre and NSP disappearances were small and varied little between feeds. In contrast, FB losses showed significant (P<0.05) differences for all constituents measured with sugar-beet pulp > soyabean hulls > hay cubes > oat hulls-naked oats. Crude protein losses from sugar-beet pulp and soyabean hulls in FB were significantly higher (P<0.05) than from SIB. FB degradation curves showed degradation to be affected by bag residence time with sugar-beet pulp > soyabean hulls and the effective degradability showed that significantly more (P<0.05) sugar-beet pulp was lost at 40.0 and 60.0 h than for the other three feeds. These results show that sugar-beet pulp and soyabean hulls are rapidly degraded by ponies and could be used as alternatives to hay in equid rations. However, the foregut availability of crude protein from sugar-beet pulp is poor, so a readily digestible source of crude protein should be offered to animals with high protein demands when diets are based on sugar-beet pulp. | 10.1079/BJN2002734 |
pubmed_134_9103 | Despite the enormous interest in the field of tumour immunology, and the development of vaccine based strategies for immunotherapy of tumours, results in patients with cancer have been disappointing. This is partly due to the lack of development of clearly defined anti-tumour immune responses. The basis for the induction of specific anti-tumour non-responsiveness is not known. Recently, the liver has been recognised as an important organ in the regulation of peripheral immunological responses. It is characterised by a remarkable ability to induce tolerance to antigens from a variety of sources. Oral tolerance to food antigens, antigens from gut flora and other antigens administered via the oral route is partly dependent upon local immunoregulation in the liver. Transplantation of liver tissue shows a remarkable ability to induce tolerance in some species, not only to liver tissue but also to other organs and tissues transplanted at the same time. This tolerance can be transferred by adoptive transfer of lymphocytes. It has been suggested that the establishment of persistent infection in the liver by hepatitis viruses, may partly depend on the tolerogenic environment of the liver, and that this may also play a role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic infections with these viruses. The liver is also a common and an important site for the development of metastases from many primary tumours. This is partly dependent upon the anatomic location and structure of the liver, but may also partly reflect the exploitation of the tolerogenic environment in the liver, allowing micrometastases to colonise and grow. This may account for the fact that the liver is such a common site for metastasis. Furthermore, once tolerance to tumour antigens is established in the liver, tolerated lymphocytes may migrate from the liver back to primary tumours and exacerbate immunological non-responsiveness at tumour sites. Indeed, if this happens early in tumour development, liver dependent tolerance to tumour antigens may play a significant role in tumour progression, and may partly determine impaired tumour responses in vaccine based immunotherapy strategies. | 10.1016/j.mehy.2004.10.002 |
pubmed_5_20830 | M.M., a right-handed, 74 year old professional musician and composer, presented with a progressive aphasia with a severe anomia. His musical competence was apparently totally preserved, and he continued his activity as a composer. There was a striking discrepancy between his impaired naming of nonmusical stimuli and his normal naming of musical instruments' sounds. We suggest that the preservation of skills in the musical domain results from an expanded cortical representation of this function in the left hemisphere, secondary to his lifelong formal training, and to the high level of his professional competence. As for his preserved naming of musical instruments, we argue that the early age-of-acquisition and higher than "normal" frequency/familiarity for names of musical instruments facilitate the access to their lexical representation and/or their retrieval within the lexicon. | 10.1016/s0010-9452(08)70526-4 |
pubmed_192_9657 | BACKGROUND
Studies of survival after myocardial infarction (MI) are often based on intention to treat analyses of controlled trials.
OBJECTIVES
Describe long-term survival after MI in France.
METHODS
Six-year cohort study of patients recruited within 3 months after MI. Primary outcome was all-cause death. Vital status was verified in the national death registry. Analysis used Cox models with time-dependent variables and propensity scores.
RESULTS
Five thousand five hundred and twenty-seven (5527) subjects were included, 62.1±13 years old, 77.6% male, 9.6% smokers, 16.7% diabetic, 13.3% with previous MI. Up to 99% of patients were initially prescribed secondary prevention drugs (aspirin and/or other antiplatelet agents, beta-blockers, statins or other lipid-lowering agents, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers); 73% had all four classes. Overall 6-year mortality was 13.1% [95% confidence interval 12.3 to 14.0%], 2.34 per hundred patient-years (% PY); 49% returned all or all but one of the possible questionnaires (compliant [C]), 50.8% did not (non-compliant [NC]). The main predictors for death were non-compliance with study protocol (death rates NC 2.98% PY, C 1.69%PY, hazard ratio (HR) 3.13 [2.63-3.57]); increasing age at inclusion (HR up to 15.7 [10.7-23.2] for age ≥80); diabetes (1.39 [1.17-1.65]); smoking at inclusion (1.76 [1.27-2.44]), previous MI (1.46 [1.22-1.75]). Beta-blockers (0.79 [0.64-0.96]), statins (0.68 [0.51-0.90]), and enrolment in physical rehabilitation programs (0.74 [0.62-0.89]) were associated with a lower death rate.
CONCLUSION
Association of mortality with non-compliance to study protocol probably indicates general non-compliance with prevention. Analyses of treatment effects were hindered by paucity of events and of unexposed patients. | 10.1016/j.therap.2019.02.001 |
pubmed_46_4161 | During the last decade cordocentesis has become common procedure in perinatal medicine. Although the method represents potential possibilities, it is also afflicted with several limitations. The present review focuses on technique, indications, and complications. | 10.1159/000292342 |
pubmed_17_406 | An infected vascular graft was identified using a combined positron emission tomography (PET) and computerized tomography (CT) system. The fusion of 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) PET and CT images, acquired in a single session, allowed for the precise localization of the abnormal FDG uptake to the vascular graft and led to the correct diagnosis of prosthetic infection. This hybrid modality, which provides precise registration of metabolic and structural imaging data, may enhance the potential use of FDG in the diagnosis and management of infected vascular grafts. | 10.1016/s1536-1632(03)00035-0 |
pubmed_181_21203 | All tissues and organs derive from stem cells, which are undifferentiated cells able to differentiate into specialized cells and self-renewal. In mammals, there are embryonic stem cells that generate germ layers, and adult stem cells, which act as a repair system for the body and maintain the normal turnover of regenerative organs. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are nonhematopoietic adult multipotent cells, which reside in virtually all postnatal organs and tissues, and, under appropriate in vitro conditions, are capable to differentiate into osteogenic, adipogenic, chondrogenic, myogenic, and neurogenic lineages. Their commitment and differentiation depend on several interacting signaling pathways and transcription factors. Most GNAS-based disorders have the common feature of episodic de novo formation of islands of extraskeletal, qualitatively normal, bone in skin and subcutaneous fat. The tissue distribution of these lesions suggests that pathogenesis involves abnormal differentiation of MSCs and/or more committed precursor cells that are present in subcutaneous tissues. Data coming from transgenic mice support the concept that GNAS is a key factor in the regulation of lineage switching between osteoblast and adipocyte fates, and that its role may be to prevent bone formation in tissues where bone should not form. Despite the growing knowledge about the process of heterotopic ossification in rare genetic disorders, the pathophysiological mechanisms by which alterations of cAMP signaling lead to ectopic bone formation in the context of mesenchymal tissues is not fully understood. | 10.1055/s-0042-115305 |
pubmed_75_1433 | Electrocardiogram-gated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to evaluate 36 children, ages 2 to 17 years, with congenital heart disease. With the use of multiple imaging planes, including transverse, sagittal, coronal, and 60-degree left anterior oblique views, high contrast images with excellent spatial resolution were produced. In 34 of the 36 patients the anatomic detail provided by MRI was sufficient to make the cardiac diagnosis. Electrocardiogram-gated MRI is an important new imaging technique for use in children with cardiovascular disease. | 10.1016/s0022-3476(86)80118-4 |
pubmed_204_19259 | Aluminum hydroxide is an effective defluoridation adsorbent; however, the poor defluoridation performance limits its wide application. In this work, amorphous and crystalline AlOOH adsorbents are synthesized through hydrolysis of Al salts, and their defluoridation performances are evaluated in terms of adsorption capacity and rate, sensitivity to pH value, and water quality after defluoridation. The defluoridation performance of AlOOH is closely related to the hydrolysis pH value, but hardly to the type of Al salts. The adsorbent can remove >95% fluoride in the first 2 min and reach adsorption equilibrium within 2 h, and the maximum defluoridation capacity is 41.9 mg/g. Furthermore, the adsorbent exhibits an excellent defluoridation efficiency at a wide pH range of 4.5-10.5. After fluoride removal, the adsorbents prepared at pH values of 6 and 7 exhibit low residual Al concentration. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirm that the fluoride removal mechanism is the ligand exchange between fluoride and hydroxyl groups. The excellent defluoridation capacity and low residual Al demonstrate that AlOOH is a potential adsorbent for fluoride separation from water. | 10.1021/acsomega.1c01620 |
pubmed_254_2686 | BACKGROUND
Evidence is accumulating that Staphylococcus aureus plays an important role as a disease modifier in upper and lower airway disease. We aimed to assess the association of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) with allergic multimorbidity as well as the severity of chronic rhinosinusitis.
METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 97 subjects aged 6 years or older between March 2018 and June 2019 and analysed symptom scores, computed tomography scores, serum IgE levels to SEs, serum total and specific IgE levels to inhalant allergens. To evaluate eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis (ECRS), we used refractory ECRS score from the Japanese epidemiological survey.
RESULTS
Of the 97 patients enrolled, 29 (29.9%) were non-sensitised, 33 (34.0%) were mono-sensitised, and 35 (36.1%) were poly-sensitised. Sensitisation to SEs was closely associated with poly-sensitisation to inhalant allergens. SE-sensitised participants had higher median values for total and specific IgE levels to inhalant allergens than did non-SE-sensitised participants. SE sensitisation was associated with allergic multimorbidity and severe allergic diseases, such as ECRS.
CONCLUSIONS
This preliminary study suggested that sensitisation to SEs may play a role in the initiation of type-2 inflammatory responses, such as allergic rhinitis, ECRS, and allergic multimorbidity. Furthermore, sensitisation to SEs correlated with the severity of ECRS. | 10.1007/s00405-020-06526-2 |
pubmed_431_12325 | Amino acids are compartmentalized in the vacuoles of microorganisms and plants. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, basic amino acids accumulate preferentially into vacuoles but acidic amino acids are almost excluded from them. This indicates that selective machineries operate at the vacuolar membrane. The members of the amino acid/auxin permease family and the major facilitator superfamily involved in the vacuolar compartmentalization of amino acids have been recently identified in studies using S. cerevisiae. Homologous genes for these transporters are also found in plant and mammalian genomes. The physiological significance in response to nitrogen starvation can now be discussed. | 10.1002/iub.92 |
pubmed_512_12777 | BACKGROUND
Female reproductive potential plays a significant role in the survival and stability of species, and sexual maturation and mating processes are crucial. However, our knowledge of the reproductive genes involved in sexual maturation and mating has been largely limited to model organisms. The oriental fruit fly Bactrocera dorsalis is a highly invasive agricultural pest, known to cause major economic losses; thus, it is of great value to understand the transcriptional changes involved in sexual maturation and mating processes as well as the related genes. Here, we used a high-throughput sequencing method to identify multiple genes potentially involved in sexual maturation and mating in female B. dorsalis.
