Assessment of strangulated content of the spontaneously reduced inguinal hernia via hernia sac laparoscopy: preliminary results of a prospective randomized study.
This prospective randomized study aimed to evaluate the impact of hernia sac laparoscopy on the morbidity and mortality in cases with a spontaneous reduction of the strangulated hernia content before the assessment of its viability. Ninety-five patients underwent operation owing to incarcerated hernia. Forty-one patients, whose strangulated indirect inguinal hernia spontaneously reduced before the viability of the content was assessed, were included in this study. They were randomly assigned to 2 groups: group A (21 patients managed using hernia sac laparoscopy) and group B (20 patients managed without laparoscopy). The median hospital stay was 28 hours for group A and 34 hours for group B. Four patients of group B had major complications whereas there was none observed in the group A. Two unnecessary laparotomies and 2 deaths occurred in group B. Hernia sac laparoscopy seems to be an accurate and safe method allowing to prevent unnecessary laparotomy and especially in high-risk patients it contributes to decrease major morbidity.


Benefit of gluten-free diet in idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis in association with celiac disease.
Lane-Hamilton syndrome refers to the uncommon co-occurrence of idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis and celiac disease (CD). Three children aged between 7 and 14 years with IPH were detected to have co-existing non-diarrheal CD. Institution of gluten-free diet in each of the three children resulted in amelioration of the pulmonary symptoms along with improvement of anthropometric parameters and hemoglobin over a short-term follow-up period of 8-17 months. Inhaled/oral steroids and immunosuppressants could be weaned off after dietary exclusion therapy in each of the three children. Gluten free diet should be instituted in all patients diagnosed with Lane-Hamilton syndrome. It ameliorates both the pulmonary as well as the intestinal symptoms although the precise mechanism of the pulmonary response is as yet unclear.


Grape seed procyanidins in pre- and mild hypertension: a registry study.
The efficacy of a standardized grape seed procyanidins extract (GSPE, Enovita) to decrease blood pressure when associated with nondrug intervention (diet and lifestyle modifications) was investigated in a controlled registry study involving 119 healthy, pre- and mildly hypertensive subjects. Two dosages of Enovita were evaluated (150 and 300 mg/die), using blood pressure and heart rate as the primary endpoints and complementing these observations with a laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) investigation of the microcirculation state and an evaluation of the plasma oxidative status. After four months of treatment, a statistically significant higher, and dose-dependent, improvement in all endpoints was observed in the treatment groups compared to that of the control, with blood pressure normalizing in 93% of the higher dosage (300 mg) treatment group. Taken together, these observations suggest that GSPEs have beneficial cardiovascular effects that complement current intervention strategies in the hypertension area. The effect on blood pressure adds to the beneficial effects of GSPEs on the cardiovascular disease (CVD) phenotype associated with the oxidation of membrane lipids (endothelial dysfunction, formation of oxidized LDL, and activation of phagocytic cells).


Bone marrow immunosuppression in Salmonella-infected mice is prolonged following influenza virus infection.
It has been shown previously that infection with diverse viruses induces alterations in bone marrow lineage-specific progenitor cells. As complications arising from secondary bacterial infections can adversely affect the host, we investigated whether virally induced hematological alterations could contribute to the enhanced illness observed in such cases. Mice were infected with influenza virus alone or influenza virus followed by a vaccine strain of Salmonella typhimurium. The effects on hematopoiesis were analyzed by fluorescein-activated cell sorting analysis and immunohistology. Systemic Salmonella typhimurium infection induces depletion of bone marrow erythroid and lymphoid cells. The depletion lasted longer in mice that had been previously infected with influenza virus, compared with mice that had been previously treated with allantoic fluid. Although an increase in splenic lymphoid cells was apparent in the spleens of Salmonella-infected mice, the majority of cells in the enlarged spleens were found to be both immature and mature erythrocytes. These results show that bone marrow progenitor cell depletion induced by bacterial infection is prolonged following a viral infection. It is possible that hematological alterations may contribute to the enhanced clinical illness observed in consecutive viral:bacterial infections.


Impact of a nationwide outreach program on the diffusion of evidence-based practice in Taiwan.
To disseminate evidence-based practice (EBP) among hospital-based health professionals, since 2007 the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) of Taiwan has run a complex outreach program that includes information resource support and promotional campaigns. The aim is to evaluate the impact of this outreach program on the diffusion of EBP. Sixty-one regional hospitals in Taiwan. A cross-sectional, pre- and post-survey of a nationally representative sample of physicians and nurses was carried out in 2007 and 2009 to examine views related to EBP including changes in beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, skills, perceived barriers and behaviors. Physicians and nurses in the 2009 survey tended to have more knowledge and skill of EBP than their counterparts in the 2007 survey. They were less likely, however, to believe that EBP can improve patient care quality and to support the implementation of EBP. The prevalence of perceived barriers to EBP declined during the 2-year study period. In addition, physicians and nurses were more likely to access the online evidence retrieval databases according to the 2009 survey when compared with responses to the 2007 survey. The knowledge of, skill in, and behavior regarding EBP have improved among physicians and nurses of regional hospitals in Taiwan after a promotion period of 2 years and they perceive fewer barriers to EBP. These data suggest that the multifaceted nationwide promotion program of the type conducted by NHRI succeeded in diffusion and implementation of EBP among professionals.


Rapidly Progressive Acute Pustular Secondary Cutaneous Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma.
Cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is an uncommon diagnosis that may either present as a primary cutaneous process or develop secondary to systemic disease. It is imperative to distinguish between these two entities due to differences in treatment recommendations and prognosis. Here, their salient features will be reviewed. It is also important that clinicians recognize atypical clinical morphologies of cutaneous ALCL, including pustular lesions, which may masquerade as infectious or other inflammatory conditions, thereby delaying the onset of treatment. In this report, we present a case of secondary cutaneous ALCL associated with an atypical pustular morphology and an aggressive, fatal course.

 J Drugs Dermatol. 2016;15(9):1132-1135.


Interpretation of indirect nuclear spin-spin coupling tensors for polyatomic xenon fluorides and group 17 fluorides: results from relativistic density-functional calculations.
Significant improvements have been made recently in the calculation of NMR indirect nuclear spin-spin coupling tensors (J). In particular, the relativistic zeroth-order regular approximation density-functional theory (ZORA-DFT) approach holds great promise for the calculation of spin-spin coupling constants for a variety of chemical systems containing heavy nuclei. In the present work, the ZORA-DFT method is applied to the calculation of the complete reduced coupling tensors, K, for a range of chlorine-, bromine-, iodine-, and xenon-containing species: K(Cl,F) for ClF(2)(+), ClF(3), ClF(4)(+), ClF(5), ClF(6)(-), and ClF(6)(+); K(Br,F) for BrF(3), BrF(6)(-), and BrF(6)(+); K(I,F) for IF(4)(+) and IF(6)(+); K(Xe,F) for XeF(+), XeF(2), XeF(3)(+), XeF(4), XeF(5)(-), XeF(5)(+), and XeF(7)(+). These species represent a wide variety of geometrical bonding arrangements. Agreement between the calculated coupling constants and available experimental data is excellent, and the absolute sign of the coupling constants is provided. It is shown that (1)K(iso) may be positive or negative even within the same molecule, e.g., K(Cl,F)(iso) may be of either sign, depending on the local environment. Periodic trends in (1)K(iso) for isovalent and isostructural molecules are evident. The spin-spin coupling anisotropies, Delta K, and the orientations of the K tensors are also determined. The success of the calculations is a direct result of employing reliable geometries and considering both scalar and spin-orbit relativistic effects. The dependence of K(Cl,F)(iso) and K(Xe,F)(iso) on the local molecular and electronic structure is discussed in terms of the paramagnetic spin-orbit (PSO) and combined Fermi-contact spin-dipolar (FC+SD) coupling mechanisms. The PSO term depends strongly on the number of valence shell electron lone pairs on the central heavy atom, and the FC+SD contribution increases with the Cl[bond]F or Xe[bond]F bond length for a given series of compounds. This interpretation allows for the successful rationalization of the existing experimental data.


CArG boxes in the human cardiac alpha-actin gene are core binding sites for positive trans-acting regulatory factors.
Positively acting, rate-limiting regulatory factors that influence tissue-specific expression of the human cardiac alpha-actin gene in a mouse muscle cell line are shown by in vivo competition and gel mobility-shift assays to bind to upstream regions of its promoter but to neither vector DNA nor a beta-globin promoter. Although the two binding regions are distinctly separated, each corresponds to a cis region required for muscle-specific transcriptional stimulation, and each contains a core CC(A + T-rich)6GG sequence (designated CArG box), which is found in the promoter regions of several muscle-associated genes. Each site has an apparently different binding affinity for trans-acting factors, which may explain the different transcriptional stimulation activities of the two cis regions. Therefore, we conclude that the two CArG box regions are responsible for muscle-specific transcriptional activity of the cardiac alpha-actin gene through a mechanism that involves their binding of a positive trans-acting factor in muscle cells.


Notes on the subfamily Stenogastrinae (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Philippine Islands, with description of nine new species.
New additions to the subfamily Stenogastrinae in the Philippine Islands are provided. Nine new species are described: Liostenogaster maculiceps Selis, sp. nov., Parischnogaster albofasciata Selis, sp. nov., P. mindanaonis Selis, sp. nov., and P. simillima Selis, sp. nov., from Mindanao; P. curviclypeus Selis, sp. nov. from Mindoro; P. carpenteri Selis, sp. nov. from Mindanao and Mindoro; L. bimaculata Selis, sp. nov., from Mindanao and Samar; P. nigerrima Selis, sp. nov., and P. nigriterga Selis, sp. nov. from Luzon. The male of Eustenogaster fumipennis Saito and the female of Parischnogaster giglii Selis, are described for the first time. A key to the species of Liostenogaster van der Vecht occurring in the Philippine Islands and new distributional data are provided.


