Meiotic chromosome movement: what's lamin got to do with it?
Active meiotic chromosome movements are a universally conserved feature. They occur at the early stages of prophase of the first meiotic division and support the chromosome pairing process by (1) efficiently installing the synaptonemal complex between homologous chromosomes, (2) discouraging inadvertent chromosome interactions and (3) bringing homologous chromosomes into proximity. Chromosome movements are driven by forces in the cytoplasm, which are passed on to chromosome ends attached to the nuclear periphery by nuclear-membrane-spanning protein modules. In this extra view, we highlight our recent studies into the role of the nuclear lamina during this process to emphasize that it is a highly conserved structure in metazoans. The nuclear lamina forms a rigid proteinaceous network that underlies the inner nuclear membrane to provide stability to the nucleus. Misdemeanors of the nuclear lamina during meiosis has deleterious consequences for the viability and health of the offspring, highlighting the importance of a functional nuclear lamina during this cell cycle stage. Abbreviations: DSB: DNA double strand break; LEM: LAP2, Emerin, MAN1; LINC: LInker of the Nucleoskeleton and Cytoskeleton; RPM: rapid prophase movement; SUN/KASH: Sad1p, UNC-84/Klarsicht, ANC-1, Syne Homology.


Anti-bullying intervention: implementation and outcome.
The participant role approach represents a view of bullying as a group process in which bystanders often encourage the bullying or silently witness it, while little support is given to the victim (e.g. Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, Osterman, & Kaukiainen, 1996). There is a discrepancy between students' attitudes (which are often against bullying) and their actual behaviour in bullying situations, and this may be an important factor contributing to the persistence of the problem. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of an anti-bullying intervention programme targeting the group as a whole. Class teachers who attended a 1-year training course carried out the interventions in school classes. The present evaluation of the project is based on multi-level modelling, assessing the programme effects after 12 months of intervention, utilizing a cohort longitudinal design with adjacent cohorts (Olweus & Alsaker, 1991) also taking into account the degree of implementation of the programme. The intervention was implemented in 48 school classes (Grades 4, 5, and 6) from 16 Finnish schools, involving 1,220 children (600 girls and 620 boys). The present report is based on questionnaire data collected at two assessment points during the project, assessing the frequencies of bullies and victims, the extent of observed and experienced bullying, students' attitudes and efficacy beliefs related to bullying, and their participant role behaviours (self- and peer-reported). Reports were collected from teachers about the concrete actions taken in order to compare the actual content of the intervention to what had been planned. A positive impact of the intervention programme was found on several outcome variables (e.g. frequencies of bullies and victims, observed and experienced bullying, attitudes and efficacy beliefs, and to some extent, participant role behaviours). The intervention effects were found more often in Grade 4 than in Grade 5, and often only in schools with a high degree of implementation of the programme.


Diffusion-weighted MR imaging with apparent diffusion coefficient and apparent diffusion tensor maps in cervical spondylotic myelopathy.
To evaluate diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in patients with cervical spondylosis and/or myelopathy. A multishot echo-planar imaging sequence with calculation of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and apparent diffusion tensor (ADT) was applied in 36 patients with symptomatic cervical spondylosis. Diffusion-weighted images read by two neuroradiologists were compared with T2-weighted fast spin-echo images read independently by three neuroradiologists with regard to clinical status (n = 36). MR findings in a selected subgroup of 20 patients whose clinical status was confirmed by electrophysiologic examination also were compared. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of both T2-weighted imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging (ADC and ADT) were calculated and compared. Patients with myelopathy had abnormal ADC (17 of 21) and ADT (15 of 19) maps with increased ADC and ADT values and decreased anisotropy. For the detection of myelopathy, diffusion-weighted ADC maps had a sensitivity of 80% (17 of 21), while T2-weighted images had a sensitivity of 61% (13 of 21). The negative predictive value was 63% (seven of 11) and 60% (12 of 20) for ADC maps and T2-weighted images, respectively. Conversely, the specificity of diffusion-weighted images (53%; seven of 13) was lower than that of T2-weighted images (92%; 12 of 13). In patients with myelopathy confirmed at electrophysiologic examination, the sensitivity of diffusion-weighted images increased to 92% (12 of 13) and the negative predictive value increased to 75% (three of four), while T2-weighted images had a 53% (seven of 13) sensitivity and a 50% (six of 12) negative predictive value. Diffusion weighting improved the sensitivity of imaging in cervical spondylotic myelopathy.


Candidate genes involved in cuticular hydrocarbon differentiation between cryptic, parabiotic ant species.
Insect cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are highly diverse and have multiple functions, including communication and waterproofing. CHC profiles form species-specific, complex blends of up to 150 compounds. Especially in ants, even closely related species can have largely different profiles, raising the question how CHC differences are mirrored in the regulation of biosynthetic pathways. The neotropical ants Crematogaster levior and Camponotus femoratus both consist of two cryptic species each that are morphologically similar, but express strongly different CHC profiles. This is ideal to study the molecular basis of CHC differences. We thus investigated gene expression differences in fat-body transcriptomes of these ants. Despite common garden conditions, we found several thousand differentially expressed transcripts within each cryptic species pair. Many of these were related to metabolic processes, probably accounting for physiological differences. Moreover, we identified candidate genes from five gene families involved in CHC biosynthesis. By assigning candidate transcripts to orthologs in Drosophila, we inferred which CHCs might be influenced by differential gene expression. Expression of these candidate genes was often mirrored in the CHC profiles. For example, Cr. levior A, which has longer CHCs than its cryptic sister species, had a higher expression of elongases and a lower expression of fatty acyl- CoA reductases. This study is one of the first to identify CHC candidate genes in ants and will provide a basis for further research on the genetic basis of CHC biosynthesis.