RESULTS
We sequenced 39,999 unique genes with an average length of 883 bp. In total, 3264 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected between mature virgin and immature Bactrocera dorsalis libraries, whereas only 83 DEGs were identified between flies that had mated or were mature virgins. These DEGs were functionally annotated using the GO and KEGG pathway annotation tools. Results showed that the main GO terms associated with the DEGs from the mature virgin vs. immature groups were primarily assigned to the metabolic and developmental processes, which we focused on, whereas those from the mated vs. mature virgin group largely belonged to the response to stimulus and immune system processes. Additionally, we identified multiple DEGs during sexual maturation that are involved in reproduction, and expression pattern analysis revealed that the majority DEGs detected were highly enriched in those linked to the ovaries or fat bodies. Several mating responsive genes differentially expressed after mating were also identified, and all antimicrobial peptides detected were highly enriched in fat body and significantly up-regulated approximately 2- to 10-fold at 24 h after mating.
CONCLUSION
This study supplied female reproductive genes involved in sexual maturation and the post-mating response in B. dorsalis, based on RNA-seq. Our data will facilitate molecular research related to reproduction and provide abundant target genes for effective control of this agricultural pest. | 10.1186/s12864-016-2532-6 |
pubmed_1010_6057 | Purpose
To report the surgical outcomes in six patients of Helveston syndrome using a "four oblique" procedure. The popular methods for surgical management include superior rectus recessions alone or combined with superior oblique tenectomy. However, large angle exotropia correction would entail a higher risk of anterior segment ischemia when the superior rectus needs to be operated along with the horizontal recti. Hence, we evaluated the long-term results of this uncommon procedure.
Methods
This was a retrospective review of six patients diagnosed to have manifest dissociated vertical deviation (DVD) with A pattern exotropia with bilateral superior oblique over action. All patients underwent horizontal muscle recessions/resections for exotropia along with bilateral posterior tenectomy of the superior oblique with inferior oblique anterior transpositioning.
Results
The median age was 10 years (Range 5-26 years). The mean postoperative follow-up was 26 ± 14.02 months (Range 12-48 months). The mean reduction in exotropia was from 36.5 ± 21.06 PD (Range 15-65 PD) to 6.1 ± 3.06 PD (Range 3-10 PD). The procedure corrected the A pattern from a mean 23 ± 7 PD (Range 15-35 PD) to 7.6 ± 3.2 PD (Range 3-10 PD). The average DVD in the right eye reduced from 14 ± 4.3 PD (Range 8-20 PD) to 5.3 ± 1.2 PD and in the left eye from 14.33 ± 3.6 PD (Range 10-18 PD) to 4.1 ± 1.1 PD. The DVD asymmetry reduced from 6.33 ± 3.4 PD to 1.5 ± 1.3 PD.
Conclusion
"Four oblique" procedure with horizontal muscle surgery seems to be an effective method for significantly correcting the A pattern as well as reducing the DVD with good long-term outcome in our case series. | 10.4103/ijo.IJO_196_19 |
pubmed_332_20095 | During the second half of the last century a large amount of substances toxic for higher organisms was released to the environment. Physicochemical methods of pollutant removal are difficult and prohibitively expensive. Using biological systems such as microorganisms, plants, or consortia microorganisms-plants is easier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly. The aim of this study was to isolate, characterize and identify microorganisms from contaminated soil and to find out the effect of plants on microbial diversity in the environment. Microorganisms were isolated by two approaches with the aim to find all cultivable species and those able to utilise biphenyl as a sole source of carbon and energy. The first approach was direct extraction and the second was isolation of bacteria after enrichment cultivation with biphenyl. Isolates were biochemically characterized by NEFERMtest 24 and then the composition of ribosomal proteins in bacterial cells was determined by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Ribosomal proteins can be used as phylogenetic markers and thus MALDI-TOF MS can be exploited also for taxonomic identification because the constitution of ribosomal proteins in bacterial cells is specific for each bacterial species. Identification of microorganisms using this method is performed with the help of database Bruker Daltonics MALDI BioTyper. Isolated bacteria were analyzed from the point of the bphA gene presence. Bacteria with detected bphA gene were then taxonomically identified by 16S rRNA sequence. The ability of two different plant species, tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and nightshade (Solanum nigrum), to accumulate PCBs was studied as well. It was determined that various plant species differ in the PCBs accumulation from the contaminated soil. Also the content of PCBs in various plant tissues was compared. PCBs were detected in roots and aboveground biomass including leaves and berries. | pubmed_332_20095 |
others_189_13884 | The chili varieties: (1) Mirador, (2) Piquín huasteco, (3) Pico paloma, (4) Ozulamero and (5) Chilpaya Tabasco were crossed in a diallel without reciprocal crosses to produce 10 F1 hybrid combinations. While the previous varieties (1), (2) and (4) belong to Capsicum annuum varieties, (3) and (5) pertain to Caspicum frutescens. The four study AFLP markers amplified 282 bands or fragments, and of these, 264 were polymorphic. The estimated Genetic Parameters showed that there was dominance based on the genetic distances in the study DNA fragments. Heritability, which was estimated in a narrow sense, was moderate (0.53). This indicated the presence of dominant effects. Cluster analysis based on genetic distances separated parents and crosses of C. annuum from those of C. frutescens, confirming the genomic differences between the two species. Our results indicate that the Hayman methodology is appropriate to estimate heterosis and other important genetic parameters such as heritability. However, future research on Capsicum spp. should also (1) measure useful morphological characters, (2) estimate general and specific combining abilities, and (3) analyze simultaneously molecular and morphological information. These works would contribute to select the best parents in a breeding program for chil | others_189_13884 |
pubmed_429_3861 | A device for holding tissue culture tubes, plates and flasks has been designed for use in microscopy of cell cultures, which eliminates changing holders when using varied types or sizes of vessel. | 10.1007/BF02796448 |
others_124_6724 | Ralstonia solanacearum, causal agent of bacterial wilt on different hosts, including members of Solanaceae, causes severe losses in tobacco crop, if not managed. It is a complex species and classifed in several ways. Lately, the species was divided into three taxonomic levels: phylotype, sequevar and clone. Due to the lack of studies on populations of R. solanacearum in tobacco, this research aimed to characterize 120 isolates from soil and wilted tobacco plants, from 13 counties from Paraná, 24 from Santa Catarina, 13 from Rio Grande do Sul, one from Paraíba and two from Pernambuco, by biovar, phylotype, and by using repetitive polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) element (BOX, ERIC and REP) primers. The results indicated that all isolates belong to the biovar 1 and phylotype II. Although there was homogeneity regarding biovar and phylotype, the results of rep-PCR allowed the formation of six groups (A, B, C, D, E and F) from 61% of similarity, regardless of sample type, geographical origin, collecting date or cultivar. Groups A and B were those that had the greatest number of isolates, 47 and 20 clonal lines, respectively. Knowledge regarding R. solanacearum population variability as well as the virulence of different isolates may help in the success of breeding programs and integrated disease managemen | others_124_6724 |
pubmed_1069_12771 | RNA editing corrects a 4C-A69 mismatch to a conventional 4T-A69 Watson-Crick base pair in the acceptor stem of the mitochondrially encoded tRNAPhe in plants. In vitro processing of edited and unedited Oenothera tRNA Phe precursor RNAs with pea mitochondrial protein extracts shows a significant effect of this RNA-editing event on the efficiency of 5' and 3' processing. While mature tRNA molecules are rapidly generated by in vitro processing from edited precursors, the formation of mature tRNAs from unedited pre-tRNAs is considerably reduced. Primer extension analyses of in vitro processing products show that processing at both 5' and 3' termini is governed by the RNA-editing event. Investigation of edited and unedited precursor RNAs by lead cleavage experiments reveals differences in the higher order structures of the pre-tRNAs. The differing conformations are most likely responsible for the altered processing efficiencies of edited and unedited precursor molecules. RNA editing of the tRNAPhe precursors is thus a prerequisite for efficient excision of the mature tRNAPhe in vitro. Hence RNA editing might be involved in regulating the amount of mature tRNAPhe in the steady state RNA pool of mitochondria in higher plants. | 10.1074/jbc.271.4.1898 |
pubmed_192_10906 | INTRODUCTION
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is considered a major cause of healthcare-associated (HA) and community-acquired (CA) infections. Considering non-β-lactam susceptibility as a potential marker for mecC-MRSA and CA-MRSA, the aim of this study was to determine the frequency and the associated genetic lineages of non-beta-lactam-antibiotic susceptible MRSA (NBLS-MRSA) strains in a multicenter study in Spain.
METHODS
A collection of 45 NBLS-MRSA strains recovered in the period from January to June 2016 from 12 Spanish hospitals was analyzed. Molecular typing through spa-type characterization, agr group and multi-locus-sequence typing was performed. Methicillin-resistant genes (mecA and mecC) as well as immune evasion cluster (scn-chp-sak-sea-sep, considering scn gene as the marker of IEC system) and Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes were determined with PCR/sequencing.
RESULTS
The NBLS-MRSA phenotype was uncommon in the 12 hospitals analyzed (NBLS-MRSA/MRSA frequency: 0.3%-7.7%). All strains contained the mecA gene (and none contained mecC). Twenty-two different spa-types were detected among NBLS-MRSA strains, with spa-t008/agr-I the most prevalent (27%). The main clonal complexes were (CC/%): CC8/42.2%, CC5/33.3% and CC30/4.4%, with ST8 and ST5 as the main sequence types. The PVL toxin was present in 38% of strains (with spa-types t008, t024, t019, t044, t068, t318 and t3060). The IEC genes were detected in 78% of strains: IEC type-B (n=17), type-F (n=16), type-A (n=1) and type-E (n=1); 10 MRSA isolates were scn-negative.