Antibiofilm effect of C-10 massoia lactone toward polymicrobial oral biofilms.
This study is aimed to test the efficacy of C-10 Massoia lactone in oral polymicrobial degradation. Polymicrobial of Streptococcus sanguinis, Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Actinomyces viscosus were studied. C-10 Massoia lactone against biofilm degradation was investigated using modified crystal violet for biofilm staining. The effectiveness of C-10 Massoia lactone against biofilms was calculated by the minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC50) and the minimum value of biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC50). Scanning electron microscope was used to study biofilm cell viability and morphological changes. The results showed a degradation effect of C-10 Massoia lactone against mature oral polymicrobial at 0.25% v/v. C-10 Massoia lactone can degrade polymicrobial biofilms of S. mutans, S. sanguinis, L. acidophilus and A. viscosus. This compound can destroy the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of polymicrobial biofilms. The potential application of C-10 Massoia lactone for anti-polymicrobial medication should be applied in such a way that any negative effects are minimized. Further research is needed to confirm the findings of this study.


[The diagnostic and treatment problems in closed diaphragmatic trauma].
Twenty four patients with blunt trauma of the diaphragm comprise the study group. Four of them died of accompanying injuries in other anatomical regions. All patients had the left leaf of the diaphragm affected. Laceration was most frequently radial in the area of centrum tendineum or in the transition area to pars muscularis. In left-sided ruptures of the diaphragm protruded usually the stomach, left colon, spleen, omentum majus and seldomer small intestines. The clinical picture was multiform and depended mostly on the severity of the accompanying injuries and on the basic complications in ruptured diaphragm--incarceration and strangulation of the protruded abdominal organs. When rupture of the diaphragm is diagnosed operative treatment is as a rule mandatory. The surgical approach to left-sided ruptures of the diaphragm is the abdominal approach, because of the more frequent injury to the abdominal organs.


[Sexual consequences of benign prostatic hyperplasia].
In this thesis are evaluated the sexual questionnaires retrieved from 412 patients (TVPE 101, TURP 272, TUIP + PRP 25, TUIP 14), who had been operated on during 1988-1993 for the BPH at the department of Urology, FN Motol. Before the surgery, 69.7% of patients were sexually active yet (28.6% regularly, 41% irregularly). Without sexual intercourse were 29.9% in the time of surgery and 2 patients (0.5% did not respond the questions. The sexual activity was rapidly declining in the 7th decade, in the 8th decade still 41% of the patient argued sexual activity prior to surgery. The libido remained unchanged in 62.9%, worsened in 24.3% and improved in 10.7%. The changes in libido was neither parallel to the aging nor the type of prostatic surgery. After the surgery, the intercourse was admitted only by 49.3% of patients. Without any intercourse remained 50%. The difference compared to the pre-surgery responds is statistically proved (p < 0.01). The erectile dysfunction seemed to be the main cause of sexual intercourse decline. The impotence margin after TVPE or TURP is not statistically significant. On the other hand, the reawakening of the sexual activity at the patients, who had already not experienced intercourse preoperatively, was recorded only in 6 cases (1.5%). The unchanged ejaculation after surgery argued 13.1% of patients, the weaker ejaculation was recorded in 21.6% of patients and ejaculation was completely absent in 62.4% (retrograde ejaculation). Between TVPE and TURP was no significant margin found. The ejaculation damage after minimal prostatic surgery (TUIP + PRP and TUIP alone) is significantly minor (p < 0.01) than after the standard prostatectomy (TVPE and TURP).


Effectiveness of a standardized treatment protocol for children with active non-cavitated occlusal lesions on erupting permanent molars.
To evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment for non-cavitated occlusal lesions on erupting permanent molars and to verify whether initial eruption stage and final biofilm accumulation are associated with lesions activity after the treatment. Forty-eight patients aged from 5 to 13 years old were selected. Molars with active non-cavitated lesions on the occlusal surface were classified according to eruption stage. Patients received a treatment for 4 weeks based on oral health instructions and fluoride applications. Three weeks after the end of the treatment, 39 patients were reassessed and lesion activity status and biofilm accumulation were recorded. Odds ratios were obtained using generalized estimating equations with logistic link function. Partially erupted molars were more prone to remain caries-active than molars in full occlusion (E1: OR = 301.1; E2: OR = 49.0 and E3: OR = 1107.3). High biofilm accumulation was associated with the presence of active lesions. Biofilm accumulation and eruption stage strongly influenced the effectiveness of a treatment for dental caries.


Social isolation in HIV-infected patients according to subjective patient assessment and DEXA-confirmed severity of lipodystrophy.
This study was designed to investigate the persistence of lipodystrophy (LD)-related social distress and isolation in HIV-infected patients in the current era, according to confirmatory dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) measurements. Cross-sectional interview data were collected from 168 HIV-positive adult patients taking more than 2 years of antiretroviral therapy (133 cases with LD diagnosed a mean of 7.2 years before; 35 without LD, controls). Mean time of HIV infection was 16.2 years (2.1-27.3), and the mean time of exposure to highly active antiretroviral therapy of 11.7 years (2.1-21.1). The presence and severity of LD, confirmed by DEXA measurements, correlated with social isolation through a validated scale, including avoidance of social relationships, sex, work, or sport activities. In comparison with control patients, social distress was observed for patients having moderate body changes. The significant correlation between LD and social isolation was irrespective of age, CD4+ count, HIV RNA level, AIDS diagnosis, time of HIV infection, anxiety, or depressive symptoms. These results confirm that patient assessment of LD is correlated with whole-body DEXA scan, and they highlight the role of LD as an independent cause of social isolation even after years of the diagnosis.


Role of early reperfusion in the induction of adhesion molecules and cytokines in previously ischemic myocardium.
Our studies in vitro demonstrate that neutrophil mediated injury of isolated cardiac myocytes requires the presence of ICAM-1 on the surface of the myocyte and CD11b/CD18 activation on the neutrophil. In post-ischemic cardiac lymph, there is rapid appearance of C5a activity during the first hours of reperfusion. Interleukin-6 activity is present throughout the first 72 h of reperfusion and is sufficient to induce ICAM-1 on the surface of the cardiac myocyte. In situ hybridization studies suggest that ICAM-1 mRNA is found in viable myocardial cells on the edge of the myocardial infarction within 1 h of reperfusion. ICAM-1 protein expression on cardiac myocytes is seen after 6 h of reperfusion, and increases thereafter. Non-ischemic tissue demonstrates no early induction of ICAM-1 mRNA or ICAM-1 protein on myocardial cells. In our most recent experiments, we have determined that reperfusion is an absolute requirement for the early induction of myocardial ICAM-1 mRNA in previously ischemic myocardial cells. To further assess this, we have cloned and sequenced a canine interleukin-6 (IL-6) cDNA. The data suggest that early induction of IL-6 mRNA is also reperfusion dependent as it could be demonstrated in the same ischemic and reperfused segments in which ICAM-1 mRNA was found. Peak expression of IL-6 mRNA occurred much earlier than that for ICAM-1 mRNA. Similar experiments were then performed with a molecular probe for interleukin-8 (IL-8). This chemokine is a potent neutrophil stimulant and has a higher degree of specificity for neutrophils than classic chemoattractants such as C5a.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Ameliorative Effect of Carvacrol on Cisplatin-Induced Reproductive Damage in Male Rats.
Cisplatin (CP) treatment causes the damage in male reproductive system. Carvacrol (CARV) is an antioxidant that is naturally found in some plants. We aimed to investigate the effect of CARV on CP-induced reproductive toxicity in male rats. Eighteen adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. The control group (n = 6) was treated orally with physiological saline (PS) daily for 14 days and a single intraperitoneal (IP) PS injection on day 10. The CP group (n = 6) was administered with daily oral PS for 14 days and a single IP injection of 10 mg/kg CP on day 10. The CARV + CP group (n = 6) was treated with daily 75 mg/kg oral CARV for 14 days and a single IP injection of 10 mg/kg CP on day 10. CP treatment caused the damage on some spermatological parameters (motility, live sperm rate, and abnormal sperm rate), increased the oxidative stress, and induced testicular degeneration and apoptosis. However, CARV treatment mitigates CP-induced reproductive toxicity.


Effect of water regime on carbon isotope composition of lichens.
delta(13)C values of the lichens Ramalina duriaei and Teloschistes villosus collected in their natural habitat were repeatedly measured during 2 years. Results show variations in the stable carbon isotope ratios ((13)C/(12)C). Such variations are correlated to the seasonal rainfall, i.e. low values of delta(13)C of the lichens during the winter and high values of delta(13)C during the dry summer. Relatively low delta(13)C values were obtained also in laboratory experiments with lichens grown under controlled humid conditions and in lichens collected from humid habitats.The variations in carbon isotopes were associated with quantitative metabolic changes. Under humid conditions an increase was obtained in the total amount of the extracted water-soluble fraction of the plant tissues as well as in the relative content of soluble carbohydrates.Analysis of the possible factors which may cause such variations indicates that the quantity of precipitation and the exposure time to high humidity were the main environmental factors causing seasonal variations in the delta(13)C values of the lichens. Such variations are dependent mainly on enzymic reactions and are probably less influenced by purely physicochemical processes. In view of the data presented here the balance between carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions seems to be the major factor for the observed seasonal differences. Winter accumulation of (12)C enriched components causes an over-all decrease in delta(13)C. During the summer, those storage materials are respired with concomitant increase in the delta(13)C of the residual plant material.


Cortical variability in the sensory-evoked response in autism.
Previous findings have shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) evince greater intra-individual variability (IIV) in their sensory-evoked fMRI responses compared to typical control participants. We explore the robustness of this finding with a new sample of high-functioning adults with autism. Participants were presented with visual, somatosensory and auditory stimuli in the scanner whilst they completed a one-back task. While ASD and control participants were statistically indistinguishable with respect to behavioral responses, the new ASD group exhibited greater IIV relative to controls. We also show that the IIV was equivalent across hemispheres and remained stable over the duration of the experiment. This suggests that greater cortical IIV may be a replicable characteristic of sensory systems in autism.


[The physiology of the kidney and water-salt metabolism: the basic research trends in Russia].
The major tendency for the investigations of kidney function and water-salt metabolism running in different Russian laboratories is reviewed. The proceedings of some national publications on the regulation of water and ion transport at the cell and molecular level demonstrate the progress in this field of renal physiology in Russia. Trends in the researchers of the renal function and its neuroendocrine regulation on experimental animals and also on people with renal dysfunction are described. In the last part of the review there is a brief account of the papers on the development of the kidney function and water-salt metabolism during onto- and phylogeny.