Examining the transition of novel information toward familiarity.
Throughout their lives, humans encounter multiple instances of new information that can be inconsistent with prior knowledge (novel). Over time, the once-novel information becomes integrated into their established knowledge base, shifting from novelty to familiarity. In this study, we investigated the processes by which the first steps of this transition take place. We hypothesized that the neural representations of initially novel items gradually change over the course of repeated presentations, expressing a shift toward familiarity. We further assumed that this shift could be traced by examining neural patterns using fMRI. In two experiments, while being scanned, participants read noun-adjective word pairs that were either consistent or inconsistent with their prior knowledge. Stimuli were repeated 3-6 times within the scans. Employing mass univariate and multivariate similarity analyses, we showed that the neural representations associated with the initial presentation of familiar versus novel objects differed in lateral frontal and temporal regions, the medial prefrontal cortex, and the medial temporal lobe. Importantly, the neural representations of novel stimuli gradually changed throughout repetitions until they became indistinguishable from their respective familiar items. We interpret these findings as indicating that an early phase of familiarization can be completed within a few repetitions. This initial familiarization can then serve as the prerequisite to the integration of novel items into existing knowledge. Future empirical and theoretical works can build on the current findings to develop a comprehensive model of the transition from novelty to familiarity.


De Novo Design of a β-Helix Tau Protein Scaffold: An Oligomer-Selective Vaccine Immunogen Candidate for Alzheimer's Disease.
Tau pathology is associated with many neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), where the spatio-temporal pattern of tau neurofibrillary tangles strongly correlates with disease progression, which motivates therapeutics selective for misfolded tau. Here, we introduce a new avidity-enhanced, multi-epitope approach for protein-misfolding immunogen design, which is predicted to mimic the conformational state of an exposed epitope in toxic tau oligomers. A predicted oligomer-selective tau epitope 343KLDFK347 was scaffolded by designing a β-helix structure that incorporated multiple instances of the 16-residue tau fragment 339VKSEKLDFKDRVQSKI354. Large-scale conformational ensemble analyses involving Jensen-Shannon Divergence and the embedding depth D showed that the multi-epitope scaffolding approach, employed in designing the β-helix scaffold, was predicted to better discriminate toxic tau oligomers than other "monovalent" strategies utilizing a single instance of an epitope for vaccine immunogen design. Using Rosetta, 10,000 sequences were designed and screened for the linker portions of the β-helix scaffold, along with a C-terminal stabilizing α-helix that interacts with the linkers, to optimize the folded structure and stability of the scaffold. Structures were ranked by energy, and the lowest 1% (82 unique sequences) were verified using AlphaFold. Several selection criteria involving AlphaFold are implemented to obtain a lead-designed sequence. The structure was further predicted to have free energetic stability by using Hamiltonian replica exchange molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The synthesized β-helix scaffold showed direct binding in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments to several antibodies that were raised to the structured epitope using a designed cyclic peptide. Moreover, the strength of binding of these antibodies to in vitro tau oligomers correlated with the strength of binding to the β-helix construct, suggesting that the construct presents an oligomer-like conformation and may thus constitute an effective oligomer-selective immunogen.


Salary survey of ambulatory care clinical pharmacists.
To determine salary and selected fringe benefits of members of the Ambulatory Care Practice and Research Network of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, we developed a self-administered questionnaire that surveyed demographic information, schooling and training, academic appointments, yearly salary (as of February 1, 1995), source of salary, outside income, annual raise, vacation time, financial support for continuing education, and board certification. Ninety-nine surveys were returned (return rate 46%). Respondents were mostly women (58%), their average age was 34 years (range 25-51 yrs), and they had a median of 5 years in the work force. Most respondents (67%) had residency training, whereas only 21% had fellowship experience. Board certification was reported by 46%. The median salary was $53,500 (average $55,861, range $35-90 k), with progression for academic rank. The last salary increase averaged 3.7%. Most (93%) respondents received an average of $1509 for travel. The survey represents a young work force. The salaries vary but show progression for accomplishment.


Gasdynamic electron cyclotron ion sources: Basic physics, applications, and diagnostic techniques.
The gasdynamic electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source is a type of the device in which the ionization efficiency is achieved primarily due to a high plasma density. Because of a high particle collision rate, the confinement is determined by a gasdynamic plasma outflow from a magnetic trap. Due to high efficiency of resonant heating, electrons gain energy significantly higher than that in inductively or capacitively coupled plasmas. As a consequence of such a parameter combination, the gasdynamic ECR plasma can be a unique source of low to medium charged ions, providing a high current and an ultimate quality of an ion beam. One of the most demanded directions of its application today is a development of high-current proton injectors for modern accelerators and neutron sources of different intensities. Special plasma parameters allow for the use of diagnostic techniques, traditional for multiply charged ECR plasmas as well as for other types of discharges with a high plasma density. Among the additional techniques, one can mention the methods of numerical simulation and reconstruction of the plasma density and temperature from the parameters of the extracted ion beams. Another point is that the high plasma density makes it possible to measure it from the Stark broadening of hydrogen lines by spectroscopy of plasma emission in the visible range, which is a fairly convenient non-invasive diagnostic method. The present paper discusses the main physical aspects of the gasdynamic ECR plasma, suitable diagnostic techniques, and possibilities and future prospects for its various applications.