CONCLUSION
The NBLS-MRSA phenotype is uncommon in the analyzed hospitals; although no mecC-positive strains were detected, it could be a good marker for MRSA PVL-positive isolates (38%), frequently associated with CA-MRSA infections. | 10.1016/j.eimc.2019.01.015 |
pubmed_418_23017 | Viruses can spread collectively using different types of structures such as extracellular vesicles, virion aggregates, polyploid capsids, occlusion bodies, and even cells that accumulate virions at their surface, such as bacteria and dendritic cells. Despite the mounting evidence for collective spread, its implications for viral fitness and diversity remain poorly understood. It has been postulated that, by increasing the cellular multiplicity of infection, collective spread could enable mutually beneficial interactions among different viral genetic variants. One such interaction is genetic complementation, whereby deleterious mutations carried by different genomes are compensated. Here, we used simulations to evaluate whether complementation is likely to increase the fitness of viruses spreading collectively. We show that complementation among co-spreading viruses initially buffers the deleterious effects of mutations, but has no positive effect on mean population fitness over the long term, and even promotes error catastrophe at high mutation rates. Additionally, we found that collective spread increases the risk of invasion by social cheaters such as defective interfering particles. We also show that mutation accumulation depends on the type of collective infectious units considered. Co-spreading viral genomes produced in the same cell (e.g. extracellular vesicles, polyploid capsids, occlusion bodies) should exhibit higher genetic relatedness than groups formed extracellularly by viruses released from different cells (aggregates, binding to bacterial or dendritic cell surfaces), and we found that increased relatedness limits the adverse effects of complementation as well cheater invasion risk. Finally, we found that the costs of complementation can be offset by recombination. Based on our results, we suggest that alternative factors promoting collective spread should be considered. | 10.1016/j.virusres.2019.05.005 |
others_119_5406 | : Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been recognized as significant regulators of pulmonary hypertension (PH); however, the differential expression and function of circRNAs in different vascular cells under hypoxia remain unknown. Here, we identified co-differentially expressed circRNAs and determined their putative roles in the proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs), pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMECs), and pericytes (PCs) under hypoxia. Methods: Whole transcriptome sequencing was performed to analyze the differential expression of circRNAs in three different vascular cell types. Bioinformatic analysis was used to predict their putative biological function. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Cell Counting Kit-8, and EdU Cell Proliferation assays were carried out to determine the role of circular postmeiotic segregation 1 (circPMS1) as well as its potential sponge mechanism in PASMCs, PMECs, and PCs. Results: PASMCs, PMECs, and PCs exhibited 16, 99, and 31 differentially expressed circRNAs under hypoxia, respectively. CircPMS1 was upregulated in PASMCs, PMECs, and PCs under hypoxia and enhanced the proliferation of vascular cells. CircPMS1 may upregulate DEP domain containing 1 (DEPDC1) and RNA polymerase II subunit D expression by targeting microRNA-432-5p (miR-432-5p) in PASMCs, upregulate MAX interactor 1 (MXI1) expression by targeting miR-433-3p in PMECs, and upregulate zinc finger AN1-type containing 5 (ZFAND5) expression by targeting miR-3613-5p in PCs. Conclusions: Our results suggest that circPMS1 promotes cell proliferation through the miR-432-5p/DEPDC1 or miR-432-5p/POL2D axis in PASMCs, through the miR-433-3p/MXI1 axis in PMECs, and through the miR-3613-5p/ZFAND5 axis in PCs, which provides putative targets for the early diagnosis and treatment of PH. © 2023 The Authors. Animal Models and Experimental Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences | 10.1002/ame2.12332 |
pubmed_788_1201 | In 2005, nearly 21% of American adults smoked cigarettes, and 81% of them smoked every day. For smokers unable or unwilling to quit, tobacco products that reduce the adverse health effects of smoking may be an attractive option. Potentially reduced exposure products (PREPs) were developed by the tobacco industry in response to smokers' health concerns. PREPs purportedly lower the tar and/or nicotine levels of cigarettes, although the actual harm reduced remains questionable. One of the most recent additions to this product class are cigarettes that use genetically modified tobacco to reduce nicotine levels. This Issue Brief summarizes studies that investigate [1] how this product is used and [2] the messages smokers take away from product marketing. These complementary studies send a cautionary signal about the ability of these new cigarettes to reduce the harmful effects of smoking. | pubmed_788_1201 |
pubmed_796_19121 | An architectural feature found in all classes of ribosomes is a thin, 10-nm-long protuberance in the large subunit, generated by multiple copies of r-protein L12. The primary structure of spinach chloroplast r-protein L12 is known [Bartsch, M., Kimura, M., & Subramanian, A. R. (1982) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 6871-6875], but the location of its gene, whether in the organelle or in the nucleus, has not been determined. Therefore, we synthesized four oligodeoxynucleotides based on the amino acid sequence data and used them to probe a spinach cDNA library we constructed in lambda gt11 vector. cDNA inserts from four of the hybridizing recombinant clones were characterized and sequenced. The data showed that they are reverse transcripts of varying length, all derived from a single poly(A+) RNA species. The longest cDNA molecule is 900 base pairs (bp) long and includes a 5' noncoding sequence followed by two neighboring AUG codons both in the consensus, eukaryotic initiator context, a 56-codon-long transit peptide sequence (starting from the first AUG codon), the amino acid sequence of mature L12 protein, and a 238 bp long 3' downstream noncoding sequence including a polyadenylation signal and the start of the poly(A) tail. The transit peptide sequence has an unusual amino acid composition similar to that of other known chloroplast transit peptides. Northern blot analysis of the poly(A+) RNA isolated from spinach seedlings and probed with the cDNA insert revealed the occurrence of a strong, broad, 950-nucleotide-long band of the corresponding poly(A+)-containing mRNA species.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) | 10.1021/bi00434a056 |
pubmed_798_14795 | OBJECTIVE
Individuals with type 2 diabetes have high risk of late-life cognitive impairment, yet little is known about strategies to modify risk. Targeting insulin resistance and vascular complications-both associated with cognitive decline-may be a productive approach. We investigated whether dietary fat, which modulates glucose and lipid metabolism, might influence cognitive decline in older adults with diabetes.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Beginning in 1995-1999, we evaluated cognitive function in 1,486 Nurses' Health Study participants, aged >or=70 years, with type 2 diabetes; second evaluations were conducted 2 years later. Dietary fat intake was assessed regularly beginning in 1980; we considered average intake from 1980 (at midlife) through initial cognitive interview and also after diabetes diagnosis. We used multivariate-adjusted linear regression models to obtain mean differences in cognitive decline across tertiles of fat intake.
RESULTS
Higher intakes of saturated and trans fat since midlife, and lower polyunsaturated to saturated fat ratio, were each highly associated with worse cognitive decline in these women. On a global score averaging all six cognitive tests, mean decline among women in the highest trans fat tertile was 0.15 standard units worse than that among women in the lowest tertile (95% CI -0.24 to -0.06, P = 0.002); this mean difference was comparable with the difference we find in women 7 years apart in age. Results were similar when we analyzed diet after diabetes diagnosis.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that lower intakes of saturated and trans fat and higher intake of polyunsaturated fat relative to saturated fat may reduce cognitive decline in individuals with type 2 diabetes. | 10.2337/dc08-1741 |
pubmed_909_5467 | Although the effects of kinetics on crystal growth are well understood, the role of substrate curvature is not yet established. We studied rigid, two-dimensional colloidal crystals growing on spherical droplets to understand how the elastic stress induced by Gaussian curvature affects the growth pathway. In contrast to crystals grown on flat surfaces or compliant crystals on droplets, these crystals formed branched, ribbon-like domains with large voids and no topological defects. We show that this morphology minimizes the curvature-induced elastic energy. Our results illustrate the effects of curvature on the ubiquitous process of crystallization, with practical implications for nanoscale disorder-order transitions on curved manifolds, including the assembly of viral capsids, phase separation on vesicles, and crystallization of tetrahedra in three dimensions. | 10.1126/science.1244827 |
pubmed_364_21263 | Oxaliplatin is a platinum-based alkylating chemotherapeutic agent used for cancer treatment. Neurotoxicity is one of its major adverse effects that often demands dose limitation. However, the effects of chronic oxaliplatin on the toxicity of the autonomic nervous system regulating cardiorespiratory function and adaptive reflexes are unknown. Male Sprague Dawley rats were treated with intraperitoneal oxaliplatin (3 mg kg-1 per dose) 3 times a week for 14 days. The effects of chronic oxaliplatin treatment on baseline mean arterial pressure (MAP); heart rate (HR); splanchnic sympathetic nerve activity (sSNA); phrenic nerve activity (PNA) and its amplitude (PNamp) and frequency (PNf); and sympathetic reflexes were investigated in anaesthetised, vagotomised and artificially ventilated rats. The same parameters were evaluated after acute oxaliplatin injection, and in the chronic treatment group following a single dose of oxaliplatin. The amount of platinum in the brain was determined with atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Chronic oxaliplatin treatment significantly increased MAP, sSNA and PNf and decreased HR and PNamp, while acute oxaliplatin had no effects. Platinum was accumulated in the brain after chronic oxaliplatin treatment. In the chronic oxaliplatin treatment group, further administration of a single dose of oxaliplatin increased MAP and sSNA. The baroreceptor sensitivity and somatosympathetic reflex were attenuated at rest while the sympathoexcitatory response to hypercapnia was increased in the chronic treatment group. This is the first study to reveal oxaliplatin-induced alterations in the central regulation of cardiovascular and respiratory functions as well as reflexes that may lead to hypertension and breathing disorders which may be mediated via accumulated platinum in the brain. | 10.1007/s00424-020-02480-4 |
pubmed_137_3267 | BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors increase urinary glucose excretion and reduce visceral adiposity and body weight, but their efficacy on patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease has not been sufficiently investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors on liver fat mass and body composition in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed 17 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes who received sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors between November 2016 and July 2017. Changes in liver fat, subcutaneous and visceral fat, body composition, and liver function-related parameters were assessed after 24 weeks of sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor treatment and compared to baseline values.
RESULTS
Ten patients received dapagliflozin at 5 mg/day and seven patients received canagliflozin at 100 mg/day for 24 weeks. All patients completed the study without any serious adverse effects and achieved body weight loss and improved glycated hemoglobin levels. Liver fat mass evaluated by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was significantly reduced (19.1% vs. 9.2%, p < 0.01), and so were both subcutaneous and visceral fat mass. The body fat/body weight ratio decreased, whereas the skeletal muscle mass/body weight ratio increased. Liver function (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase) improved significantly.