Co-tolerance of phytoplankton communities to photosynthesis II inhibitors.
Natural variability in sensitivity and pollution induced community tolerance (PICT) to atrazine, isoproturon and diuron and a mixture of these three herbicides to natural algal assemblages in mesocosms was determined. The specificity of PICT was examined by evaluating co-tolerance pattern for these photosystem-II (PSII) inhibitors. Phytoplankton communities were constantly exposed to equipotent concentrations of atrazine, isoproturon, diuron namely the 30% hazard concentration (HC(30)) obtained from species sensitivity distributions and an equitoxic mixture (Sigma3 x 1/3 x HC(30) of each herbicide) for five weeks in outdoor mesocosms. Induction of tolerance to the various herbicides was investigated by photosynthetic efficiency measurements of the algal assemblages in short-term laboratory tests. The composition of the algal communities in the various treatments was determined and ordination techniques such as the principal component analysis (PCA) were applied to log-transformed data to compare the seasonal community structure development. Temporal variation in sensitivity of the control algal assemblage to atrazine and isoproturon, but less to diuron was observed. The results further demonstrated that the control communities were in general more sensitive than the treated ones over the whole period tested indicating an enhanced tolerance of pre-exposed phytoplankton in the mesocosms. Co-tolerance was also observed for atrazine pre-exposed algal community to isoproturon, however, not vise versa. A pre-exposure to diuron induced similar tolerance to all three herbicides. A pre-exposure to the mixture treatment also lead to tolerance to isoproturon and diuron, less to atrazine. Overall, the observed co-tolerance pattern indicates that co-tolerance was not comparable between the herbicides with strong similarity in their biochemical mode of action.


Renal infarction and immune-mediated glomerulonephritis in sheep (Ovis aries) chronically implanted with indwelling catheters.
Microbial infections are common sequelae in humans and animals implanted with long-term intravascular catheters. Understanding the pathophysiology of infectious morbidity is critical to improving quality of care in catheterized subjects. Here, we describe findings in 6 clinically healthy, male sheep implanted with indwelling aortic or cardiac catheters for 6 to 10 mo. We isolated multiple bacterial species including Serratia spp., Enterobacter agglomerans, Eschericia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, and K. pneumoniae in aerobic cultures from catheter tips. Although sheep were clinically asymptomatic, 1 or both kidneys from all animals contained wedge-shaped infarcts of varying size and number. Microscopic examination revealed (a) marked fibrosis with mild inflammatory cell infiltrate consistent with chronic foreign body reaction around catheters; (b) moderate to severe, diffuse, subacute to chronic membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and mild, multifocal chronic interstitial nephritis; and (c) mesangial immune-complex deposition as demonstrated by direct immunofluorescence technique. The finding of bacterial colonization of catheters together with chronic glomerulonephritis and immune-complex deposits in kidneys in clinically asymptomatic sheep underscores the need for close microbiologic monitoring of catheter implants and assessment of kidney function in animals instrumented for long-term vascular access.


Credit programs for the poor and reproductive behavior in low-income countries: are the reported causal relationships the result of heterogeneity bias?
Group-based lending programs for the poor have drawn much attention recently. As many of these programs target women, an important research question is whether program participation significantly changes reproductive behavior and whether the gender of the participant matters. Using survey data from 87 Bangladeshi villages, we estimate the impact of female and male participation in group-based credit programs on reproductive behavior while attending to issues of self-selection and endogeneity. We find no evidence that women's participation in group-based credit programs increases contraceptive use or reduces fertility. Men's participation reduces fertility and may slightly increase contraceptive use.


Antigenic expression changes occurring in adriamycin resistant MCF-7 mammary carcinoma cells.
The antigenic phenotypic repertoire of MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cell line variants that display different sensitivity to adriamycin (Adr) was analyzed using monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) recognizing five different tumor associated antigens (TAAs) and the external domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R). ELISA and cytofluorimetry determinations were used and results indicate a diminished expression of one antigenic determinant of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) molecule, the disappearance of all the other TAAs and the de novo expression of the EGF-R in the MCF-7 AdrR (IC50/Adr:10 uM). Treatment with recombinant alfa-Interferon (alfa-IFN) did not enhance antigenic expression in MCF-7 AdrR cells.


Structure of the detergent phase and protein-detergent interactions in crystals of the wild-type (strain Y) Rhodobacter sphaeroides photochemical reaction center.
Rhodobacter sphaeroides (strain Y) reaction center (RC) crystals were grown in the presence of n-octyl beta-glucoside (beta-OG). In order to determine the structure of the detergent phase in these crystals, low-resolution neutron diffraction experiments were performed at different contrasts obtained by varying the H2O/D2O ratio in the solvent. From the contrast variation data and from the RC atomic coordinates determined by X-ray diffraction [Arnoux, B., Ducruix, A., Reiss-Husson, F., Lutz, M., Norris, J., Schiffer, M., & Chang, C. H. (1989) FEBS Lett. 258, 47-50], a model was obtained for the structure of the detergent phase in the crystal. The detergent forms a ring-shaped micelle surrounding the most hydrophobic part of the transmembrane alpha helices of the RC. Each detergent ring is connected to two next-neighbor rings by intermicellar bridges. The detergent phase is organized thus in infinite zigzag chains parallel to the b axis of the P2(1)2(1)2(1) unit cell. The main interactions between beta-OG molecules and the RC molecules are hydrophobic and are localized at the level of the transmembrane alpha helices. This interaction replaces the phospholipid-protein interaction existing in vivo in the membrane and, to some extent, also the light harvesting complex-protein interaction. Secondary hydrophilic interactions are found between a few of the charged residues of the H subunit and the hydrophilic surface of the detergent ring from a neighboring RC molecule. A comparison with a previous study on Rhodopseudomonas viridis crystals [which grow in the presence of lauryldimethylamine N-oxide (LDAO) and belong to a different space group] [Roth, M., Lewit-Bentley, A., Michel, H., Deisenhofer, J., Huber, R., & Oesterhelt, D. (1989) Nature 340, 659-661] shows a quasi identity of shape and position of the beta-OG and LDAO rings around the transmembrane alpha helices. The secondary interactions, involving in both cases the external surface of the H subunit, differ because of the different molecular packing in the two space groups. The role and structural requirements of the detergent in the crystallization process are discussed.


MRI-based IMRT planning for MR-linac: comparison between CT- and MRI-based plans for pancreatic and prostate cancers.
The treatment planning in radiation therapy (RT) can be arranged to combine benefits of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) together to maintain dose calculation accuracy and improved target delineation. Our aim is study the dosimetric impact of uniform relative electron density assignment on IMRT treatment planning with additional consideration given to the effect of a 1.5 T transverse magnetic field (TMF) in MR-Linac. A series of intensity modulated RT (IMRT) plans were generated for two representative tumor sites, pancreas and prostate, using CT and MRI datasets. Representative CT-based IMRT plans were generated to assess the impact of different electron density (ED) assignment on plan quality using CT without the presence of a 1.5 T TMF. The relative ED (rED) values used were taken from the ICRU report 46. Four types of rED assignment in the organs at risk (OARs), the planning target volumes (PTV) and in the non-specified tissue (NST) were considered. Dose was recalculated (no optimization) using a Monaco 5.09.07a research planning system employing Monte Carlo calculations with an option to include TMF. To investigate the dosimetric effect of different rED assignment, the dose-volume parameters (DVPs) obtained from these specific rED plans were compared to those obtained from the original plans based on CT. Overall, we found that uniform rED assignment results in differences in DVPs within 3% for the PTV and 5% for OAR. The presence of 1.5 T TMF on IMRT DVPs resulted in differences that were generally within 3% of the Gold St for both the pancreas and prostate. The combination of uniform rED assignment and TMF produced differences in DVPs that were within 4-5% of the Gold St. Larger differences in DVPs were observed for OARs on T2-based plans. The effects of using different rED assignments and the presence of 1.5 T TMF for pancreas and prostate IMRT plans are generally within 3% and 5% of PTV and OAR Gold St values. There are noticeable dosimetric differences between the CT- and MRI-based IMRT plans caused by a combination of anatomical changes between the two image acquisition times, uniform rED assignment and 1.5 T TMF.


Blood pressure in bipolar disorder: evidence of elevated pulse pressure and associations between mean pressure and mood instability.
Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with excess and premature cardiovascular mortality. Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a leading contributor to cardiovascular risk. However, few studies have examined BP in BD in comparison to other psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, the association between BP and mood instability is not presently clear despite increasing interest in repurposing existing antihypertensive medications as possible novel BD treatments. Thus we examined BP differences between BD and borderline personality disorder (BPD), a disorder with a similar symptom profile through chronic mood instability. A total of 106 adults (38 BD, 25 BPD, and 43 healthy controls), evaluated in the Automated Monitoring of Symptom Severity (AMoSS) study, completed a week-long home blood pressure monitoring assessment and ecological momentary assessment of mood. We examined group-wise differences in mean BP and BP variability and their association with mood instability. BD individuals had a significantly wider resting pulse pressure (40.8 ± 7.4, mmHg) compared to BPD (35.7 ± 5.3, mmHg, P = 0.03) and control participants (37.3 ± 6.3, mmHg, P = 0.036). Systolic BP was negatively associated with sad mood instability, and all measures of mean BP (systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure) were negatively associated with positive mood instability. This study demonstrates BP differences between BD and healthy and clinical controls that are within a normotensive range. Early pulse pressure widening may be a modifiable pathophysiological feature of BD that confers later cardiovascular risk. BP may be an important transdiagnostic predictor of mood instability and a potential explicit treatment target.