Capillary gas chromatographic determination of thiabendazole in citrus and apple juices.
A rapid and simple procedure for the determination of thiabendazole (TBZ) residue in citrus and apple juices is described. A juice sample is made basic with 2M NaOH and applied to a disposable Extrelut prepacked column. TBZ is eluted with hexane-ethyl acetate (3 + 1) from the column. The eluate is evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure and then dissolved in an internal standard solution. TBZ is monitored without derivatization by capillary gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus detection. The recoveries of TBZ added to fruit juices at 0.05-1.0 micrograms/g were 90-96%. The limit of detection of the method for TBZ was 0.01 micrograms/g. The proposed method is rapid, simple, and sensitive and is applicable to the determination of TBZ in commercial fruit juices.


Tubularized incised plate urethroplasty for hypospadias reoperation: a review and meta-analysis.
Tubularized Incised Plate (TIP) urethroplasty is a technique for urethral reconstruction of hypospadias although there are some controversies for its use in recurrent cases. The aim of this study was to review the results of TIP technique in various studies and the usage of different flaps for covering the repair site. Extensive Search was performed for articles published between 1994 and 2013 in common electronic databases. The overall TIP complication rates were estimated by a fixed effects model meta-analysis. 17 articles of hypospadia repair using the TIP method were reviewed. All studies performed surgery and repair on the basis of the Snodgrass's method; however, some introduced modifications to the method. The prevalence of complications in repeated TIP surgery was 11.1 to 33.3% and the most prevalent complication in different studies was fistula. Based on the meta-analysis, the overall estimation of complications was 21.8% (95% CI: 18.3 to 25.5). Most studies performed the incision of the urethral plate to create a supportive coverage upon neourethra, and confirmed its success. We recommend further investigation on using different flaps in well-designed randomized controlled trials to choose the best surgical method for repairing recurrent hypospadias.


Quality Evaluation of English Mobile Applications for Gestational Diabetes: App Review using Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS).
Mobile applications and social media serve their users as convenient tools to improve and monitor diseases and conditions such as pregnancy. These tools also exert a positive impact on Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) self-management. Despite the expansion of mobile health apps for the management of GDM, no study has evaluated these apps using a valid tool. This study aimed to search and review the apps developed for this purpose, providing overall and specific rating scores for each aspect of MARS. Two cases of app stores (IOS and Google Play) were searched in January 2019 for apps related to GDM. Search keywords included "gestational diabetes", "pregnant diabetes", and "Health apps". Eligibility criteria include: capable of running on Android or IOS operating systems, in the English language, especially for GDM, and available in Iran. After removal of duplicates, the apps were reviewed, rated, and evaluated independently by two reviewers with Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) tools. Initially, 102 apps were identified after the exclusion process, five selected apps were downloaded and analyzed. All apps were classified into four categories according to contents and their interactive capabilities. In most quadrants of MARS, the Pregnant with Diabetes app received the highest scores. Also, in general, the maximum app quality mean score belonged to Pregnant with Diabetes (3.10 / 5.00). Findings revealed that apps designed for GDM are small in number and poor in quality based on MARS tools. Therefore, considering pregnant women's need for using the capabilities of these apps in pregnancy management and promoting community-based care, it seems essential to develop and design a series of high-quality apps in all four specified categories (only giving comments, obtaining data and giving comments, diagnosis of GDM, and diet calculator).


Small-volume resuscitation with hypertonic saline (2,400 mOsm/liter) during hemorrhagic shock.
We compared small-volume resuscitation using either normal saline or hypertonic saline (2400 mOsm/liter) during hemorrhagic hypotension. Six unanesthetized sheep were bled to 50 mm Hg mean arterial pressure and maintained for 2 h. During this shock period cardiac output decreased 40-50% of baseline, while total peripheral resistance increased 20-30%. Then the response to a bolus injection of either hypertonic saline or normal saline, randomly chosen, was studied for an additional 2 h. The volume injected was 145-175 ml, equal to 10% of total shed blood volume. After data collection all shed blood was returned. Several days later, the protocol was repeated on each sheep with the alternate solution. After hypertonic saline the mean arterial pressure increased 48 mm Hg to 83% of control; with normal saline, mean arterial pressure increased 26 mm Hg. Cardiac output recovered to 95% of control immediately after infusion of hypertonic saline, while no significant increase was observed with normal saline. Ten minutes after injection of hypertonic saline, plasma volume increased approximately 360 ml, but with normal saline no increase was observed. We conclude that small-volume injection of hypertonic saline can dramatically improve circulatory function during hemorrhagic shock, as evidenced by expansion of plasma volume, increased cardiac output, and reduced peripheral resistance.