CONCLUSIONS
Sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor treatment not only improved glycemic control but also reduced liver fat mass in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. Body weight loss was primarily attributable to a reduction in fat mass, especially visceral fat. Thus, sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors could potentially serve as a therapeutic agent for patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. | 10.1007/s40261-019-00785-6 |
pubmed_120_14247 | In this paper we evaluated the bronchodilator effects of SPFF [2-(4-amino-3-chloro-5-trifluomethyl-phenyl)-2-tert-butylamino-ethanol chloride], a newly synthesized beta(2) adrenergic agonist in guinea pigs and rabbits, in comparison with other beta(2) adrenergic agonists, isoprenaline or salbutamol. We studied in vitro the bronchodilator effects of SPFF and isoprenaline on isolated guinea pig trachea strips with or without the precontraction of bronchocontractors (acetylcholine and histamie). The positive chronotropic effects of SPFF and isoprenaline on isolated guinea pig left atria were also tested in vitro. Potency values (pD(2), pA(2) or ED(50)) were determined from the cumulative concentration-response curves. The results showed that SPFF and isoprenaline dose-dependently relaxed the isolated guinea pig trachea strips and the pD(2) values of both drugs were 7.66+/-0.68 and 8.79+/-0.19, respectively. Moreover, we confirmed that the bronchodilator effect of SPFF was due to the activation of beta(2) adrenoceptor because this effect was easily antagonized by ICI-118551 (pA(2) 8.90+/-0.01), a specific beta(2) adrenoceptor antagonist. SPFF also dose-dependently relaxed the isolated guinea pig trachea strip precontraction with acetylcholine or histamine with ED(50) values of 10.2+/-0.7 microM and 550+/-38.2 nM, respectively. Furthermore, the positive chronotropic effect of SPFF on isolated guinea pig left atria (pD(2) 5.41+/-0.38) was much weaker than that of isoprenaline (pD(2) 8.75+/-0.24), which implied that SPFF was more selective to airway beta(2) adrenoceptor than isoprenaline; the beta(1)/beta(2) selectivity assay also showed that SPFF was about 162 times more selective to beta(2) adrenoceptor than isoprenaline. A radioligand binding experiment using guinea pig lung and cardiac ventricle as beta(2) and beta(1) adrenoceptor sources, respectively, also demonstrated that SPFF possesses high affinity (27.3 nM) and selectivity (4.6 fold) to beta(2) adrenoceptors. The protective effects of SPFF and salbutamol on bronchospasm induced by bronchoconstrictor aerosol in guinea pigs in vivo were investigated, and the Konzett and Rössler experiment in rabbits in vivo was also carried out. SPFF significantly prolonged the latency time of histamine and acetylcholine induced asphyxiation collapse in guinea pigs: the ED(50) value of SPFF i.g. was 0.32+/-0.05 mg.kg(-1) in this experiment. Meanwhile, the ED(50) values of salbutamol was 2.37+/-0.22, which meant that the bronchorelaxation effect of salbutamol was about 6 times less potent than that of SPFF. The Konzett and Rössler experiment performed in anesthetized rabbit showed that intraduodenal administration of SPFF exerted action of longer duration than salbutamol. From the results above we suggested that SPFF was a potent, long-acting bronchodilator with relatively higher beta(2) adrenoceptor selectivity. | 10.1248/bpb.26.323 |
pubmed_93_12143 | The frequency of changes experienced by menopausal women is variable in different cultures. It is our purpose to identify the symptoms that Portuguese women consider to be related to menopause. We also wish to evaluate the relations between these symptoms and menopausal status, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, and medication-menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and psychotropics. In women with a low educational level, the frequency of symptoms and the consumption of psychotropic medication is higher, and the practice of exercise is lower, as is the use of MHT. Our results may be useful in providing guidance to health care professionals. | 10.1080/07399332.2010.540155 |
pubmed_937_3682 | OBJECTIVE
Evaluate a community-based tobacco/alcohol use-prevention program group compared with an attention-control condition (first aid/home safety) group.
METHODS
A total of 660 adolescents and 1 adult caregiver for each were recruited through the Migrant Education Program to participate in an 8-week intervention. Random assignment to the two groups occurred in 22 schools. Seventy 8-week intervention groups (37 tobacco/alcohol and 33 attention-control) were conducted. Assessments occurred at baseline, immediate post-intervention, and 1- and 2-year follow-ups. Susceptibility to smoking and alcohol as well as smoking and drinking over the past 30 days were the primary outcomes of interest.
RESULTS
Following intervention, no between-group differences in smoking or drinking were significant. Thirty-day smoking started and remained at very low levels, with the highest group prevalence at any measurement period being 4.7% and the lowest 2.5%. Those considered susceptible to smoking dropped by nearly 40% in the attention-control group and by 50% in the intervention group from baseline to the final follow-up. (The overall reduction from post-test to final follow-up was statistically significant.) Less-acculturated children were less likely to report drinking in the past 30 days.
CONCLUSIONS
The current intervention was not demonstrated to be effective in preventing cigarette or alcohol consumption. This perhaps is due to very low baseline levels of smoking and drinking in the migrant youth participants. | 10.1016/s0749-3797(02)00515-9 |
pubmed_902_11977 | BACKGROUND
Previous research has shown that underlying dietary patterns are related to the risk of many different adverse health outcomes, but the relationship of these underlying patterns to skeletal fragility is not well understood. The objective of the study was to determine whether dietary patterns in men (ages 25-49, 50+) and women (pre-menopause, post-menopause) are related to femoral neck bone mineral density (BMD) independently of other lifestyle variables, and whether this relationship is mediated by body mass index.
METHODS
We performed an analysis of 1928 men and 4611 women participants in the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study, a randomly selected population-based longitudinal cohort. We determined dietary patterns based on the self-administered food frequency questionnaires in year 2 of the study (1997-99). Our primary outcome was BMD as measured by dual x-ray absorptiometry in year 5 of the study (2000-02).
RESULTS
We identified two underlying dietary patterns using factor analysis and then derived factor scores. The first factor (nutrient dense) was most strongly associated with intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The second factor (energy dense) was most strongly associated with intake of soft drinks, potato chips and French fries, certain meats (hamburger, hot dog, lunch meat, bacon, and sausage), and certain desserts (doughnuts, chocolate, ice cream). The energy dense factor was associated with higher body mass index independent of other demographic and lifestyle factors, and body mass index was a strong independent predictor of BMD. Surprisingly, we did not find a similar positive association between diet and BMD. In fact, when adjusted for body mass index, each standard deviation increase in the energy dense score was associated with a BMD decrease of 0.009 (95% CI: 0.002, 0.016) g/cm(2) for men 50+ years old and 0.004 (95% CI: 0.000, 0.008) g/cm(2) for postmenopausal women. In contrast, for men 25-49 years old, each standard deviation increase in the nutrient dense score, adjusted for body mass index, was associated with a BMD increase of 0.012 (95% CI: 0.002, 0.022) g/cm(2).
CONCLUSIONS
In summary, we found no consistent relationship between diet and BMD despite finding a positive association between a diet high in energy dense foods and higher body mass index and a strong correlation between body mass index and BMD. Our data suggest that some factor related to the energy dense dietary pattern may partially offset the advantages of higher body mass index with regard to bone health. | 10.1186/1471-2474-11-20 |
pubmed_312_17210 | Under conflict conditions in which reinforcement occurred within mildly aversive white goal-boxes, the chronic administration of lithium chloride (20 meg/l, in drinking water) to rats, while reducing avoidance of the goal boxes, impaired acquisition of an exploration-reinforced position discrimination. These results were interpreted as supporting the concept that lithium salts reduce the individual's reaction to general environmental stimulation--an effect which may account for its therapeutic action in the treatment of manic disorders. | 10.1016/0091-3057(85)90515-5 |
pubmed_1118_20742 | An efficient selective monoethynylation of 2-oxoacetamides using calcium carbide as a concise solid alkyne source is described. A series of multifunctional compounds, 2-hydroxybut-3-ynamides, are synthesized by this strategy. The salient features of this protocol are the use of inexpensive and easy-to-handle solid alkyne source as a surrogate of inflammable and explosive gaseous acetylene, transition-metal-free and mild condition, wide scope of substrates, high selectivity, high yield, and simple work-up procedure. | 10.1002/asia.202200698 |
pubmed_662_10539 | Rickets was diagnosed clinically and confirmed radiologically in a preterm infant at 12 weeks of age, who despite therapy with vitamin D died. Four preterm infants who were subsequently admitted to the nursery had their biochemistry followed serially as controls. All infants demonstrated a marked increase and then subsequent decrease in plasma alkaline phosphatase activity; the peak value occurring near to what should have been gestationally term. The plasma alkaline phosphatase was of bony origin. Rickets was confirmed radiologically in only one of these four infants. Rising and markedly elevated plasma alkaline phosphatase activity appears to be common in this group of infants and may represent a physiological increase in osteoblastic activity and increasing bone mineralisation in what would have been the infants' 3rd trimester of pregnancy and immediate newborn period. | 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1981.tb05730.x |
pubmed_476_5036 | BACKGROUND
Levosimendan preconditioning has been shown to attenuate myocardial apoptosis in animal models. However, protective effects of levosimendan postconditioning against myocardial apoptosis following myocardial infarction (MI) have not been evaluated. Therefore, we investigated the effects of levosimendan postconditioning on myocardial apoptosis in MI rat models.
METHODS
In an anoxia/reoxygenation (A/R) model, H9c2 cells were pretreated with or without levosimendan postconditioning after which their apoptosis rates were assessed by flow cytometry, RT-qPCR, and western blot analyses. Then, postconditioning was performed with or without levosimendan in MI rat models. Myocardiocyte apoptosis was evaluated by echocardiography, TTC staining, TUNEL staining, immunohistochemical staining, RT-qPCR, and western blot analysis.
RESULTS
Levosimendan postconditioning inhibited H9c2 cell apoptosis in A/R models by elevating Bcl-2 while suppressing Caspase-3 and Bax at both mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, it improved cardiac functions and reduced the left ventricle infarction area in MI rat models. Compared to the MI control group, cardiomyocyte apoptosis rates in the levosimendan postconditioning group were low. The reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis rates were associated with downregulation of Bax and Caspase-3 as well as with upregulation of Bcl-2 at mRNA and protein levels.