Beyond the Motor Cortex: Thalamic Iron Deposition Accounts for Disease Severity in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
Previous studies have reliably identified iron deposition in the motor cortex as potential pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, we intended to investigate iron deposition, gray matter (GM) atrophy, and their associations with disease severity in the motor cortex and the thalamus in patients with ALS. A total of 34 patients with ALS (age 51.31 ± 8.24 years, 23 males) and 34 nonneurological controls (age 50.96 ± 9.35 years, 19 males) were enrolled between 2018 and 2020. The Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) and the Penn upper motor neuron (UMN) score were measured. MRI data included quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) for iron deposition and three-dimensional (3D) T1 for gray matter volume. After a between-group comparison, Pearson's correlation coefficient was used for identifying correlations of iron deposition, GM volume, and clinical measurements. The two-sample t-tests revealed increased iron deposition in the left precentral gyrus (peak voxel T = 4.78, P SVC = 0.03) and the thalamus (peak voxel: right: T = 6.38, P SVC < 0.001; left: T = 4.64, P SVC = 0.02) in patients with ALS. GM volume of the precentral gyrus (T = -2.42, P = 0.02) and the bilateral thalamus (T = -4.10, P < 0.001) were reduced. Negative correlations were found between the increased QSM values and the decreased GM volume (P < 0.04, one-tailed) in patients with ALS. Iron deposition in the left precentral gyrus was positively correlated with the UMN score (R = 0.40, P = 0.02) and the GM volume was negatively correlated with the UMN score (R = -0.48, P = 0.004). Negative correlation between thalamic iron deposition and the ALSFRS-R (R = -0.36, P = 0.04) score was observed. Iron deposition in the thalamus, in addition to the motor cortex, is accompanied by GM atrophy and is associated with disease severity in patients with ALS, indicating that the thalamus is also a pathological region in patients with ALS.


Effect of hyaluronic acid on rabbit profundus flexor tendon healing in vitro.
We performed an in-depth biomechanical evaluation of the effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) on the healing of rabbit profundus tendons cultured in vitro. Seventy-eight flexor tendons from 13 rabbits were transected and reapproximated at their Zone II midpoints. Tendons were divided into left and right forepaw groups. Each tendon from the left forepaw group was incubated in one of four possible culture media: control (no HA), low (0.1 mg/ml), medium (0.5 mg/ml), or high (1.0 mg/ml) HA media. HA was added on the first day of incubation. Each tendon from the right forepaw group was cultured in low, medium, or high concentrations of HA, but HA was added after 1 week of incubation in control media. All tendons were cultured for 8 weeks, after which time tenorrhaphies were disrupted and the following biomechanical parameters were determined: apparent maximum stress, apparent strain at apparent maximum stress, normalized energy absorption, and tangent modulus before failure. Comparisons using these parameters showed no statistically significant differences among the various tendon groups. We believe this is the first study of its kind to show no effect of hyaluronic acid on the functional strength of tendon after healing in vitro.


Diffractive-refractive optics: X-ray collimator.
Diffractive-refractive optics are x-ray focusing monochromators based on the diffraction on profiled crystal surface. Diffraction on longitudinal parabolic groove machined in crystal surface forms a sagittaly focused synchrotron radiation beam. Such kind of monochromator may be realized as a crystal with parabolic hole, where the beam is diffracted on the inner wall of the hole. Two such asymmetrically cut crystals set into antiparallel position, creating a dispersive (+,-,-,+) arrangement, form a sagittaly focusing x-ray monochromator which should be practically aberration-free. The focusing properties of such kind of monochromator are discussed in detail and it is shown for the first time that it can be used not only for focusing but also for creating highly parallel monochromatic beam in the broad region of the Bragg angles. This device with parabolic hole has not been tested experimentally yet.


The cAMP pathway in combination with BMP2 regulates Phox2a transcription via cAMP response element binding sites.
Combined BMP2 and cAMP signaling induces the catechola-minergic lineage in neural crest (NC) cultures by increasing expression of the proneural transcription factor Phox2a, in a cAMP response element (CRE)-binding protein (CREB)-mediated mechanism. To determine whether CREB acts directly on Phox2a transcription induced by BMP2+cAMP-elevating agent IBMX, transient transfections of hPhox2a-reporter constructs were performed in avian NC cultures and murine, catecholaminergic CAD cells. Although BMP2+IBMX increased endogenous Phox2a expression, the 7.5-kb hPhox2a reporters expressing either luciferase or DsRed1-E5 fluorescent protein were unresponsive to BMP2+IBMX, but active in both cell types. Cell sorting of fluorescence-positive NC cells expressing the 7.5-kb hPhox2a fluorescent timer reporter differentiated to equal numbers of catecholaminergic cells as fluorescence-negative cells, suggesting inappropriate transcription from the transfected hPhox2a promoter. NC or CAD cells treated with histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A and BMP2+IBMX display increased endogenous Phox2a transcription and prolonged CREB phosphorylation, indicating Phox2a chromatin remodeling is linked to CREB activation. Chromatin immunoprecipitations employing CREB, CREB-binding protein, and acetylated H4 antibodies identified two CRE half-sites at -5.5 kb in the murine Phox2a promoter, which is also conserved in the human promoter. Proximal to the CRE half-sites, within a 170-bp region, are E-box and CCAAT binding sites, also conserved in mouse and human genes. This 170-bp promoter region confers cAMP, BMP2, and enhanced BMP2+cAMP regulation to Phox2a-luciferase reporters. We conclude these CREs are functional, with CREB directly activating Phox2a transcription. Because the E-box binds bHLH proteins like ASH1 induced in NC cells by BMP2, we propose this novel 170-bp cis-acting element is a composite site, mediating the synergistic regulation by BMP2+cAMP on Phox2a transcription.


Fluorescent biosensors for drug discovery new tools for old targets--screening for inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases.
Cyclin-dependent kinases play central roles in regulation of cell cycle progression, transcriptional regulation and other major biological processes such as neuronal differentiation and metabolism. These kinases are hyperactivated in most human cancers and constitute attractive pharmacological targets. A large number of ATP-competitive inhibitors of CDKs have been identified from natural substances, in high throughput screening assays, or through structure-guided approaches. Alternative strategies have been explored to target essential protein/protein interfaces and screen for allosteric inhibitors that trap inactive intermediates or prevent conformational activation. However this remains a major challenge given the highly conserved structural features of these kinases, and calls for new and alternative screening technologies. Fluorescent biosensors constitute powerful tools for the detection of biomolecules in complex biological samples, and are well suited to study dynamic processes and highlight molecular alterations associated with pathological disorders. They further constitute sensitive and selective tools which can be readily implemented to high throughput and high content screens in drug discovery programmes. Our group has developed fluorescent biosensors to probe cyclin-dependent kinases and gain insight into their molecular behaviour in vitro and in living cells. These tools provide a means of monitoring subtle alterations in the abundance and activity of CDK/Cyclins and can respond to compounds that interfere with the conformational dynamics of these kinases. In this review we discuss the different strategies which have been devised to target CDK/Cyclins, and describe the implementation of our CDK/Cyclin biosensors to develop HTS/HCS assays in view of identifying new classes of inhibitors for cancer therapeutics.


Preparation of Highly Fluorescent Host-Guest Complexes with Tunable Color upon Encapsulation.
Unlike previous coordinative host-guest systems, highly emissive host-guest complexes (up to Φ(F) = 0.5) were successfully prepared upon encapsulation of various fluorescent dyes (e.g., BODIPY and coumarin derivatives) by a Pt(II)-linked coordination capsule in water. Picosecond time-resolved spectroscopy elucidates the photophysical behaviors of the obtained complexes. Notably, the emission color of the fluorescent guest within the capsule can be readily modulated upon pairwise encapsulation with planar aromatic molecules.


The other Helicobacters.
The last year has seen an interesting and important collection of evidence presented in the field of the "other" than Helicobacter pylori Helicobacters. Associations with adult ulcerative colitis and biliary/hepatic disease have been described. New insights into the immune response and subsequent pathogenesis associated with infection have also been published. Genomic advances include description of new and unique species and the complete genome description for both Helicobacter felis and Helicobacter suis. Molecular studies have also elucidated the mechanism of action of some functional components of these organisms.


Improvements on the application of convergence accelerators for the evaluation of some three-electron atomic integrals.
Convergence accelerator methods are employed to analyze some of the most difficult three-electron integrals that arise in atomic calculations. These integrals have an explicit dependence on the interelectronic coordinates, and take the form integral r(i)(1)r(j)(2)r(k)(3)r(l)(23)r(m)(31)r(n)(12) exp((-alpha(r1)-beta(r2)-gamma(r3))dr(1)dr(2)dr(3). The focus of the present investigation are the most difficult cases of the parameter set [i, j, k, l, m, n]. Several convergence accelerator techniques are studied, and a comparison presenting the relative effectiveness of each technique is reported. When the convergence accelerator approach is combined with specialized numerical quadrature methods, we find that the overall technique yields high-precision results and is fairly efficient in terms of computational resources. Difficulties associated with the standard numerical precision loss of convergence accelerator techniques are circumvented.


Relationship between system of raising Egyptian buffaloes and the effect of climate conditions on the helminthic infection rate, middle Delta, Egypt.
No doubt climate conditions are of sound influence in both prevalence of helminthic infection and the physiology of the host. Fewer studies have been done on this relationship on farm animals. To complete the view, one thousand, two hundred and seventy eight buffaloes owned by farmers from 160 herds belong to 32 villages in the middle Delta of Egypt were randomly chosen to study factors which influence the infection with gastrointestinal parasites. Relationship between number of parasites, herd size, resources of water and season of the year were investigated. The main results showed that: (1) Fasciola gigantica infection recorded the highest percentage, 48.04% followed by Neoascaris vitulorum and Eimeria spp. (2) Percentage rates of parasitic infection (single, double or triple) in each animal were 62.80%, 29.43% and 7.77%, respectively. (3) Infection rate tended to increase with herd size in most cases. (4) Resource of water had highly significant effect on infection rate. (5) The highest infection was recorded in summer and the lowest in spring or winter. (6) A negative and highly significant correlation between infection and number of parasites (0.99). Herd size did not associate with infection, while temperature and relative humidity correlated significantly with infection rate (0.67 and 0.78) respectively.