Inhibition and inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 colony biofilms by micellar-encapsulated eugenol and carvacrol.
The antimicrobial efficacy of carvacrol and eugenol, two essential oil compounds, encapsulated in a micellar nonionic surfactant solution on four strains of Listeria monocytogenes (Scott A, 101, 108, and 310) and four strains of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (H1730, E0019, F4546, and 932) growing as colony biofilms was investigated. Carvacrol and eugenol were encapsulated in Surfynol 485W at concentrations ranging from 0.3 to 0.9% (wt/wt) at a surfactant concentration of 5% (wt/wt). Colony biofilms were grown on polycarbonate membranes resting on agar plates containing antimicrobial formulations. Cells were enumerated after 0, 3, 6, 9, 24, 48, and 72 h of incubation. Colony biofilms of all E. coli O157:H7 strains were more sensitive to both antimicrobial systems than L. monocytogenes strains. Surface-grown E. coli O157:H7 viable cell numbers decreased below detectable levels after exposure to encapsulated essential oil compounds for > 3 h at all tested concentrations, except for E. coli O157:H7 F4546, which grew slowly in the presence of < 0.5% (wt/wt) eugenol. L. monocytogenes Scott A and 101 were more resistant to eugenol than carvacrol at sublethal concentrations (< 0.5% [wt/wt]). Carvacrol was effective at any concentration against L. monocytogenes 108, whereas concentrations of > 0.5% (wt/wt) eugenol were required for inactivation. L. monocytogenes 310 was equally sensitive to both essential oil compounds. Results suggest that surfactant-encapsulated generally recognized as safe essential oil compounds may offer a new means to control the growth of food pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes on food contact surfaces.


[Non-oncologic chronic pain relief with opioids].
Opioids for non cancer pain control are controversial. The evaluation of the pain relief, changes in quality of life and complications due to long term infusion of opioids in the lumbar subarachnoid space in 11 patients with non cancer pain were the goals of this study. Patients were previously treated with drugs and surgical procedures, without significant pain relief. Patients were asked to compare pain characteristics and daily life activities before and after this treatment. The long term spinal opioids through implantable pumps for non-oncologic pain produced pain relief but did not improve the quality of life in the majority of the cases.


A unique way to treat Goodpasture's disease.
A 21-year-old man with no medical history presented to the emergency department with fatigue, oliguria and lower extremity oedema. Initial laboratory tests showed that the patient was in acute renal failure with a creatinine of 12.8 mg/dL (normal 0.51-1.18 mg/dL). Further work up showed crescentic glomerulonephritis on renal biopsy, and serology was positive for antiglomerular basement antibody (titre 191 U/mL, normal 0-0.7 U/mL). Shortly after diagnosis he developed haemoptysis and chest imaging was consistent with pulmonary haemorrhage. The standard immunotherapy for Goodpasture's disease is cyclophosphamide, but due to known reproductive toxicities associated with cyclophosphamide and the patient's age, it was decided to use alternate but less studied therapies for treatment. At discharge, the patient had undergone five plasmapheresis treatments, had received two doses of Rituximab with a steroid taper, and his antiglomerular basement membrane level had decreased significantly.


MitraClip for mitral valve regurgitation and transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe aortic valve stenosis: state-of-the-art.
There is a worldwide expansion in percutaneous therapy for valvular heart disease. Rapidly evolving technology and the general increase in life expectancy will support the evolution of new treatment options dedicated to structural heart interventions. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation for severe aortic valve stenosis and percutaneous mitral valve repair with the MitraClip system for severe mitral regurgitation have been demonstrated as a feasible, innovative alternative for surgical treatment. Despite the inequality in clinical experience, both procedures have encouraging results and now are a part of everyday clinical practice. More importantly, rapid development is expected in the next decades. However, the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic imposed redistribution of healthcare resources. Hospitals were obliged to modify their workflow and limit TAVI and MitraClip procedures to urgent or in highly symptomatic patients. Despite this encumbrance improvement in technology and experience supported by robust evidence from current studies might extend indications for both procedures. The future holds promise for this treatment modality to become the preferred procedure for all patients despite age or risk and reserving surgical treatment for a minority. Thus, we present state-of-the-art and current evidence for both methods assumed to change the paradigm of treatment of valvular heart failure in the future.


Iodine quantification with dual-energy CT: phantom study and preliminary experience with VX2 residual tumour in rabbits after radiofrequency ablation.
The purpose of our study was to validate iodine quantification in a phantom study with dual-source dual-energy CT (DECT) and to apply this technique to differentiate benign periablational reactive tissue from residual tumour in VX2 carcinoma in rabbits after radiofrequency ablation (RFA). We applied iodine quantification with DECT in a phantom and in VX2 carcinoma in rabbits after incomplete RFA to differentiate benign periablational reactive tissue from residual tumour and evaluated its efficacy in demonstrating response to therapeutic RFA. A series of tubes containing solutions of varying iodine concentration were scanned with DECT. The iodine concentration was calculated and compared with known true iodine concentration. Triple-phase contrast-enhanced DECT data on 24 rabbits with VX2 carcinoma were then assessed at Day 3 (n=6), 1 week (n=6), 2 weeks (n=6) and 3 weeks (n=6) after incomplete RFA independently by 2 readers. Dual-energy postprocessing was used to produce iodine-only images. Regions of interest were positioned on the iodine image over the lesion and, as a reference, over the aorta, to record iodine concentration in the lesion and in the aorta. The pathological specimens were sectioned in the same plane as DECT imaging, and the lesion iodine concentration and lesion-to-aorta iodine ratio of residual tumour and benign periablational reactive tissue were assessed. There was excellent correlation between calculated and true iodine concentration (r=0.999, p<0.0001) in the phantom study. The lesion iodine concentration and lesion-to-aorta iodine ratio in residual tumour were significantly higher than in benign periablational reactive tissue in the 2-week group during the arterial phase (AP) (p<0.01) and in the 3-week group during both the AP (p<0.05) and the portal venous phase (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between them with respect to the lesion iodine concentration or lesion-to-aorta iodine ratio in the 3-day and 1-week groups. Iodine quantification with DECT is accurate in a phantom study and can be used to differentiate benign periablational reactive tissue from residual tumour in VX2 carcinoma in rabbits after RFA. Iodine quantification with DECT may help in differentiating benign periablational reactive tissue from residual tumour in VX2 carcinoma in rabbits after RFA.