CONCLUSIONS
Levosimendan postconditioning of MI rat models protected against cardiomyocyte apoptosis, implying that it is a potential strategy for preventing cardiomyocyte apoptosis in the treatment of cardiac dysfunction following MI. | 10.1155/2022/2988756 |
pubmed_305_5429 | Chlorine resistant reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were fabricated using a multi-walled carbon nanotube-polyamide (MWCNT-PA) nanocomposite. The separation performance of these membranes after chlorine exposure (4800 ppm·h) remained unchanged (99.9%) but was drastically reduced to 82% in the absence of MWCNT. It was observed that the surface roughness of the membranes changed significantly by adding MWCNT. Moreover, membranes containing MWCNT fractions above 12.5 wt.% clearly improved degradation resistance against chlorine exposure, with an increase in water flux while maintaining salt rejection performance. Molecular dynamics and quantum chemical calculations were performed in order to understand the high chemical stability of the MWCNT-PA nanocomposite membranes, and revealed that high activation energies are required for the chlorination of PA. The results presented here confirm the unique potential of carbon nanomaterials embedded in polymeric composite membranes for efficient RO water desalination technologies. | 10.1038/s41598-018-21192-5 |
pubmed_391_9537 | Ergothioneine is a product of plant origin that accumulates in animal tissues. Its suggested ability to act as an antioxidant has been evaluated. Ergothioneine is a powerful scavenger of hydroxyl radicals (.OH) and an inhibitor of iron or copper ion-dependent generation of .OH from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). It is also an inhibitor of copper ion-dependent oxidation of oxyhaemoglobin, and of arachidonic acid peroxidation promoted by mixtures of myoglobin (or haemoglobin) and H2O2. Ergothioneine is a powerful scavenger of hypochlorous acid, being able to protect alpha 1-antiproteinase against inactivation by this molecule. By contrast, it does not react rapidly with superoxide (O2-) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and it does not inhibit microsomal lipid peroxidation in the presence of iron ions. Overall, our results show that ergothioneine at the concentrations present in vivo could act as an antioxidant. | 10.1016/0003-9861(91)90158-f |
pubmed_620_3793 | Purkinje fibers from dog hearts may have either a "high" resting potential of about -90 mV or a "low" resting potential of about -40 mV when immersed in low-Cl(-) solution containing 4 mM K(+). Brief exposure of Purkinje fibers at the low level of resting potential to K(+)-free fluid causes further depolarization, and return to K(+)-containing solution elicits a transient hyperpolarization which reaches a peak within a few seconds and then declines within a few minutes. Repeating these changes in K(+) concentration after clamping the membrane potential at its steady resting level in K(+)-containing fluid allows the changes in net membrane current presumably underlying the depolarization and transient hyperpolarization to be measured. Net inward current is recorded when the fiber is exposed to K(+)-free solution, and a transient net outward current arises when it is returned to K(+)-containing solution. The transient net outward current reflects a temporary increase in the rate of electrogenic Na(+) extrusion caused by the rise in intracellular Na(+) concentration that occurs while the sodium pump is slowed in K(+)-free fluid. Sodium extrusion remains enhanced, presumably until the internal Na(+) concentration has been brought back to its resting level. The transient outward current is completely abolished by the cardiac steroid acetylstrophanthidin, and its amplitude is increased as the prior exposure to K(+)-free fluid is prolonged. The decay of the transient outward current and the decline in intracellular Na(+) concentration both appear to follow first-order kinetics. | 10.1073/pnas.76.4.1783 |
pubmed_41_5064 | OBJECTIVE
Women experience a variety of changes at midlife that may affect sexual function. Qualitative research approaches can allow a deeper understanding of women's experiences. We conducted 20 individual interviews and three focus groups among sexually active women aged 45 to 60 years (total n = 39) to explore how sexual function changes during midlife.
METHODS
Interviews and focus groups were conducted by a trained facilitator using a semistructured guide. All data were audio-recorded and transcribed. Two investigators used a subsample of data to iteratively develop a codebook. The primary investigator coded all data. A second investigator coded a randomly selected 25% of interviews. Codes regarding changes in sexual function were examined and key themes emerged.
RESULTS
The mean age was 52, and most women were peri- or postmenopausal. Fifty-four per cent of women were white, 36% black, and 10% of another race. Participants discussed positive and negative changes in sexual function. The most common negative changes were decreased frequency of sex, low libido, vaginal dryness, and anorgasmia. Participants attributed negative changes to menopause, partner issues, and stress. Most participants responded to negative changes with adaptation, including changing sexual behavior and prioritizing different aspects of sex. Participants also reported positive changes, attributed to higher self-confidence, increased self-knowledge, and better communication skills with aging.
CONCLUSIONS
In this qualitative study, women described experiencing both positive and negative changes in sexual function during midlife. When negative changes occurred, women often adapted behaviorally and psychologically. Providers should recognize that each woman's experience is unique and nuanced, and they should provide tailored care regarding sexual function at midlife. | 10.1097/GME.0000000000000988 |
pubmed_1017_2744 | The NHS Management Executive has promised equal access to development programmes for women managers in the health service in a new national strategy. | 10.7748/ns.6.5.9.s12 |
pubmed_266_8305 | Malaria, the human infectious disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, is transmitted by the bite of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae. Mosquitoes actively detect Plasmodium and mount efficient responses that eliminate the majority of invading parasites. Such responses include hemocyte-mediated defenses, activation of the complement-like system, melanization, and immune signaling cascades. This review aims to summarize our current knowledge of the mosquito immune responses to Plasmodium and to highlight the remaining gaps in our understanding of these events. | 10.1016/j.cois.2014.07.007 |
pubmed_129_12575 | Results of a three-year antihypertensive combined treatment of 24 male patients with essential hypertension aged 35-55 years are presented. In all patients the blood serum kynurenine level after tryptophan load was determined before treatment and after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years of therapy. It was found that in a part of patients the long-term administration of antihypertensive drugs led to an increased accumulation of kynurenine as a manifestation of pyridoxal-5-phosphate deficiency. The development and preservation of an increased blood kynurenine level interferes with the positive effects of antihypertensive therapy as regards both blood pressure and left ventricular myocardial mass reduction. | pubmed_129_12575 |
pubmed_244_551 | Two polytypes of the new oxyvanadate matrix La7O6(VO4)3 were identified and deeply characterized. The crystal structure of the α-polytype was solved using a combination of precession electron diffraction and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. It crystallizes in a monoclinic unit cell with space group P21, a = 13.0148(3) Å, b = 19.1566(5) Å, c = 7.0764(17) Å, and β = 99.87(1)°. Its structure is built upon [La7O6]9+ polycationic units at the origin of a porous 3D network, evidencing rectangular channels filled by isolated VO4 tetrahedra. An in situ high-temperature XRD study highlights a number of complex phase transitions assorted with the existence of a β-polytype also refined in a monoclinic unit cell, space group P21/n, a = 13.0713(4) Å, b = 18.1835(6) Å, c = 7.1382(2) Å, and β = 97.31(1)°. Thus, during the transitions, while the polycationic networks are almost identical, the vanadate's geometry is largely modified. The use of Eu3+ and Sm3+ at different concentrations in the host lattice is possible using solid-state techniques. The photoluminescence (PL), PL excitation (PLE) spectra, and luminescence decay times were recorded and discussed. The phosphors present an emission light, being bright and reddish orange after excitation under UV. This is mainly due to the V-O band and f-f transitions. Whatever the studied polytype, the final luminescence properties are retained during the heating/cooling process. | 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.9b03689 |
pubmed_1048_19847 | Carbocation/polyol systems are shown to be highly efficient catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide at 50 °C and 5 MPa CO2 pressure. The best activity was shown by the combination of crystal violet and 1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL), which could be recycled five times with no loss of activity. The presence of specific interactions between the amino groups of the carbocation and the hydroxyl protons was confirmed by NMR experiments. The Job plots for the crystal violet iodide/BINOL and brilliant green iodide/BINOL systems showed that the catalytic systems consist of one molecule of the carbocation and one molecule of BINOL. Mechanistic studies using a deuterated epoxide indicate that there was some loss of epoxide stereochemistry during the reaction, but predominant retention of stereochemistry is observed. On this basis, a catalytic cycle is proposed. | 10.1002/cssc.201601246 |
pubmed_559_23032 | BACKGROUND
Invasive studies in middle-aged patients suggest an acute adverse haemodynamic effect of smoking.
AIMS
To study acute changes in blood pressure (BP), cardiac output, peripheral resistance and aortic compliance following cigarette smoking in healthy young subjects.
METHODS
Using a non-invasive photoplethysmographic technique we compared the effects of smoking one cigarette with sham smoking in 12 healthy volunteers (22-25 years). Data was analysed using JMP version 5.0.
RESULTS
In contrast to sham smoking there was a prompt increase in blood pressure with a maximum effect at 15 min (123 +/- 7/75 +/- 5 to 143 +/- 6/86 +/- 6 mmHg, mean +/- SEM, p < 0.01) which is attributed to a rise in cardiac output (p < 0.05) rather than changes in peripheral vascular resistance. There was also a significant (p < 0.05) increase in heart rate and a reduction in aortic compliance.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that healthor young age do not protect from the adverse effects of smoking. | 10.1007/BF03169167 |
pubmed_277_15090 | Previous studies from this Laboratory have shown that cerebellar Purkinje neurons (PN) in ageing, ethanol-fed Fischer 344 rats may have terminal dendritic segments that are longer than in control rats. They also showed that the longer terminal segments represented a toxic effect of ethanol on PN, because their increase in length resulted from an ethanol-induced deletion of other terminal dendritic segments and not from dendritic growth. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether this effect of ethanol was localized to specific lobules or was widely distributed within all lobules of the cerebellar vermis. Twelve-month-old male Fischer 344 rats were treated with a liquid ethanol diet for 48 weeks. Age- and weight-matched controls were pair-fed with an isocaloric control diet. Terminal dendritic segments in Golgi-Cox-stained PN in four groups of lobules in the cerebellar vermis of control and ethanol-fed rats were measured for treatment-related changes in length. Results from these measurements showed that ethanol-exposed PN with significantly longer terminal segments were present in all groups of lobules, i.e. they were widely distributed and not confined to specific lobules. Results from these measurements also confirmed in a large sample of neurons (40 neurons per rat) that the topologically distinct unpaired terminal segments were characteristically longer than the paired terminal segments in PN of control and ethanol-fed rats and that both types of terminal segments were longer in the ethanol-fed rats than in the controls. | 10.1093/alcalc/35.1.35 |
pubmed_58_245 | Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most prevalent mycotoxins, contaminating cereals and cereal-derived products. Its derivative deepoxy-deoxynivalenol (DOM-1) is produced by certain bacteria, which either occur naturally or are supplemented in feed additive. DON-induced impairments in protein synthesis are particularly problematic for highly proliferating immune cells. This study provides the first comparison of the effects of DON and DOM-1 on the concanavalin A-induced proliferation of porcine, chicken, and bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Therefore, isolated PBMCs were treated with DON (0.01-3.37 µM) and DOM-1 (1.39-357 µM) separately, and proliferation was measured using a bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) assay. Although pigs are considered highly sensitive to DON, the present study revealed a substantially higher sensitivity of bovine (IC50 = 0.314 µM) PBMCs compared to chicken (IC50 = 0.691 µM) and porcine (IC50 = 0.693 µM) PBMCs. Analyses on the proliferation of bovine T-cell subsets showed that all major subsets, namely, CD4⁺, CD8β⁺, and γδ T cells, were affected to a similar extent. In contrast, DOM-1 did not affect bovine PBMCs, but reduced the proliferation of chicken and porcine PBMCs at the highest tested concentration (357 µM). Results confirm the necessity of feed additives containing DON-to-DOM-1-transforming bacteria and highlights species-specific differences in the DON sensitivity of immune cells. | 10.3390/toxins10040152 |
pubmed_60_5575 | BACKGROUND
Serum plasmalogens (Pls) have gained interest in several clinical symptoms such as metabolic syndrome/atherosclerosis or Alzheimer's disease possibly because of their antioxidant properties. We have developed a highly sensitive and simple method to determine plasmenylcholine (PlsCho; choline plasmalogen) and plasmenylethanolamine (PlsEtn; ethanolamine plasmalogen) separately, using a radioactive iodine and high-performance liquid chromatography ((125)I-HPLC method). The present study reports the improvement and validation of (125)I-HPLC method by introducing a quantitative standard (QS) and online detection with a flow γ-counter.