Clinical Outcomes of an All-Arthroscopic Biceps Tenodesis Using the Anterolateral Anchor During Concomitant Double-Row Rotator Cuff Repair.
Pathology of the long head of the biceps tendon frequently occurs concomitantly with rotator cuff tears, necessitating a surgical treatment, often in the form of a tenodesis procedure. Many techniques for a tenodesis exist; however, they often require additional implants or a separate incision. To report an average of 2-year outcomes of an all-arthroscopic biceps tenodesis employing the stay sutures from the anterolateral anchor during concomitant double-row rotator cuff repair (RCR). Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Data were prospectively collected and retrospectively reviewed for all patients who underwent an all-arthroscopic biceps tenodesis during concomitant double-row RCR by the senior author between January 2014 and May 2018. Patients were included if they underwent this procedure and had baseline preoperative patient-reported outcomes (PROs) with a minimum of 1 year of postoperative PROs for the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score and visual analog scale (VAS) for pain score. Additionally, patient data, surgical history, postoperative complications, and satisfaction were reported. Fifteen patients were eligible for the study. There were 12 (80%) men and 3 (20%) women with a mean age of 50.0 years (range, 35-64 years). The mean follow-up time was 25.2 months (range, 13-63 months). Six of 15 (40%) patients also had an arthroscopic subscapularis repair performed. ASES shoulder scores improved from 37.1 preoperatively to 94.1 postoperatively (P < .001), and VAS scores improved from 6.4 preoperatively to 0.5 postoperatively (P < .001). One patient who underwent concomitant subscapularis repair reported continued anterior groove pain. No patients experienced biceps cramping, developed a deformity, or required a repeat operation at the final follow-up. Overall, 93.3% of the patients reported being highly satisfied with their surgery. This study presents the clinical results of an all-arthroscopic technique for concomitant double-row RCR and biceps tenodesis, which resulted in high rates of patient satisfaction and significant improvement in reported shoulder outcome and pain scores. Additionally, this technique offers the potential benefits of avoiding a secondary incision, which may decrease surgical morbidity while also decreasing cost by eliminating the need for an extra, tenodesis-specific implant.


Pixel size limit of the PRIMA implants: from humans to rodents and back.
Objective.Retinal prostheses aim at restoring sight in patients with retinal degeneration by electrically stimulating the inner retinal neurons. Clinical trials with patients blinded by atrophic age-related macular degeneration using the PRIMA subretinal implant, a 2 × 2 mm array of 100µm-wide photovoltaic pixels, have demonstrated a prosthetic visual acuity closely matching the pixel size. Further improvement in resolution requires smaller pixels, which, with the current bipolar design, necessitates more intense stimulation.Approach.We examine the lower limit of the pixel size for PRIMA implants by modeling the electric field, leveraging the clinical benchmarks, and using animal data to assess the stimulation strength and contrast of various patterns. Visually evoked potentials measured in Royal College of Surgeons rats with photovoltaic implants composed of 100µm and 75µm pixels were compared to clinical thresholds with 100µm pixels. Electrical stimulation model calibrated by the clinical and rodent data was used to predict the performance of the implant with smaller pixels.Main results.PRIMA implants with 75µm bipolar pixels under the maximum safe near-infrared (880 nm) illumination of 8 mW mm-2with 30% duty cycle (10 ms pulses at 30 Hz) should provide a similar perceptual brightness as with 100µm pixels under 3 mW mm-2irradiance, used in the current clinical trials. Contrast of the Landolt C pattern scaled down to 75µm pixels is also similar under such illumination to that with 100µm pixels, increasing the maximum acuity from 20/420 to 20/315.Significance.Computational modeling defines the minimum pixel size of the PRIMA implants as 75µm. Increasing the implant width from 2 to 3 mm and reducing the pixel size from 100 to 75µm will nearly quadrupole the number of pixels, which should be very beneficial for patients. Smaller pixels of the same bipolar flat geometry would require excessively intense illumination, and therefore a different pixel design should be considered for further improvement in resolution.


The Unique and Shared Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Fear, Anger, and Sadness in Childhood.
This study examined the extent to which subordinate dimensions of negative emotionality were genetically and environmentally distinct in a sample of 1,316 twins (51% female, 85.8% Caucasian, primarily middle class, Mage = 7.87 years, SD = .93), recruited from Wisconsin hospital birth records between 1989 and 2004. Cholesky, independent pathway, and common pathway models were fitted for mother report, father report, and in-home observation of temperament. Although findings support the use of negative emotionality, there were heritable aspects of anger and fear not explained by a common genetic factor, and shared environmental influences common to anger and sadness but not fear. Observed fear was independent from observed anger and sadness. Distinctions support specificity in measurement when considering implications for child development.


Auditory nerve phase-locked response recorded from normal hearing adults using electrocochleography.
The auditory nerve overlapped waveform response (ANOW), a new measure that can be recorded non-invasively from humans, holds promise for providing more accurate assessment of low frequency hearing thresholds than currently used objective measures. This research aims to investigate the robustness and the nature of the ANOW response in humans. Repeated within-session recordings of the ANOW response using low-frequency Tone Bursts (TBs) were obtained at multiple stimulus levels. ANOW's absolute amplitude and phase locking value (PLV) measures were analysed to obtain normative data and to test the reliability of the ANOW response. Thirteen normal hearing adults within the age range of 25 to 40 years. ANOW response was obtained to both 250 Hz and 500 Hz TBs and was traced down to 30-40 dB nHL. ANOW response showed significantly higher amplitude and stronger phase locking using 250 Hz TB compared to 500 Hz TB. High degree of test retest reliability of the ANOW response was found using 250 Hz TB at presentation levels higher than 40 dB nHL. ANOW response is recordable noninvasively using low-frequency TBs and shows higher robustness as the stimulus frequency decreases.


Psychopathology in adolescence predicts substance use in young adulthood.
To investigate prospective associations between psychopathology in adolescence and tobacco, alcohol and drug use in young adulthood. A sample of 787 10-14-year-olds from the Dutch general population was prospectively followed-up across an 8-year interval. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was administered at initial assessment, and at 2- and 4-year follow-ups. Substance abuse was assessed with the Young Adult Self-Report (YASR) at 8-year follow-up. The Thought Problems scale of the CBCL was the strongest predictor of alcohol use, while smoking was predicted by the Thought Problems and Delinquent Behavior scales. The strongest association with drug use in young adulthood was for the CBCL Delinquent Behavior scale. Predictive value of predictors in early adolescence was as important as in late adolescence. To investigate pathways towards substance use in young adulthood, studies assessing a broad range of possible predictors, including Thought Problems, at different developmental stages of adolescence, are needed.


PAMP-induced peptide 1 cooperates with salicylic acid to regulate stomatal immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Various pathogenic species are capable of penetrating plant leaves through stomata on the leaf surface for propagation by absorbing nutrients in plant interiors. Plants have evolved abilities to close stomata to restrict pathogen infections. The model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) closes stomata when FLAGELLIN SENSING2 (FLS2), a receptor protein localized in the plasma membrane (PM) of stomatal guard cells, detects flagellin, a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) derived from the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae. It currently remains largely unknown how flagellin-FLS2 signaling initiates stomatal closure. Our previous studies showed that PAMP-INDUCED PEPTIDE1 (PIP1), an Arabidopsis endogenous peptide, activates immune responses through a PM-localized receptor, RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE7 (RLK7). Here, we demonstrate that PIP1-RLK7 act downstream of FLS2 to activate stomatal immunity against the bacterial strain Pseudomonas syringe pv. tomato (Pst) DC3118. PIP1 promotes the expression of genes involved in salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis. SA contributes to the expression of PIP1 preligand prePIP1 and the PIP1-induced stomatal closure. In contrast, methl jasmonate (MJ) and a pathogen-derived jasmonate mimic coronatine (COR) performs an opposite function of SA. SA also promotes the PIP1-induced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which is required for PIP1-induced stomatal closure. Overall, PIP1 and SA may form a positive feedback loop to regulate ROS-mediated stomatal immunity in Arabidopsis.


A prospective randomized controlled study on the efficacy and tolerance of two antilymphocytic globulins in the prevention of rejection in first-heart transplant recipients.
The usefulness of induction phase treatment in heart transplantation is a long-standing debate in the literature. Several centers report good short-term survival without such treatment, but no randomized trial addresses this question. If induction treatment is to be used, most centers prefer rabbit polyclonal antisera to OKT3. However, again, no randomized trial has compared the relative efficacy and tolerance of rabbit antisera. Fifty first-heart transplant recipients with standard triple immunosuppression were randomized to receive ATG Fresenius ( n=24) or Thymoglobulin Mérieux ( n=26) as an induction treatment and were followed for 1 year. The two groups were well matched for gender, age, pre-transplant diagnosis and ischemia time. Actuarial survival at 1 year was 87.5% in the Fresenius group and 84.6% in the Mérieux group (Fisher's exact test; P=1). The average number of rejection episodes per patient was comparable in both treatment groups (Fresenius: mean=2.63, SD=1.44; Mérieux: mean=2.46, SD=2.04). Mean time to first rejection was 48.9+/-37.2 days in the Fresenius group versus 59.6+/-54 days in the Mérieux group (Mann-Witney U-test: z=0.77; P=NS). The total number of rejections across all patients was also comparable (Fresenius: 63; Mérieux: 64) as well as the severity of rejection (seven moderate rejections out of a total of 63 in the Fresenius group and eight out of 64 in the Mérieux group). Eighteen Fresenius (75%) and 15 Mérieux (58%) patients suffered from at least one infection ( P=NS). The tolerance to treatment was excellent in both groups. Total lymphocyte count and all subsets of tested lymphocytes decreased rapidly after the introduction of either antiserum but was more pronounced and persisted for longer in the Mérieux group. ATG Fresenius or Thymoglobulin Mérieux as induction treatments in first-heart transplant recipients treated with standard immunosuppression have the same relative efficacy with regard to survival, acute rejection or infection rate, and are well tolerated.


Reasons why adolescents and young adults have sex: associations with psychological characteristics and sexual behavior.
This study examined associations of psychological characteristics and sexual behavior with types of reasons for episodes of sexual intercourse among youth. After completing a baseline assessment, 62 adolescents (47 female) used a handheld computer to report when they had sex as soon as possible after the event as well as in response to random signals. Youth indicated for each sex event the main reason, categorized as intimacy/desire, external, affect management, and other; analyses were restricted to sex with a main partner (234 events). Baseline sexual behavior was not related to reasons for sex. Higher anxiety was associated with external reasons for sex; younger age and lower self-esteem were associated with affect management reasons. Female youth with higher impulsiveness reported more external reasons and fewer intimacy/desire reasons. Among male youth, lower self-esteem was associated with intimacy/desire reasons, but lower depression was associated with affect management reasons. These findings may aid health care providers and researchers in understanding the differences in young people's motivations for sex.