The chordae tendineae of the heart in chicken.
In this study, the chordae tendineae of 10 adult chickens have been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It has been observed that the diameter of the collagen fibrils on the left side of the heart was greater than those on the right side. The present study has determined that only perichordal and interchordal ligaments are present in the chicken. It was also observed that axial tendons were surrounded by perichordal membrane. Although no difference was evident among the apex of the chordae, differences were observed between the base and apex of the same chordae.


Botulinum toxin decreases salivation from canine submandibular glands.
The objective of this study was to determine whether botulinum toxin types A and D reduced the production of saliva from the submandibular glands of 18 dogs. The left submandibular glands of 8 dogs were injected with increasing doses of botulinum type A toxin (range 10 to 70 units), and the left glands of 10 dogs were injected with botulinum type D toxin (50 or 100 units). The right gland of each dog was injected with equivalent volumes of saline solution to serve as control. Six days after the injection, the lingual nerve was electrically stimulated for 10 minutes (3 mAmp, 20 Hz). The resulting volume of saliva was collected and weighed. Overall, the glands injected with types A or D toxin produced significantly less saliva than comparable glands injected with saline solution. Six of 8 dogs injected with type A toxin showed a significant decrease in saliva production (range 10.1% to 19.2%, one-sided p value = 0.0375) when compared with the controls. Nine of 10 dogs injected with type D toxin demonstrated a highly significant reduction in saliva production (total average decrease = 60%, two-sided pvalue = 0.001) when compared with the controls. We concluded that intraglandular injections of botulinum toxin types A and D significantly reduced the production of saliva from canine submandibular glands. The potential applications of intraglandular injections of botulinum toxin are discussed.


Type of Menopause, Age at Menopause, and Risk of Developing Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Postmenopausal Women.
Despite established sex differences and longstanding hypotheses of sex hormone influence in the etiology of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), we have found no studies that evaluated type of menopause and age at menopause, which affect postmenopausal hormonal milieu, in relation to OSA risk in women. We followed 50,473 postmenopausal women from the Nurses' Health Study during 2002-2012 and 53,827 postmenopausal women from the Nurses' Health Study II during 1995-2013, with 1,712 and 2,560 incident OSA diagnoses, respectively. Compared with natural menopause, the pooled hazard ratio for OSA was 1.27 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.17, 1.38) for surgical menopause by hysterectomy/oophorectomy. The association remained the same after further accounting for age at menopause (hazard ratio = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.15, 1.38). The risk associated with surgical menopause was higher among women who were not obese as well as among women who never used hormone therapy (P for interaction < 0.05). Earlier menopause was associated with higher OSA risk prior to adjustment for type of menopause (comparing those aged <40 years versus those aged 50-54 years, hazard ratio = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.35; P for trend = 0.008), although no association was observed after the adjustment. Surgical as compared with natural menopause was independently associated with higher OSA risk in postmenopausal women. Our results provide additional evidence for a role for sex hormones, particularly abrupt hormonal changes, in modulating OSA risk.


Resistance to local anesthetics: Truth or myth?
The report of anesthetic technique failure is crucial and the etiology of the problem should be determined. We describe a case of locoregional anesthesia failure, in which, after excluding its most common causes, the resistance to local anesthetics was considered as the most probable clinical hypothesis. For this reason, a genetic test was performed, as well as the efficacy of other local anesthetics was evaluated, constituting a different approach in the cases of locoregional anesthesia failure. True resistance to local anesthetics is difficult to diagnose so information about this is scarce in the literature. One of the proposed causes is a mutation of sodium channels where local anesthetics bind. If not recognized, the application of locorregional anesthesia in this patient's condition can lead to unpleasant experiences and unnecessary risks, related to toxic levels of local anesthetics. For this reason, the resistance to local anesthetics should be always precluded in cases of strong clinical suspicion. This approach could be applied in similar cases.