METHODS
1-Alkenyl 2,3-cyclic glycerophosphate was prepared as QS from l-α-lyso plasmenylcholine by enzymatic treatment with phospholipase D. Online detection with a flow γ-counter was investigated to be available to quantify Pls. The method validation was carried out in terms of selectivity, sensitivity, linearity, precision, accuracy and recovery.
RESULTS
Linearity was established over the concentration range 5-300 μmol/L for Pls and QS with regression coefficients >0.99. The accuracy and reliability were satisfactory. The method has been applied to the determination of human serum Pls from healthy subjects and the elderly with dementia or artery stenoses.
CONCLUSIONS
The improved (125)I-HPLC method is useful as an autoanalytical system for a routine diagnostic test of human serum Pls. | 10.1258/acb.2011.011069 |
pubmed_414_8581 | AIMS
To establish a more sensitive, reliable, and convenient assay for complex I activity.
MAIN METHODS
Two of the most widely used methods - the conventional NADH method and a newly developed 2, 6-dichlorophenolindophenol (DCIP)-coupled method - were compared and optimized.
KEY FINDINGS
The DCIP method gave a higher enzyme sensitivity and comparable rotenone sensitivity in heart mitochondria while the NADH method gave higher rotenone sensitivity with a relatively lower enzyme activity in the brain and liver mitochondria. Addition of bovine serum albumin (BSA) to the reaction mixture greatly improved the accuracy of the NADH assay. The reaction conditions were optimized for use with a microplate reader that requires only small amounts of mitochondria or tissue.
SIGNIFICANCE
Considering the important contribution of the non-specific rotenone-insensitive activity in the complex I assay, it is suggested that the NADH method with BSA addition should be adopted for assaying complex I activity in the brain or liver samples, while the DCIP method is the better choice for heart samples. | 10.1016/j.lfs.2009.05.019 |
others_119_7643 | : The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of tannin-free grain sorghum varieties on the performance, carcass traits, intestinal morphology, and gene expression of broiler chickens. Materials and Methods: Cobb 500 × Hubbard male broilers (n = 640, 20 birds per pen, 8 pens per treatment) were fed diets based on corn, red/bronze, white/tan, or US No. 2 in crumble/pellet presentation fed in starter, grower, and finisher phases. Group BW and feed intake were recorded weekly. Mortality was recorded daily for the calculation of adjusted feed conversion ratio. At 41 d, two birds per pen were selected for the average pen weight for carcass yield and breast yield values. The intestinal morphology using histology and change in transcription using mRNA-seq was compared among birds fed corn and those fed grain sorghum (1 bird per pen). Pen was considered the experimental unit with model effects assessed with ANOVA and Fisher's LSD procedure. Results and Discussion: Birds fed the corn treatment had greater BW gain (P = 0.009; 3,622, 3,479, 3,518, and 3,483 g for corn, red/bronze, white/tan, and US No. 2 sorghum diets, respectively) at 41 d. Feed intake was greatest for birds fed corn and red/bronze diets (5,495 and 5,599 g, respectively) when compared with the white/tan diet (5,357 g), whereas US No. 2 sorghum-fed birds were intermediate (5,346 g; P = 0.005). Birds had improved adjusted feed conversion ratio in all treatments (P < 0.001; 1.52, 1.51, and 1.53 g:g for corn, white/tan, and US No. 2 sorghum diets, respectively) compared with red/bronze (1.60 g:g) at 41 d. No effects of grain sorghum treatments were observed on carcass traits and intestinal morphology. The mRNA-seq revealed 46 differentially expressed genes. Birds fed the corn-based diet performed better compared with those fed the tannin-free grain sorghum treatments. However, feeding certain grain sorghum varieties could result in similar feed efficiency to birds fed corn diets. Implications and Applications: This study demonstrates that tannin-free grain sorghum can be a feasible alternative to corn depending on the variety used, cost, and availability. It may also have implications to improve gut health upon further investigation of its mode of action. Overall, results may allow nutritionists in the commercial poultry industry to consider grain sorghum as an alternative to corn. © 2022 | 10.15232/aas.2022-02329 |
pubmed_339_2936 | The Tn, T, sialyl-Tn, and 2,3-sialyl-T antigens are tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens expressed on mucins in epithelial cancers, such as those affecting the breast, ovary, stomach, and colon. Glycopeptides carrying these antigens are of interest for development of cancer vaccines and a short, chemoenzymatic strategy for their synthesis is reported. Building blocks corresponding to the Tn (GalNAc alpha-Ser/Thr) and T [Gal beta(1-->3)GalNAc alpha-Ser/Thr] antigens, which are relatively easy to obtain by chemical synthesis, were prepared and then used in the synthesis of glycopeptides on the solid phase. Introduction of sialic acid to give the sialyl-Tn [Neu5Ac alpha(2-->6)GalNAc alpha-Ser/Thr] and 2,3-sialyl-T [Neu5Ac alpha(2-->3)Gal beta(1-->3)GalNAc alpha-Ser/Thr] antigens is difficult when performed chemically at the building block level. Sialylation was therefore carried out with recombinant sialyltransferases in solution after cleavage of the Tn and T glycopeptides from the solid phase. In the same manner, the core 2 trisaccharide [Gal beta 1-->3(GlcNAc beta 1-->6)GalNAc] was incorporated in glycopeptides containing the T antigen by using a recombinant N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase. The outlined chemoenzymatic approach was applied to glycopeptides from the tandem repeat domain of the mucin MUC1, as well as to neoglycosylated derivatives of a T cell stimulating viral peptide. | 10.1021/ja015570t |
pubmed_552_3427 | Giardia lamblia, a parasitic protozoan, can contain a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus, GLV (1). We have identified an RNA polymerase activity present specifically in cultures of GLV infected cells. This RNA polymerase activity is present in crude whole cell lysates as well as in lysates from GLV particles purified from the culture medium. The RNA polymerase has many characteristics common to other RNA polymerases (e.g. it requires divalent cations and all four ribonucleoside triphosphates), yet it is not inhibited by RNA polymerase inhibitors such as alpha-amanitin or rifampicin. The RNA polymerase activity synthesizes RNAs corresponding to one strand of the GLV genome, although under the present experimental conditions, the RNA products of the reaction are not full length viral RNAs. The in vitro products of the RNA polymerase reaction co-sediment through sucrose gradients with viral particles; and purified GLV viral particles have RNA polymerase activity. The RNA polymerase activities within and outside of infected cells closely parallel the amount of virus present during the course of viral infection. The similarities between the RNA polymerase of GLV and the polymerase associated with the dsRNA virus system of yeast are discussed. | 10.1093/nar/18.3.553 |
pubmed_1086_21602 | In this paper we investigated the effect of sex and season on baseline and post-GnRH challenge luteinising hormone (LH) levels in a solitary, seasonally breeding mole-rat. Circulating basal concentrations of luteinising hormone (LH) were found to differ significantly with season in both sexes. However, no significant difference was found in circulating basal LH concentration between the sexes either within or out of the breeding season. The magnitude of the LH response to an exogenous pharmacological overdose of GnRH both in and out of the breeding season in males and females respectively was not significant. This finding suggests that there is no down regulation of GnRH receptors on the pituitary during the non-breeding season. Cape dune mole-rats thus have the potential for opportunistic breeding outside of the typical breeding period. We argue that this represents an adaptation to limited and brief opportunities for mating in this xenophobic and aggressive species. | 10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.05.020 |
pubmed_279_11205 | In the past, immunization programmes have focused primarily on rural areas. However, with the recognition of the increasing numbers of urban poor, it is timely to review urban immunization activities. This update addresses two questions: Is there any need to be concerned about urban immunization and, if so, is more of the same kind of rural EPI activity needed or are there specific urban issues that need specific urban strategies? Vaccine-preventable diseases have specific urban patterns that require efficacious vaccines for younger children, higher target coverage levels, and particular focus to ensure national and global eradication of poliomyelitis. Although aggregate coverage levels are higher in urban than rural areas, gaps are masked since capital cities are better covered than other urban areas and the coverage in the poorest slum and periurban areas within cities is as bad as or worse than that in rural areas. Difficult access to immunization services in terms of distance, costs, and time can still be the main barrier in some parts of the city. Mobilization and motivation strategies in urban areas should make use of the mass media and workplace networks as well as the traditional word-of-mouth strategies. Use of community health workers has been successful in some urban settings. Management issues concern integration of the needs of the poor into a coherent city health plan, coordination of different health providers, and clear lines of responsibility for addressing the needs of new, urbanizing areas. | pubmed_279_11205 |
pubmed_158_15479 | Methods of assessing and grading malocclusion are reviewed under the headings: Diagnostic, Epidemiological, Treatment need, Treatment success and Treatment complexity. Historic and current usage, together with an appraisal of some of their advantages and weaknesses, are presented. The multifactorial and multivariate nature of malocclusion makes any single classification not only difficult but also of limited value in dentofacial assessment. Angle's classification, which is widely used, was originally devised as a prescription for orthodontic treatment planning: not as an epidemiological tool. Many of the indices developed to assess treatment need may be criticised for lack of objectivity. Most of the current indices of treatment standards show low intra- and inter-examiner variability when compared with those used for diagnostic or epidemiological purposes. To date, no suitable index has been developed to measure treatment complexity. | pubmed_158_15479 |
pubmed_469_12190 | AIMS
The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is routinely performed in most pregnancies; however, there are few studies which document the experience of taking this test. We assessed the experience of pregnant women during an OGTT.