Radioactive Source Localisation via Projective Linear Reconstruction.
Radiation mapping, through the detection of ionising gamma-ray emissions, is an important technique used across the nuclear industry to characterise environments over a range of length scales. In complex scenarios, the precise localisation and activity of radiological sources becomes difficult to determine due to the inability to directly image gamma photon emissions. This is a result of the potentially unknown number of sources combined with uncertainties associated with the source-detector separation-causing an apparent 'blurring' of the as-detected radiation field relative to the true distribution. Accurate delimitation of distinct sources is important for decommissioning, waste processing, and homeland security. Therefore, methods for estimating the precise, 'true' solution from radiation mapping measurements are required. Herein is presented a computational method of enhanced radiological source localisation from scanning survey measurements conducted with a robotic arm. The procedure uses an experimentally derived Detector Response Function (DRF) to perform a randomised-Kaczmarz deconvolution from robotically acquired radiation field measurements. The performance of the process is assessed on radiation maps obtained from a series of emulated waste processing scenarios. The results demonstrate a Projective Linear Reconstruction (PLR) algorithm can successfully locate a series of point sources to within 2 cm of the true locations, corresponding to resolution enhancements of between 5× and 10×.


Carbon assimilation and translocation in soybean leaves at different stages of development.
Carbon assimilation, translocation, and associated biochemical characteristics of the second trifoliolate leaf (numbered acropetally) of chamber-grown soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., plants were studied at selected stages of leaf development during the period from 10 to 25 days postemergence. Leaves of uniform age were selected on the basis of leaf plastochron index (LPI).The test leaf reached full expansion (A(max)) and maximum CO(2) exchange rates on a leaf area basis at 17 days postemergence (LPI 4.1). Maximum carbon exchange rates per unit dry weight of lamina were attained several days earlier and declined as specific leaf weight increased. Chlorophyll and soluble protein continued to increase beyond the attainment of A(max), but were not accompanied by further increases in photosynthetic rates.Much of the fixed carbon in leaves is partitioned between starch and sucrose. Starch content of leaves as a percentage of dry weight at the end of an 11-hour photoperiod was taken as an indication of the potential energy reserve accumulated by the leaf. Starch levels were the same regardless of leaf age during the period from 0.3 A(max) to 7 days after attaining A(max). Respiratory and synthetic activity of leaves decreased considerably during the same period, suggesting that starch accumulation is not entirely controlled by the energy demands of the leaf.Sucrose content increased steadily during leaf expansion and was accompanied by corresponding increases in sucrose phosphate synthetase (EC 126.96.36.199) activity and translocation rates. Sucrose phosphate synthetase may have an important regulatory role in photosynthate partitioning and translocation.


Geranyl derivative of phloroacetophenone induces cancer cell-specific apoptosis through Bax-mediated mitochondrial pathway in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.
Plant-derived polyhenols inhibit cancer cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. Recently, prenylflavonoids and alkyl-phloroacetophenones have been reported for their in vitro antitumor activity. In the present study, we examined the cytotoxic activity of prenyl (3-PAP) and geranyl (3-GAP) derivatives of phloroacetophenone, and xanthohumol (XN), a prenyl-chalcone, in human breast cancer (MCF-7) and human sarcoma (HT1080) cell lines in vitro. 3-GAP showed the strongest cytotoxicity in these cell lines with IC(50) values of less than 10 µM. In addition, we report that 3-GAP is a more potent anti-cancer agent for breast cancer than XN which is a well-known anticancer flavonoid. Moreover, 3-GAP did not induce cytotoxicity in the normal cell line, TCMK-1, whereas 3-PAP and XN significantly reduced TCMK-1 cell viability. In 3-GAP-treated MCF-7 cells, nuclear accumulation and transcriptional activity of p53 were increased. In addition, pro-apoptotic Bax but not B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expression was increased by 3-GAP. In accordance with the Bax increase, 3-GAP induced mitochondrial cytochrome c release and activated caspase-9, an initiator of the caspase cascade. In the MCF-7 cell line which does not express caspase-3, activation of caspase-7, a member of the caspase-3 subfamily, was increased by 3-GAP. The present results indicate that synthetic 3-GAP is a safe and effective anti-cancer agent, and the Bax-mediated mitochondrial pathway is the main apoptosis signaling pathway of 3-GAP in MCF-7 cells.


Order restricted inference for oscillatory systems for detecting rhythmic signals.
Many biological processes, such as cell cycle, circadian clock, menstrual cycles, are governed by oscillatory systems consisting of numerous components that exhibit rhythmic patterns over time. It is not always easy to identify such rhythmic components. For example, it is a challenging problem to identify circadian genes in a given tissue using time-course gene expression data. There is a great potential for misclassifying non-rhythmic as rhythmic genes and vice versa. This has been a problem of considerable interest in recent years. In this article we develop a constrained inference based methodology called Order Restricted Inference for Oscillatory Systems (ORIOS) to detect rhythmic signals. Instead of using mathematical functions (e.g. sinusoidal) to describe shape of rhythmic signals, ORIOS uses mathematical inequalities. Consequently, it is robust and not limited by the biologist's choice of the mathematical model. We studied the performance of ORIOS using simulated as well as real data obtained from mouse liver, pituitary gland and data from NIH3T3, U2OS cell lines. Our results suggest that, for a broad collection of patterns of gene expression, ORIOS has substantially higher power to detect true rhythmic genes in comparison to some popular methods, while also declaring substantially fewer non-rhythmic genes as rhythmic. A user friendly code implemented in R language can be downloaded from http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/atniehs/labs/bb/staff/peddada/index.cfm CONTACT: firstname.lastname@example.com.


Depression and anxiety in children and adolescents with epilepsy: prevalence, risk factors, and treatment.
Among the psychiatric comorbid conditions in children and adolescents with epilepsy, depression and anxiety disorders require further attention because they carry the risk of reduced quality of life and life-threatening complications (e.g., suicide). Research in recent years has shed light on both the prevalence of emotional problems in youth with epilepsy and the safety and efficacy of treatment options. A number of challenges exist in treating patients with epilepsy. This is particularly true when seizures are difficult to control and medication regimens are more complex. Some pharmaceutical options may provide assistance with both seizures and emotional distress, but care is needed when considering such treatment approaches. In addition, integration of mental health professionals into the care of patients is necessary when cases are complicated and risk factors are high. Thorough methods to accurately diagnose emotional conditions and regular monitoring of symptoms can help prevent serious problems that can negatively affect the success of children and adolescents in everyday life. Collaboration between disciplines offers the best hope for early identification and treatment of these conditions.


Geographic Distribution of Cytoplasmic Polyhedrosis Virus Infection in Douglas-Fir Tussock Moth Larvae, Orgyia pseudotsugata, in British Columbia
We have examined the geographic distribution and prevalence of insect-specific viral infections in Douglas-fir tussock moth populations in British Columbia. Nucleic acids extracted from field collected egg masses from 10 different locations in British Columbia were subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis and Southern blot analysis. Electrophoresis of nucleic acids after digestion with RNase A at high and low ionic strengths showed that the extra bands detected in agarose gels were double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). The dsRNA banding pattern was similar to the electropherotype of cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus type 5. CPV infections were found in 27 of 170 DFTM larvae reared from field collected egg masses from four of 10 sites examined in three geographic regions of British Columbia. The CPV-infection rate for the DFTM larvae ranged from 10 to 86% depending on the location of the site.


Personalizing treatment in type 2 diabetes: a self-monitoring of blood glucose inclusive innovative approach.
A strong correlation exists between improved blood glucose control, obtained from the earliest stages of diabetes, and the prevention of complications. However, tight glycometabolic control does not always translate into an advantage for every patient. Because the characteristics of individual patients play an important role in diabetes care, there is a need to develop personalized action plans. This article suggests tailored therapeutic algorithms for some of the commonest type 2 diabetes phenotypes, taking into consideration age, body mass index, presence of micro- and macrovascular complications, hypoglycemia risk, and the co-existence of chronic renal failure. Particular emphasis is placed on exploiting information supplied through the rational use of self-monitoring of blood glucose as a tool for optimizing diabetes management, according to the prevalence of fasting/preprandial or postprandial hyperglycemia.


Trend and geographic analysis for traumatic brain injury mortality and cost based on MarketScan database.
The objective of the current research was to examine the current epidemiology of traumatic brain injury (TBI); to determine the effects of geographic region, co-morbidities, year of injury, injury severity, and demographics on hospital costs, length of stay (LOS), and mortality. All subjects were drawn from the Thomason Reuters MarketScan(®) database. Statistical methods used included descriptive analysis, bivariate analysis, logistic regression, and the Geographic Information System (GIS) software, ArcMap. We studied 76,313 patients with TBI from 2004 to 2009 (52,721 with commercial insurance and 23,592 with Medicare) from the MarketScan database. As age increased, mortality rate and median LOS increased. The median hospital costs for adults were the highest ($13,000 for ages 18-64) compared with children ($8000 for age 0-14) and elderly persons ($9000 for age ≥ 65). The mortality rate for the elderly population has decreased slightly (11.1% in 2004 to 9.9% in 2009 for men, and 7.0% to 6.9% for women); however, their hospital costs have increased significantly ($6899 in 2004 to $11,567 in 2009 for men; $6784 to $9782 for women). Concerning the impact of geography, the western United States (e.g., Washington and California) had lower mortality rates and higher median costs while the southeast United States had the highest mortality and mixed median costs. Both overall mortality and median LOS have remained relatively stable over the years. Hospital cost, however, has increased for the elderly population even after accounting for the inflation. There is significant geographic variation for both mortality and hospital costs.


Correlations between symbolic motor performance and achievement in school for children with minimal brain dysfunction.
Significant correlations were found between grades for reading, writing, and calculating and each child's individual mean reaction time for symbolic motor performance tasks with letters and numbers as stimuli for 240 elementary school boys with minimal brain dysfunction and in first to fourth classes in Prague (Czechoslovakia) and Skopje (Yugoslavia). For age(class)-matched groups of 382 healthy boys the correlations disappeared by the age of ten years. Similar results were noted for groups of boys in both cities.