Fabrication and structural of the Ag2S-MgO/graphene oxide nanocomposites with high photocatalysis and antimicrobial activities.
Silver sulfide‑magnesium oxide/graphene oxide (Ag2S-MgO/GO) nanocomposite was prepared via sol-gel/ultrasound method to modify the photo-degradation performance for rhodamine B decontamination under visible and UV light. Analytical studies were performed to distinguish the properties such as structure, morphology, and elements of prepared materials. The average crystallite size of MgO, Ag2S-MgO and Ag2S-MgO/GO is distinguished to be 24.2, 29.3 and 33.1 nm, respectively. The Band gap MgO, Ag2S-MgO and Ag2S-MgO/GO is 4.08, 3.25 and 2.82 eV, respectively. Ag2S-MgO/GO nanocomposites illustrated the highest photo-degradation rate of rhodamine B (RhB) under UV light (98.8%) and visible light (64.8%) during in 60 min. In this project, the process parameter of pH and time were investigated for RhB degradation activity influence. The suggested mechanisms for the enhanced photo-degradation of RhB by Ag2S-MgO/GO nanocomposites under light irradiation due to enhanced charge transfer efficiency via decreasing band gap amount; reduced e-/h+ recombination of MgO with the Ag2S crystal and an enhanced removal efficiency with the supported on graphene oxide. Examination of the antibacterial and antifungal properties of the prepared nano-materials were conducted with Bacillus vallismortis, Escherichia coli, Aspergillus flavus and Trichoderma viride. The beneficial antibacterial and antifungal performance of the Ag2S-MgO/GO nanocomposites was further tested by a great reduction in the number of bacteria and fungi medium with the addition of the Ag2S-MgO/GO nanocomposites.


Adult respiratory distress syndrome: a consideration with rapid respiratory decompensation in association with preeclampsia.
Adult respiratory distress syndrome, presenting as rapid respiratory decompensation in the setting of preeclampsia at 36 weeks of gestation, was managed by early hemodynamic monitoring with pulmonary artery catheterization. With confirmation of the diagnosis of preeclampsia the patient was delivered promptly; improvement of her respiratory failure was observed within 48 hours. Consideration of adult respiratory distress syndrome in the setting of preeclampsia is discussed, with emphasis on early confirmation of the diagnosis and determination of the precise mechanisms of pulmonary edema.


Evaluation of Iontophoresis as a Tool in Comparison to Topical Remineralization Systems by Transverse Microradiography and Polarized Light Microscopy: An In Vitro Study.
To compare the efficacy of casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) (GC Tooth Mousse) and tricalcium phosphate formulation (Clinpro) by topical application and iontophoresis. Noninvasive treatment of dental caries is a major advance in the clinical management of the disease. A total of 20 primary anterior and 20 primary molars were included in the study to be analyzed by transverse microradiography (TMR) and polarized light microscopy (PLM). The samples were coated with acid-resistant varnish, leaving a window on the buccal/lingual surface of enamel and immersed in demineralizing solution for 96 hours. Each sample was coated with varnish on the left half (control), and the right half served as a test. All the samples were divided into four groups. The test windows of specimens in groups I (GC Tooth Mousse) and II (Clinpro) were subjected to remineralization treatments for 10 days. Similarly, groups III and IV were subjected to iontophoresis using GC Tooth Mousse and Clinpro for 7 minutes. The samples were analyzed by TMR and PLM. There was no significant difference in the mean difference of mineral loss among the four groups. There was a significant difference in the mean difference of lesion depth among the four groups. Both iontophoresis and topical application were equally efficient, but one remineralization by iontophoresis equals 10 topical applications. VC R, Muppa R, Nallanchakrava S, et al. Evaluation of Iontophoresis as a Tool in Comparison to Topical Remineralization Systems by Transverse Microradiography and Polarized Light Microscopy: An In Vitro Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2023;16(S-1):S85-S90.


Study on the Correlation between Morphology and Distribution of Common Psoriasis Lesions.
Through the analysis of the morphological distribution of psoriasis lesions, we can study the relationship between psoriasis lesions and age, gender, and course of disease and dialectically look at the location of lesion morphology and the impact of course of disease on it, so as to provide more basis for the treatment of psoriasis. Through a questionnaire survey of 512 patients in the dermatology clinic of a well-known traditional Chinese medicine hospital in Jiangsu Province, their symptoms met the diagnostic criteria of psoriasis in Chinese clinical dermatology. The current situation of psoriasis was analyzed by literature analysis, and the collected data were analyzed by general mean analysis, analysis of variance, and descriptive analysis. There were some differences in the proportion of male to female in 512 patients. It is possible to conclude that male incidence rate is higher than that of women. It can be deduced from bad habits such as heavy drinking and smoking in male life. Bad habits can reduce male immunity and cause disease. The distribution of skin lesions in different parts shows that the skin is more affected by the outside world, which leads to the repeated attack of psoriasis. The incidence of chest, scalp, and upper arm is also relatively high. There have been similar demonstrations in relevant medical data, which may be related to the vascular density in them. Some substances that induce psoriasis in the dense blood vessels are easy to accumulate here, leading to the pathogenic bacteria to induce the onset of psoriasis. By studying the distribution of psoriasis lesions and the correlation between lesions, gender, and disease course, we can improve the dialectical treatment of psoriasis, which has reference significance, and provide a new thinking direction for the treatment system theory of psoriasis.


Holey Graphene as a Weed Barrier for Molecules.
We demonstrate the use of "holey" graphene as a mask against molecular adsorption. Prepared porous graphene is transferred onto a Au{111} substrate, annealed, and then exposed to dilute solutions of 1-adamantanethiol. In the pores of the graphene lattice, we find islands of organized, self-assembled molecules. The bare Au in the pores can be regenerated by postdeposition annealing, and new molecules can be self-assembled in the exposed Au region. Graphene can serve as a robust, patternable mask against the deposition of self-assembled monolayers.