METHODS
This cross-sectional study included 152 women (24-32 weeks' gestation) and assessed their knowledge, anxiety (Spielberg anxiety inventory test-STAI), and physical pain (0-10 visual analog scale) during the OGTT. The Friedman test was used to compare pain scores over time.
RESULTS
61 (40%) participants did not know why they were doing the OGTT and 73 (48%) women had high state-anxiety levels (STAI ≥ 41 points, 20-80 scale). Participants had mild to moderate pain scores immediately after the first and second blood draws (3.9 ± 2.7 and 3.8 ± 2.3, respectively) that decreased significantly after the third blood draw (2.8 ± 2.4, P < 0.001). Nearly half (n = 71, 47%) of the participants were very or extremely bothered with having to drink the glucose solution.
CONCLUSIONS
The OGTT was associated with high levels of anxiety and mild to moderate physical pain. Ingestion of the glucose solution was perceived as the most difficult part of the test. Good strategies can help to mitigate some of these negative experiences while undergoing an OGTT. | 10.1016/j.diabres.2022.109941 |
pubmed_1125_6445 | The native anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) consists of 2 bundles, which have distinct biomechanical yet synergistic functions with respect to anterior tibial translation and combined rotatory loads. Traditionally, most ACL reconstruction techniques have primarily addressed the restoration of the anteromedial bundle, and less consideration was given to the posterolateral bundle. Recently, various ACL double-bundle reconstruction techniques have been described. With most of these techniques, however, an indirect extra-anatomic fixation far from the articular surface was performed. Because extra-anatomic fixation techniques, rather than aperture fixation techniques, are associated with graft tunnel motion, windshield wiper action, and suture stretch-out, concerns may arise regarding delayed biological incorporation, tunnel enlargement, and secondary rotational and anterior instability. We, therefore, present a novel arthroscopic technique that reapproximates the footprints of native ACL with the use of double-strand semitendinosus and gracilis autografts for reconstruction of the anteromedial and posterolateral bundles, respectively. A separate femoral and tibial tunnel is drilled for each double-strand autograft. The femoral tunnel for the anteromedial bundle is drilled primarily through a transtibial technique, and the femoral tunnel for the posterolateral bundle is drilled via an accessory anteromedial portal with the use of a 4-mm offset drill guide in the anteroinferior aspect of the femoral tunnel for the anteromedial bundle. Bioabsorbable interference screws are used in aperture fixation for anatomic fixation of each bundle. This technique attempts to reproduce closely the native ligament and its biomechanical function. | 10.1016/j.arthro.2006.05.024 |
pubmed_479_413 | Lysine monooxygenase catalyzes the oxygenative decarboxylation of L-lysine and produces a corresponding acid amide. L-Alanine was inactive as substrate. However, when propylamine was present, oxidation, but not oxygenation, of alanine was demonstrated with the oxygenase. Alanine was converted to pyruvate, with the liberation of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide, but propylamine remained unchanged. Other alpha-monoamino acids were also oxidized in the presence of alkylamines with various carbon chain lengths. The highest oxidase activity was observed when the total chain length of both amino acid and amine was nearly identical with that of lysine. Available evidence indicates that the amine-dependent amino-acid oxidase activity is associated with the lysine oxygenase activity. | 10.1073/pnas.69.12.3723 |
pubmed_552_8171 | We have reported a case of Conn's syndrome, with pain, tenderness, and swelling of the calf mimicking deep vein thrombophlebitis. The symptoms were associated with sever hypokalemia and rhabdomyolysis, and these findings subsequently explained by primary aldosteronism, which was cured by adrenalectomy. | 10.1097/00007611-199003000-00024 |
others_347_15321 | The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of diabetes mellitus on baroreflex control of heart rate. Diabetes (blood glucose = 378 ± 21 mg/dl) was induced in rabbits by alloxan (n = 9). Alloxan-treated rabbits that remained normoglycemic (n = 9) and rabbits given saline instead of alloxan (n = 5) served as controls. Baroreflex control of heart rate was evaluated in conscious rabbits by measuring changes in heart rate during phenylephrine-induced increases and nitroglycerin-induced decreases in arterial pressure. In diabetic rabbits, the gain of the baroreflex-mediated bradycardia in response to increased pressure decreased significantly from - 1.8 ± 0.3 beats · min-1 · mmHg-1 before alloxan (n = 9) to -0.9 ± 0.1 and -0.9 ± 0.3 beats · min-1 · mmHg-1 after 12 and 24 wk of diabetes, respectively (n = 8; P < 0.05). There was no significant change in baroreflex gain in either alloxan-treated or saline-treated normoglycemic rabbits. Baroreflex-mediated bradycardia was not influenced significantly after β- adrenergic blockade with propranolol (1 mg/kg) and was still impaired in diabetic vs. control rabbits after propranolol. The gain of the baroreflex- mediated tachycardia in response to decreased pressure was not altered in any of the three groups. Propranolol significantly decreased but did not abolish baroreflex-mediated tachycardia. Neither the vagal nor the sympathetic component of the tachycardia was altered significantly by diabetes. We conclude that in diabetic rabbits 1) baroreflex-mediated bradycardia is impaired, whereas reflex tachycardia is preserved; 2) the impairment of baroreflex-mediated bradycardia is caused by a defect in parasympathetic control; and 3) the preservation of baroreflex-mediated tachycardia reflects preservation of both sympathetic activation and parasympathetic withdrawal. We speculate that selective impairment of parasympathetic activation may contribute to the increased incidence of arrhythmias and sudden death in diabetes | 10.1152/ajpheart.1994.266.1.h235 |
pubmed_326_4022 | BACKGROUND
A skin-stretching device takes advantage of the viscoelastic properties of the skin by exerting incremental traction to aid in closing complex wounds.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of a skin-stretching device and determine the cosmetic results available when this device is used in Mohs surgery.
METHODS
We applied a skin-stretching device to seven patients, each of whom had a large, complex wound defect following Mohs surgery. All of the patients had basal cell carcinomas. In one patient the carcinoma was on an upper extremity, and in the others the carcinoma was located on broad facial surfaces, including the temple and forehead.
RESULTS
Complete primary closure was accomplished in six patients. A maximum of three cycles of tissue stretching were applied during the period of tissue processing between Mohs layers. In one patient the defect was reduced in size by more than 75%, with final healing by secondary intention. In two patients minor complications developed: focal wound dehiscence occurred in one patient and in the second patient, an inconsequential hypertropic scar developed. In both cases, the problems resolved with acceptable cosmetic results. The remaining patients experienced no complications and the cosmetic results were excellent.
CONCLUSION
The skin-stretching device accomplishes effective primary closure of large skin defects by dramatically reducing the size of the defect. It allows a simpler closure where a full-thickness graft or local flap would have otherwise been utilized. The device is convenient to use with minimal complications, reduces operative time, and aids greatly in preserving tissue integrity. | 10.1111/j.1524-4725.1996.tb00372.x |
pubmed_1096_4562 | Hybrid encapsulation structures based on β-carotene-loaded nanoliposomes incorporated within the polymeric ultrathin fibers produced through electrospinning were developed to improve the photostability of the antioxidant. These novel materials were intended to incorporate β-carotene into water-based food formulations, overcoming the existing limitations associated with its hydrophobic character. Initially, both empty and antioxidant-loaded nanoliposomes were developed and incorporated into polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) solutions. The changes in the solution properties were evaluated to determine their effects on the electrospinning processing. The mixed polymer solutions were subsequently electrospun to produce hybrid nanoliposome-loaded ultrathin fibers. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of phospholipid molecules inside the electrospun fibers. These ultrathin fibers were evaluated regarding their morphology, diameter, internal β-carotene distribution and stability against UV irradiation. Liposomal release studies from the electrospun fibers were also undertaken, confirming the presence of the liposomal structures after dissolving the electrospun fibers in water. | pubmed_1096_4562 |
pubmed_435_18785 | OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to identify the social, biological, behavioural and psychological factors related to physical activity (PA) in early pregnancy.
DESIGN
This is a secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort study.
SETTING
The study was conducted in Cork, Ireland.
PARTICIPANTS
Nulliparous women with singleton pregnancies were recruited and then interviewed at 15±1 weeks' gestation.
PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES
The biopsychosocial model identified factors including social (age), biological (body mass index), behavioural (diet) and psychological (anxiety) at 15±1 weeks' gestation. PA subgroups were identified based on a latent class analysis of their responses to a set of questions about the amount and intensity of activity they were engaging in during the pregnancy. Associations were estimated with multivariable multinomial logistic regression models.
RESULTS
From a total of 2579, 1774 (69%) women were recruited; ages ranged from 17 to 45 years. Based on a combination of model fit, theoretical interpretability and classification quality, the latent class analyses identified three PA subgroups: low PA (n=393), moderate PA (n=960) and high PA (n=413). The fully adjusted model suggests non-smokers, and consumers of fruit and vegetables were more likely to be in the high PA subgroup (vs low). Women with more than 12 years of schooling and a higher socioeconomic status were more likely to be in the moderate PA subgroup (vs low).
CONCLUSION
The findings highlight potential links between PA, a low education level and a low socioeconomic background. These factors should be considered for future interventions to improve low PA levels during pregnancy.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
ACTRN 12607000551493. | 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025003 |
pubmed_648_20920 | Metastasis is the primary cause of death of cancer patients. Dissecting mechanisms governing metastatic spread may uncover important tumor biology and/or yield promising therapeutic insights. Here, we investigated the role of circular RNAs (circRNA) in metastasis, using melanoma as a model aggressive tumor. We identified silencing of cerebellar degeneration-related 1 antisense (CDR1as), a regulator of miR-7, as a hallmark of melanoma progression. CDR1as depletion results from epigenetic silencing of LINC00632, its originating long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and promotes invasion in vitro and metastasis in vivo through a miR-7-independent, IGF2BP3-mediated mechanism. Moreover, CDR1as levels reflect cellular states associated with distinct therapeutic responses. Our study reveals functional, prognostic, and predictive roles for CDR1as and expose circRNAs as key players in metastasis. | 10.1016/j.ccell.2019.12.007 |
pubmed_631_12845 | OBJECTIVES
Transesophageal echocardiography has become a standard tool for evaluating left ventricular function during cardiac surgery. However, the image quality varies widely between patients and examinations. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the image quality on 5 commonly used 2-dimensional methods.
METHODS
Transesophageal real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) served as a reference. Left ventricular function was evaluated in 63 patients with sufficient real-time 3DE image quality. The image quality was rated using the ratio of the visualized border divided by the total endocardial border. These ratings were used to generate groups of poor (0%-40%), fair (41%-70%), and good (71%-100%) image quality. The ejection fraction (EF), end-diastolic volume, and end-systolic volume were analyzed by the Simpson method of disks (biplane and monoplane), eyeball method, Teichholz method, and speckle-tracking method. Furthermore, the fractional area change was determined. Each correlation with real-time 3DE was evaluated.