Evaluation of NR-LU-10 with the Neoprobe gamma detector in a mouse model.
The Neoprobe Model 1000 hand-held gamma detector, in combination with the murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) B72.3 can successfully intraoperatively target both primary and recurrent colorectal cancer. Because of the shortcomings of this system (length of time needed to clear unbound MAb and heterogeneous staining of cancer cells), new MAbs are under investigation. NR-LU-10 IgG and its FAB fragment were evaluated with the Neoprobe gamma detector in a nude mouse model. NR-LU-10 is a pancarcinoma IgG2b antibody that recognizes an oncofetal glycoprotein antigen that is expressed by most carcinomas. Animals were injected intraperitoneally with 125I-labeled IgG, 125I, or technetium 99m (99mTc)-labeled Fab fragment. The Neoprobe gamma detector and standard gamma well counts provided biodistribution and pharmacokinetic data. The Fab fragment achieved a 5:1 tumor to blood-pool background (BPB) ratio in only 66 hr, whereas the whole MAb required 14 days. Technetium did not appear to be an adequate isotope for this system because of its short half-life. Autoradiographs performed for both the 125I-labeled NR-LU-10 IgG and its 125I-labeled Fab fragment (but not 99mTc-labeled Fab) localized well in this model and gave adequate tumor to BPB and tissue ratios. Use of the 125I-labeled Fab significantly decreased the time required for clearance of the MAb radionuclide complex from the blood and tissue background, thus providing earlier tumor localization in the Radioimmunoguided Surgery (RIGS) system.


Screening for barley mutants with altered hormone sensitivity in their aleurone layers.
A method, based on the diffusion assay of alpha-amylase on agar plates, was developed to screen for barley (Himalaya) mutants with altered sensitivity to gibberellic acid (GA(3)) or abscisic acid (ABA) in their aleurone layers. The seeds produced by sodium azide-mutagenized barley were screened for their ability to synthesize and secrete alpha-amylase when treated with different combinations of hormones. Various GA(3)-insensitive or supersensitive, ABA-insensitive, temperature-dependent GA(3)-insensitive, and constitutive mutants have been identified. Several stable mutants with altered GA(3) sensitivity were recovered. Two of the homozygous GA(3)-insensitive mutants have been preliminarily characterized. The GA(3)-enhanced production of alpha-amylase and release of phosphatase are hampered in these mutants. However, they have normal stem height, and the uptake of GA(3) by their aleurone layers appears to be the same as that of wild-type barley. They are most likely regulatory mutants affecting both alpha-amylase synthesis and phosphatase release.


Regulation of cellular responses by deubiquitinating enzymes: an update.
The conjugation of ubiquitin as either a monomer or as a chain has long been known to regulate the stability, localisation, trafficking and/or function of many intracellular proteins. However, the recent explosion in our knowledge of the enzymes responsible for the removal of ubiquitin suggests they also play an important role in the regulation of many processes. Here we examine what is known about the role of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), with particular emphasis upon their impact on cellular responses to external stimuli. In addition, we look at the evidence that although these enzymes are heavily outnumbered by those responsible for ubiquitin conjugation, that these enzymes may still be important cellular regulators, due to their ability to play multiple roles which can be cell type and cell context specific.


Optimum access waveguide width for 1 x N multimode interference couplers on silicon nanomembrane.
We derived an analytical formula for the optimum width of the access waveguides of 1 x N multimode interference (MMI) couplers. Eigenmode-decomposition-based simulations show that the optimum width relation corresponds to the points of diminishing returns in both insertion loss and output uniformity versus access waveguide width. We fabricate and characterize 1 x 12 MMI couplers on a nanomembrane of silicon-on-insulator substrate. The experimental investigations demonstrate that the analytical results can be reliably used as a design rule for MMI couplers with large number of outputs.


Oral colonization of Gram-negative anaerobes as a risk factor for preterm delivery.
Preterm birth significantly impacts on neonatal morbidity and mortality and is apparently increasing world-wide. Several studies have attempted to define a causative role for periodontal disease in adverse pregnancy outcomes but few have focused on the microbiology of periodontal disease in relation to these outcomes. The evidence for a positive correlation is strong, supported by microbiological and immunological findings. Conflicting results are often associated with uncontrolled confounding factors. A literature search was conducted in order to establish whether or not a role exists for oral Gram-negative bacteria in adverse pregnancy outcomes. Association and intervention studies are summarized along with pathogenic potential of the Gram-negative bacteria most frequently implicated in periodontal disease.


Broadband up-conversion at subsolar irradiance: triplet-triplet annihilation boosted by fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals.
Conventional solar cells exhibit limited efficiencies in part due to their inability to absorb the entire solar spectrum. Sub-band-gap photons are typically lost but could be captured if a material that performs up-conversion, which shifts photon energies higher, is coupled to the device. Recently, molecular chromophores that undergo triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) have shown promise for efficient up-conversion at low irradiance, suitable for some types of solar cells. However, the molecular systems that have shown the highest up-conversion efficiency to date are ill suited to broadband light harvesting, reducing their applicability. Here we overcome this limitation by combining an organic TTA system with highly fluorescent CdSe semiconductor nanocrystals. Because of their broadband absorption and spectrally narrow, size-tunable fluorescence, the nanocrystals absorb the radiation lost by the TTA chromophores, returning this energy to the up-converter. The resulting nanocrystal-boosted system shows a doubled light-harvesting ability, which allows a green-to-blue conversion efficiency of ∼12.5% under 0.5 suns of incoherent excitation. This record efficiency at subsolar irradiance demonstrates that boosting the TTA by light-emitting nanocrystals can potentially provide a general route for up-conversion for different photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications.


Antiphospholipid antibodies and recurrent pregnancy loss.
Women with antiphospholipid antibodies have a significant risk of reproductive failure and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The incidence of recurrent abortion, fetal death, and intrauterine fetal growth retardation is significant. Women with a history of recurrent abortion and unexplained fetal death or a history of recurrent thrombotic episodes should be screened for the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. The benefit of routine screening of pregnant women for the presence of these antibodies has not been established, and the yield from such screening studies has been found to be low. No treatment regimen has eliminated fetal loss and adverse pregnancy events completely in women with the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. Even when treatment is instituted, maternal and fetal status must be monitored closely. Management of such patients has not been standardized, and various treatment regimens have been found to be efficacious. Multicenter randomized treatment trials are currently underway, and standardization of therapy in these patients may be achieved.


[The Quebec-Ontario fertility differential].
"Various economic, political, social and demographic factors may explain the different evolution of fertility in Quebec and Ontario. After a brief historical outlook, the author analyses more specifically the distribution of the population according to place of birth. This leads to the conclusion that the high proportion of immigrant women in Ontario, jointly with their above-average fertility, has played a major role in increasing the fertility gap between Quebec and Ontario at the beginning of the 1980's." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND SPA)


Nonimmunoglobulin Crystal-Storing Histiocytosis (CSH): Case Report and Literature Review.
Crystal-storing histiocytosis (CSH) is an uncommon condition in which histiocytes accumulate a crystalline matter within their cytoplasm. Generally, those crystals are composed of either monoclonal or polyclonal immunoglobulin chains, which have a strong association with an underlying lymphoproliferative or plasma cell disorder (LP-PCD). Rarely, CSH has been reported as local or generalized manifestation of a variety of benign disorders. These cases are associated with crystals composed of nonimmunoglobulin substances. We are reporting an exceptional case of a local colonic CSH with Charcot-Leyden crystals. This patient underwent a screening colonoscopy that detected some polyps. The biopsy reported tubular adenomas, with a markedly dense, transmural inflammatory infiltrates, which were predominantly composed of eosinophils and crystal-storing histiocytes containing Charcot-Leyden crystals. The patient had a negative workup for LP-PCD and autoimmune conditions, including a normal skeletal survey and bone marrow aspirate/biopsy. The only positive laboratory workup was an elevated absolute eosinophil count and a positive IgG anti-Strongyloides antibody. Giving those findings, this parasitic infection is the most likely etiology of the CSH in our patient. Although there was an initial negative evaluation for LP-PCD, close monitoring of patients with either immunoglobulin or nonimmunoglobulin CSH is recommended.


The impact of a new emergency admission avoidance system for older people on length of stay and same-day discharges.
unplanned hospital admissions of older patients continue to attract the attention of UK policymakers, advisors and media. Reducing the number and length of stay (LOS) of these admissions has the potential to save NHS substantial costs while reducing iatrogenic risks. Some NHS trusts have introduced geriatric admission-avoidance systems, but evidence of their effectiveness is lacking. In September 2010, The Royal Free Hospital and Haverstock Healthcare Ltd, a GP provider organisation, introduced an admission-avoidance system for patients aged 70 or over: the Triage and Rapid Elderly Assessment Team (TREAT). to measure the effect of TREAT on LOS and the rate of same-day discharges (an inverse measure of admission rate). TREAT was based in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department of the Royal Free Hospital, London. a pre- and post-retrospective cohort study comparing the 5,416 emergency geriatric admissions in the 12 months preceding the introduction of TREAT with the 5,370 emergency geriatric admissions in the 12 months following. Emergency geriatric admissions were divided into TREAT-matching and residual (non-matching) cohorts from hospital provider spell records, using the Healthcare Resource Group (HRG), treatment function and patient classification of the TREAT admissions. LOS and same-day discharge rates were measured over the pre- and post-TREAT periods: for the TREAT-matching cohort; for the residual cohort of emergency geriatric admissions; and for all emergency geriatric admissions. TREAT is a system of care combining early Accident and Emergency (A&E)-based senior doctor review, Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), therapist assessment and supported discharge; post-discharge supported recovery; and a rapid access geriatric 'hot-clinic'. TREAT was supported by a post-acute care enablement (PACE) team, providing short-term nursing support immediately following discharge. TREAT accepted 593 geriatric admissions over a 12-month period, of which 32.04% were discharged on the day of admission. The mean LOS was 4.41 days, and the median LOS was 1 day. After the introduction of TREAT, mean LOS reduced by 18.16% (1.78 days, P < 0.001) for TREAT-matching admissions; by 11.65% (1.13 days, P < 0.001) for all emergency geriatric admissions; and by 1.08% (0.11 days, P = 0.065) for the residual population. Over the same period, the percentage of admissions resulting in same-day discharges increased from 12.26 to 16.23% (OR: 1.386, 95% CI: 1.203-1.597, P < 0.001) for TREAT-matching admissions, but for the residual population fell from 15.01 to 9.77% (OR: 0.613, P < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.737-0.509). TREAT appears to have reduced avoidable emergency geriatric admissions, and to have shortened LOS for all emergency geriatric admissions. It aims to address the King's Fund's call for an 'overall system of care rather than lots of discrete processes' through 'better design and co-ordination of services following the needs of older people'. The ease of set-up lends itself to replication and testing in clinical and cost-effectiveness studies. Further studies are needed to measure the impact of TREAT on re-admission rates, patient outcomes and satisfaction.