Intestinal Mucosal Immunity-Mediated Modulation of the Gut Microbiome by Oral Delivery of Enterococcus faecium Against Salmonella Enteritidis Pathogenesis in a Laying Hen Model.
Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) is a protective role that has crucial beneficial functions on intestinal homeostasis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of E. faecium on the laying performance, egg quality, host metabolism, intestinal mucosal immunity, and gut microbiota of laying hens under the Salmonella Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) challenge. A total of 400 45-week-old laying hens were randomly divided into four treatments (CON, EF, SCON, and SEF groups) with five replicates for each group and 20 hens per replicate and fed with a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with E. faecium (2.5 × 108 cfu/g feed). The experiment comprised two phases, consisting of the pre-salmonella challenged phase (from day 14 to day 21) and the post-salmonella challenged phase (from day 21 to day 42). At day 21 and day 22, the hens in SCON and SEF groups were orally challenged with 1.0 ml suspension of 109 cfu/ml S. Enteritidis (CVCC3377) daily, whereas the hens in CON and EF groups received the same volume of sterile PBS. Herein, our results showed that E. faecium administration significantly improved egg production and shell thickness during salmonella infection. Also, E. faecium affected host lipid metabolism parameters via downregulating the concentration of serum triglycerides, inhibited oxidative stress, and enhanced immune functions by downregulating the level of serum malondialdehyde and upregulating the level of serum immunoglobulin G. Of note, E. faecium supplementation dramatically alleviated intestinal villi structure injury and crypt atrophy, and improved intestinal mucosal barrier injuries caused by S. Enteritidis challenge. Moreover, our data revealed that E. faecium supplementation ameliorated S. Enteritidis infection-induced gut microbial dysbiosis by altering the gut microbial composition (reducing Bacteroides, Desulfovibrio, Synergistes, and Sutterella, and increasing Barnesiella, Butyricimonas, Bilophila, and Candidatus_Soleaferrea), and modulating the gut microbial function, such as cysteine and methionine metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, fatty acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, salmonella infection, and the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. Taken together, E. faecium has a strong capacity to inhibit the S. Enteritidis colonization of hens. The results highlight the potential of E. faecium supplementation as a dietary supplement to combat S. Enteritidis infection in animal production and to promote food safety.


Identifying Rare Circumstances Preceding Female Firearm Suicides: Validating A Large Language Model Approach.
Firearm suicide has been more prevalent among males, but age-adjusted female firearm suicide rates increased by 20% from 2010 to 2020, outpacing the rate increase among males by about 8 percentage points, and female firearm suicide may have different contributing circumstances. In the United States, the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) is a comprehensive source of data on violent deaths and includes unstructured incident narrative reports from coroners or medical examiners and law enforcement. Conventional natural language processing approaches have been used to identify common circumstances preceding female firearm suicide deaths but failed to identify rarer circumstances due to insufficient training data. This study aimed to leverage a large language model approach to identify infrequent circumstances preceding female firearm suicide in the unstructured coroners or medical examiners and law enforcement narrative reports available in the NVDRS. We used the narrative reports of 1462 female firearm suicide decedents in the NVDRS from 2014 to 2018. The reports were written in English. We coded 9 infrequent circumstances preceding female firearm suicides. We experimented with predicting those circumstances by leveraging a large language model approach in a yes/no question-answer format. We measured the prediction accuracy with F1-score (ranging from 0 to 1). F1-score is the harmonic mean of precision (positive predictive value) and recall (true positive rate or sensitivity). Our large language model outperformed a conventional support vector machine-supervised machine learning approach by a wide margin. Compared to the support vector machine model, which had F1-scores less than 0.2 for most infrequent circumstances, our large language model approach achieved an F1-score of over 0.6 for 4 circumstances and 0.8 for 2 circumstances. The use of a large language model approach shows promise. Researchers interested in using natural language processing to identify infrequent circumstances in narrative report data may benefit from large language models.


Association between metabolically healthy obesity and metastasis in lung cancer patients - a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Many clinical trials have looked at the relationship between obesity and lung cancer (LC), however, there is scarcity of literature specifically addressing the association between metabolically healthy obesity and metastasis in LC patients. To address this gap in the body of evidence, the study was conducted to observe the association between metabolically healthy obesity and metastasis in LC patients. We conducted a pre-registered systematic review by searching six major online databases to identify studies relevant related to our investigation, in adherence with the PRISMA guidelines. A proper data extraction protocol was further established to synthesize the findings from the selected papers through a meta-analysis. Eleven (11) studies met the requisite selection criterion and were included in the study. A random-effect model was used. Obesity was found to have a significant impact on readmission in LC patients. The combined analysis showed a significant effect size of 0.08 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.08), indicating a noticeable impact of obesity. It was also assessed that obese individuals had a 34% reduced risk of LC compared to normal weight individuals. Obesity was associated with a lower risk of surgical complications with a pooled risk ratio of 0.13 (95% CI 0.12 to 0.14). A statistically significant decreased risk of LC (pooled RR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.68 to 0.77) was also observed in the obese individuals. The analysis reveals that obesity is associated with a noticeable increase in readmissions, although the impact on LC risk itself is negligible. Moreover, obesity appears to have a beneficial effect by reducing the risk of surgical complications. These results highlight the complex relationship between the two aforementioned factors, emphasizing the importance of considering obesity as a significant factor in patient management and healthcare decision-making. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023427612.