RESULTS
Correlations of the EF and volumes, respectively, as determined by long-axis view methods increased with improving image quality: the Simpson biplane method was found to be the most accurate method, with good image quality for the EF (r = 0.946) and volumes (end-diastolic volume, r = 0.962; end-systolic volume, r = 0.989). Correlations of the EF and fractional area change by short-axis view methods decreased with improving image quality, with the Teichholz EF found to be most accurate with poor (r = 0.928) in contrast to good (r = 0.699) image quality.
CONCLUSIONS
With good image quality, the Simpson biplane method is the most accurate 2-dimensional method for assessing the left ventricular EF. Short-axis view methods, especially the Teichholz method yield better correlations with poor image quality. The eyeball method was unaffected by image quality. | 10.7863/ultra.33.2.297 |
pubmed_769_20090 | OBJECTIVE
Bacteria entering the bloodstream through oral mucosa cause bacteremia, which can lead to septic or distant infections. The underlying factors and need for dental treatment in patients referred for oral examination because of septic infection were investigated. It was expected that general diseases and poor socioeconomic status of patients would increase the risk of bacteremia.
METHOD AND MATERIALS
This descriptive retrospective study included patients (N = 128) referred from medical clinics of the Helsinki University Hospital (HUH), during 2012 to 2017, to the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases due to bacteremia suspected to be of oral origin. Data were extracted from medical and dental records according to the World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) for systemic or remote infections. Different groups were formed using modified Skapinakis classification for socioeconomic status (SES), from I (high) to V (low). Underlying medical conditions were retrieved according to McCabe classification: healthy, nonfatal, ultimately fatal, and rapidly fatal diseases. The data were analyzed using the statistical software package SPSS (IBM).
RESULTS
Patients were referred most often from the Departments of Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine. Because of infection, 12 patients needed aortic or mitral valve operations. Many of the patients were intravenous drug users. However, the majority of patients presented McCabe class I, indicating no systemic disease. The main SES was intermediate III. Tooth extraction was the principal mode of treatment. No demographic background variables were identified to explain increase of the risk for bacteremia except that most patients were men with untreated dental problems.
CONCLUSIONS
Contrary to the authors' expectation, poor SES and underlying diseases did not seem to link to the outcome. However, untreated dental infections present an evident risk for life-threatening septic complications also in generally healthy individuals. | 10.3290/j.qi.b2644965 |
pubmed_917_6562 | Paraffin-embedded surgical specimens from 26 infants and children with medulloblastomas treated between 1972 and 1981 were examined for DNA ploidy by flow cytometry (FCM). All patients received a standard treatment (a combination of maximum debulking of medulloblastoma and postoperative craniospinal irradiation with a posterior fossa boost of 5000 rad or more). They were studied to correlate the results of the findings of FCM DNA analysis with their final outcome, DNA ploidy, and extent of tumor resection. All seven patients with totally resected aneuploid medulloblastoma are alive, whereas only one of six patients with subtotally resected diploid medulloblastoma is alive (P = 0.0047). The current study suggests both DNA ploidy and extent of surgical resection are the most important determinant of patients' prognosis. Patients in selected group, particularly those with subtotally resected diploid tumor, are advised to undergo aggressive adjuvant chemotherapy. | 10.1002/1097-0142(19880215)61:4<744::aid-cncr2820610418>3.0.co;2-m |
pubmed_1006_13167 | The method for analysis of microorganisms for the presence of the modification-restriction systems has been developed. The method has permitted to detect more than 10 new producing strains of restrictases including microorganisms of Rhizobium genus. Some of them are promising for practical use. It has been shown that using selection of clones the strain productivity can be increased. The purification process for the majority of restrictases has been proposed. Some physical and catalytic properties of new enzymes have been studied. | pubmed_1006_13167 |
pubmed_586_8254 | 1. By use of a sensitive and specific fluorescence assay procedure it was shown that after subcutaneous administration to rats, (+/-)-methadone was concentrated in the lung. Lung to serum ratios ranging from 25 to 60 were obtained indicating that the rat lung tissue was capable of extracting (+/-)-methadone against a concentration gradient. 2. This phenomenon was investigated in vitro with rat lung slices incubated in Krebs-Ringer phosphate buffer (pH 7.4). The uptake was expressed in terms of tissue to medium concentration ratios (T/M ratio). 3. The principal observations were: (i) Studies on the time-course of the uptake showed that the T/M ratios of (+/-)-methadone increased rapidly during the first 60 min of incubation and then more slowly, with a plateau occurring at 180 min; (ii) The T/M ratio of (+/-)-methadone progressively increased from 9.5 to 17 as the pH of the incubation medium was varied from 6.2 to 7.5; (iii) When the concentration of (+/-)-methadone in the incubation medium was varied from 0.005 to 0.5 mM, the T/M ratio decreased rapidly suggesting self-saturation of the transport process. Beyond the medium concentration of 0.5 mM, the T/M ratio declined very slowly. 4. These results suggested that at low concentrations, (+/-)-methadone was transported predominantly by a self-saturable process while at higher concentrations it was transported by a process of simple diffusion. 5. At low concentrations (0.01 mM) the uptake of (+)-methadone was higher than that of (-)-isomer indicating stereo-specificity of the uptake process. The uptake of (+/-)-methadone at low concentration (0.01 mM) was significantly inhibited by low temperature, lack of O2, lack of glucose, lack of Na+ in the incubation medium, and by exposure of the tissue to high temperature (approximately 100 degrees C). The uptake was also inhibited by relatively high concentration of iodoacetate (1.0 mM) and of naloxone (1.0 mM). 6. Kinetic analysis of data showed that the diffusion constant for (+/-)-methadone was 5.0 (h-1) and the Vmax of the active transport process was 6.5 micronmol g-1h-1. | 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1977.tb07719.x |
pubmed_292_13401 | OBJECTIVE
Avidin exhibits ideal characteristics for targeted intra-cartilage drug delivery: its small size and optimal positive charge enable rapid penetration through full-thickness cartilage and electrostatic binding interactions that give long half-lives in vivo. Here we conjugated Avidin with dexamethasone (DEX) and tested the hypothesis that single-dose Avidin-delivered DEX can ameliorate catabolic effects in cytokine-challenged cartilage relevant to post-traumatic OA.
METHODS
Avidin was covalently conjugated with DEX using fast (ester) and slow, pH-sensitive release (hydrazone) linkers. DEX release kinetics from these conjugates was characterized using (3)H-DEX-Avidin (scintillation counting). Cartilage explants treated with IL-1α were cultured with or without Avidin-DEX conjugates and compared to soluble DEX. Sulfated-glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) loss and biosynthesis rates were measured using DMMB assay and (35)S-incorporation, respectively. Chondrocyte viability was measured using fluorescence staining.
RESULTS
Ester linker released DEX from Avidin significantly faster than hydrazone under physiological buffer conditions. Single dose Avidin-DEX suppressed cytokine-induced sGAG loss over 3-weeks, rescued IL-1α-induced cell death, and restored sGAG synthesis levels without causing cytotoxicity. The two Avidin-DEX conjugates in 1:1 combination (fast:slow) had the most prominent bioactivity compared to single dose soluble-DEX, which had a shorter-lived effect and thus needed continuous replenishment throughout the culture period to ameliorate catabolic effects.
CONCLUSION
Intra-cartilage drug delivery remains inadequate as drugs rapidly clear from the joint, requiring multiple injections or sustained release of high doses in synovial fluid. A single dose of Avidin-conjugated drug enables rapid uptake and sustained delivery inside cartilage at low intratissue doses, and potentially can minimize unwanted drug exposure to other joint tissues. | pubmed_292_13401 |
pubmed_911_21196 | BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES
Dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) are the re-emerging infectious diseases caused by the four serotypes of dengue (DEN) virus, type 1 to 4, belonging to the family Flaviviridae and genus Flavivirus. In the absence of a safe and effective mass immunisation, the prevention and control of dengue outbreaks depend upon the surveillance of cases and mosquito vector. The aim of this work is to test enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tool for the virological surveillance of dengue.
METHODS
Virus-infected Aedes mosquitoes were collected from the field in order to serve as an early warning monitoring tool for dengue outbreaks. In a prospective field study conducted from April to September 2000, female adult Aedes mosquitoes were caught from selected dengue-sensitive area in Chombung district, Ratchaburi province and assayed by ELISA.
RESULT
Approximately 18.3% were found positive for dengue virus.
CONCLUSION
This can imply that ELISA can be an alternative tool for epidemiological surveillance for dengue in mosquitoes. | pubmed_911_21196 |
pubmed_311_25255 | Foxp3-expressing CD4+ regulatory T (Treg) cells need to differentiate into effector Treg (eTreg) cells to maintain immune homeostasis. T-cell receptor (TCR)-dependent induction of the transcription factor IRF4 is essential for eTreg differentiation, but how IRF4 activity is regulated in Treg cells is still unclear. Here we show that the AP-1 transcription factor, JunB, is expressed in eTreg cells and promotes an IRF4-dependent transcription program. Mice lacking JunB in Treg cells develop multi-organ autoimmunity, concomitant with aberrant activation of T helper cells. JunB promotes expression of Treg effector molecules, such as ICOS and CTLA4, in BATF-dependent and BATF-independent manners, and is also required for homeostasis and suppressive functions of eTreg. Mechanistically, JunB facilitates the accumulation of IRF4 at a subset of IRF4 target sites, including those located near Icos and Ctla4. Thus, JunB is a critical regulator of IRF4-dependent Treg effector programs, highlighting important functions for AP-1 in Treg-mediated immune homeostasis. | 10.1038/s41467-018-07735-4 |
pubmed_1114_14833 | Post-catastrophe recovery and financial liquidity have long challenged small Caribbean islands. These states are vulnerable to multifarious natural hazards that often cause considerable socioeconomic dislocation. Such events inflict heavy losses on businesses and households, and significantly disrupt all aspects of government operations. After Hurricane Ivan devastated the economies of some islands in September 2004-with estimated losses of as much as 200 per cent of gross domestic product in some cases-regional governments, aided by the World Bank and international donors, approved the creation of a regional catastrophe insurance scheme. This parametric-based mechanism is underpinned by derivatives-based catastrophe modelling whose outputs determine policy triggers and pay outs. Hazard models, particularly catastrophe models, are not widely accepted as yet. Despite recent advancements, major concerns have rendered them peripheral tools for many establishments. This paper reviews the region's vulnerabilities and examines constraints on the application of these models and suggests a means of improving their efficacy and acceptability. | 10.1111/disa.12118 |
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