[Risk factor, natural history and prognosis of the patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans].
A sufficient understanding of the risk factor and the natural history of arteriosclerosis obliterans, ASO, is essential for selecting the optimal treatment for this condition. Hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and cigarette smoking have been identified as independent major risk factors of ASO, and diabetics, obesity, hypertrigriceridemia, low HDL-cholesterol level, aging, gender, etc, as minor factors. The patients with ASO often have multiple risk factors, synergistically accelerating the disease progression. Recent objective studies on natural history of claudicants have demonstrated a more morbid prognosis, especially in the patients with disabling claudication, than that outlined by previous historical studies. Mortality rates for ASO patients in long-term follow-up have revealed to be significantly higher than those observed in control groups. The causes of death are mostly arteriosclerotic vascular disease, particularly coronary artery and cerebrovascular diseases, which indicate the significance of the systemic evaluation in treating patients with ASO.


Relationship between ventral stream for object vision and dorsal stream for spatial vision: an fMRI + ERP study.
Recent imaging studies indicated the existence of two visual pathways in humans: a ventral stream for object and form vision and a dorsal stream for spatial and motion vision. The present study was motivated by a stimulating question: Supposing shape and motion are processed separately in the two pathways, how do the respective cortical areas respond to the stimuli of "forms defined by motion"? fMRI and ERP recordings were combined in order to measure the spatiotemporal activation pattern in the two pathways responding to forms defined by motion, which were produced solely by coherent movement of random dots against a background of dynamic or static random dots. The fMRI data indicated that the stimuli of forms defined by motion indeed activated both dorsal MT/V5 and ventral GTi/GF. Furthermore, the RV curves resulting from fMRI-seeded dipole modeling indicated that each pair of dipoles located at MT/V5 or GTi/GF reached the same best-fit point; a single pair of free dipoles located near the fMRI foci of MT/V5 and GTi/GF could be identified at the corresponding best-fit point; and the source waveforms resulting from fixed dipole modeling also showed simultaneous activation of MT/V5 and GTi/GF dipoles in the time interval around the best-fit point. The present results, therefore, suggest that MT/V5 and GTi/GF appear to be activated in parallel and simultaneously responding to forms defined by motion. Such findings raise interesting issues about the hierarchical organization and the functional specialization in the two pathways.


Design, material and methods in the NORA study. Nordic Research on Ageing.
This paper describes the research design of the NORA (Nordic Research on Ageing) study carried out in three Nordic localities. Response and participation rates in the baseline (age 75) and follow-up (age 80) studies are shown for each locality; in addition, the number of dead and censored cases are presented. In Göteborg, 450 persons were randomly sampled for invitation to the baseline study among all persons aged 75 years; in Glostrup, 571 persons aged 75 were selected, and in Jyväskylä all 388 persons aged 75 were selected. Baseline measurements were conducted in Jyväskylä and Glostrup in 1989, and in Göteborg in 1990. The participants were first interviewed at home, and afterwards went through tests and examinations in a standardized laboratory environment. The follow-up study was carried out five years after the baseline study. In Jyväskylä 92.9% (N=355), in Göteborg 82.5% (N=368), and in Glostrup 84.5% (N=480) of the eligible subjects took part in the baseline interview; corresponding figures for taking a test at the laboratory/clinic of the study center were 77.2% (N=295), 72.4% (N=323) and 72.4% (N=411). For the follow-up interview, those subjects who took part in the baseline interview were considered eligible. The participation rate was 93.6% (N=250) in Jyväskylä, 76.6% (N=226) in Göteborg, and 79.1% (N=277) in Glostrup. Corresponding figures for the tests at the study center were 71.5% (N=191), 71.9% (N=212) and 59.7% (N=209). The mortality rate was lowest in Göteborg (19.0%), and highest in Glostrup (27.2%). The data of the NORA study enables various types of descriptions and comparisons to be made across localities and measurement occasions.


The use of immunonutrition in burn injury care: where are we?
The aim of this study is to review the current evidence for immunonutrition use in patients with burn injury. Nutrients of interest included glutamine, arginine, and omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil). A literature review was conducted to identify studies that evaluated the use of immunonutrients in pediatric and adult patients with burn injury. Search terms included burns, immunonutrition, pharmaconutrition, glutamine, arginine, omega-3, and fish oil. Glutamine: Nine randomized controlled trials (four represented in abstract only) investigating enteral supplementation and two trials investigating parenteral supplementation of glutamine were identified. Arginine: Five trials investigating the effect of arginine supplementation were identified (three represented in abstract only). Omega-3 fatty acids: Three studies investigating the effect of enteral fish oil supplementation were identified (one represented in abstract only). Combined immunonutrients: Six studies were identified that investigated immunonutrients as a combination of active dietary constituents (rather than as individual nutrients). Despite the semiessential nature of arginine after burn injury, there were surprisingly little data regarding nutritional supplementation. Literature around supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids is found to be lacking in the burn injury population. The combination of immunonutrients as a component of enteral formulae limits identification of the active nutrient and ideal dosage. Current evidence supports the use of enteral glutamine supplementation for patients with severe burn injuries. Questions remain regarding dosage, timing, and length of supplementation.


The Mount Sinai conference on the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia.
This report summarizes the recommendations from a consensus meeting that focused on specific questions regarding the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia. The issues were selected because there was evidence that experts had recently disagreed about the evidence supporting a particular practice or when there were substantial variations in a clinical practice indicating that there was disagreement among clinicians. The group of experts was able to reach a consensus regarding the evidence base pertaining to the following issues: First generation (FGAs) and second generation (SGAs) antipsychotics as first line agents; the duration of antipsychotic trials; the effectiveness of clozapine and other agents for treatment refractory schizophrenia; risk of tardive dyskinesia on FGAs and SGAs; differences among antipsychotics for different dimensions of psychopathology; and side effect monitoring for various antipsychotics.


Coping and family functioning predict longitudinal psychological adaptation of siblings of childhood cancer patients.
To assess associations of coping and family functioning with psychosocial adjustment in siblings of pediatric cancer patients at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months after diagnosis. Eighty-three siblings (ages 7-19 years) participated. Effects on anxiety, quality of life, behavioral-emotional problems, and emotional reactions to the illness were investigated. Data-analysis was performed with multilevel mixed modeling. Psychosocial functioning was impaired at 1 month but ameliorated over time. Adjustment problems were associated with high family adaptation and cohesion, older age, and female gender. Lower anxiety, insecurity, loneliness, and illness involvement were related to siblings' ability to remain optimistic. Insecurity and illness involvement were positively related to reliance on the medical specialist and a tendency to seek information about the illness. Siblings of pediatric cancer patients are most affected by the illness in the first months. Children at risk may be identified according to sibling age and gender and according to long-term family adaptation processes and sibling coping abilities.


Oxidative Stress in Granulosa-Lutein Cells From In Vitro Fertilization Patients.
Ovarian aging is associated with gradual follicular loss by atresia/apoptosis. Increased production of toxic metabolites such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species as well as external oxidant agents plays an important role in the process of ovarian senescence and in the pathogenesis of ovarian pathologies such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This review provides a synthesis of available studies of oxidative stress (OS) in the ovary, focusing on the most recent evidence obtained in mural granulosa-lutein (GL) cells of in vitro fertilization patients. Synthesis of antioxidant enzymes such as peroxiredoxin 4, superoxide dismutase, and catalase and OS damage response proteins such as aldehyde dehydrogenase 3, member A2 decreases with aging in human GL cells, favoring an unbalance in ROS/antioxidants that mediates molecular damage and altered cellular function. The increase in OS in the granulosa cell correlates with diminished expression of follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) and a dysregulation of the FSHR signaling pathway and may be implicated in disrupted steroidogenic function and poor response to FSH in women with aging. Women with endometriosis and PCOS have lower antioxidant production capacity that may contribute to abnormal follicular development and infertility. Further investigation of the signaling pathways involved in cellular response to OS could shed light into molecular characterization of these diseases and development of new treatment strategies to improve reproductive potential in these women.


Holotranscobalamin is not influenced by decreased renal function in elderly men: the MrOS Sweden study.
Subclinical cobalamin deficiency is common in the elderly, but the sensitivity and specificity of serum total cobalamin for this diagnosis is poor. Serum holotranscobalamin (holoTC), a measure of biologically available cobalamin, is considered a better marker for early cobalamin depletion than total cobalamin. However, in elderly populations, health-related reference intervals for holoTC and correlations to renal function are not entirely clear. HoloTC was determined with an automated microparticle enzyme immunoassay (AxSYM®) in 790 elderly non-vitamin-supplemented Swedish men, median age 75.3 years. Renal function was assessed with creatinine, cystatin C and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR calculated from creatinine). Median holoTC was 51.8 pmol/L, the health-related reference interval 19.6-132.3 pmol/L. There was no significant difference in mean holoTC in probands with normal compared to high creatinine (P = 0.80) and cystatin C (P = 0.82). No significant differences between the quartiles of creatinine or cystatin C in mean of log holoTC were seen. HoloTC correlated strongly with total cobalamin (r = 0.69, P < 0.001), weaker with eGFRcreatinine (r = -0.09, P < 0.05) and creatinine (r = 0.09, P < 0.05), the latter correlation was only seen in subjects with creatinine <100 µmol/L. HoloTC correlated negatively with plasma total homocysteine (r = -0.24, P < 0.001), but not with cystatin C and age. Serum holoTC in healthy elderly men shows the same distribution as earlier described for a younger reference population. In this group of elderly subjects, holoTC did not correlate to reduced renal function. Thus, holoTC appears to be a promising tool for evaluating cobalamin status also in elderly populations.