National Surgical Trends for Distal Radius Fractures in Korea.
The objective of this study was to investigate national surgical trends for distal radius fractures (DRFs) in Korea and analyze healthcare institution type-specific surgical trends. We analyzed a nationwide database acquired from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) from 2011 to 2015. International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) codes and procedure codes were used to identify patients aged ≥ 20 years with newly diagnosed DRFs. A total of 459,388 DRFs occurred from 2011 to 2015. The proportion of DRF cases treated by surgery tended to increase over time, from 32.6% in 2011 to 38.3% in 2015 (P < 0.001). Open reduction with internal fixation (ORIF) using a plate steadily gained in popularity each year, increasing from 39.2% of overall surgeries in 2011 to 60.9% in 2015. The type of surgery for DRFs differed depending on the type of healthcare institution. ORIF (91%) was the most popular procedure in tertiary hospitals, whereas percutaneous pinning (58%) was most popular in clinics. In addition, general hospitals and hospitals with 30-100 beds used external fixation more frequently than tertiary hospitals and clinics did. Overall, our findings indicate that surgical treatment of DRF, particularly ORIF, continues to increase, and that the component ratio of operation codes differed according to the healthcare institution type.


In situ reaction mechanism studies on the atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 from (CH3)2AlCl and water.
Reaction mechanisms between dimethylaluminum chloride and deuterated water in the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 were studied at 150-400 degrees C using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS). The observed reaction byproducts were DCl and CH3D. QMS showed that about one-third of the chlorine, and half of the methyl ligands were released during the (CH3)2AlCl pulse. The growth rate deduced from the QMS and QCM data was in qualitative agreement with the previously published growth rate from ALD film growth experiments.


chlD gene function in molybdate activation of nitrate reductase.
chlD mutants of Escherichia coli lack active nitrate reductase but form normal levels of this enzyme when the medium is supplemented with 10-3 M molybdate. When chlD mutants were grown in unsupplemented medium and then incubated with molybdate in the presence of chloramphenicol, they formed about 5% the normal level of nitrate reductase. Some chlD mutants or the wild type grown in medium supplemented with tungstate accumulated an inactive protein which was electrophoretically identical to active nitrate reductase. Addition of molybdate to those cells in the presence of chloramphenicol resulted in the formation of fully induced levels of nitrate reductase. Two chlD mutants, including a deletion mutant, failed to accumulate the inactive protein and to form active enzyme under the same conditions. Insertion of 99-Mo into the enzyme protein paralleled activation; 185-W could not be demonstrated to be associated with the accumulated inactive protein. The rates of activation of nitrate reductase at varying molybdate concentrations indicated that the chlD gene product facilitates the activation of nitrate reductase at concentrations of molybdate found in normal growth media. At high concentrations, molybdate circumvented this function in chlD mutants and appeared to activate nitrate reductase by a mass action process. We conclude that the chlD gene plays two distinguishable roles in the formation of nitrate reductase in E. coli. It is involved in the accumulation of fully induced levels of the nitrate reductase protein in the cell membrane and it facilitates the insertion of molybdenum to form the active enzyme.


Survival outcomes of younger men (< 55 years) undergoing radical prostatectomy.
The aim of the paper is to investigate the outcomes of patients younger than 55 years in Victoria, Australia undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate cancer. Data on all men undergoing RP in Victoria between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2014 were obtained from the Victorian Cancer Registry. Tumor characteristics including Gleason grade, stage of disease (based on final pathology specimen), and cause of death were also obtained. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square test, Cox proportional hazards method, and Kaplan-Meier analysis. A total of 14,686 men underwent RP during the defined period. Of these men 109 were aged 35-44 years and 1,998 were aged 45-54 years. Men aged 35-44 years and 45-54 years were compared against men aged 55-74 years. The majority of men between the ages of 35 years and 44 years, and 45 years and 54 years had higher rates of Gleason ≤ 7 disease compared with men aged between 55 years and 74 years (92.7% vs. 86.8% vs. 79.3%; P < 0.01) and ≤ T2 disease (82.6% vs. 75.6% vs. 49.9%; P < 0.01) but similar median prostate-specific antigen values. On a multivariate analysis adjusting for Gleason score, T stage, and prostate-specific antigen, men aged 45-54 years and 55-64 years had 67% and 46% increase in overall survival, respectively, compared to men aged 65-74 years; but these differences were not seen in the 35-44 year age group. There were no differences in prostate cancer specific deaths between the groups. The 5- and 10-year overall survival outcomes were both higher for men aged 45-54 years compared to mean aged 55-74 years (97.9% vs. 95.9% and 94.9% vs. 85.3). Men aged 45-54 years undergoing RP had better overall survival compared to men aged 55-74 years, but these effects were not seen in men aged 35-44 years. There were no differences in prostate cancer specific survival in these groups.


[Endogenous opioids and their effects on reproduction] effects].
This minireview is a short survey of regulatory actions of endogenous opioid peptides on gonadotropin secretion in sheep, pig and cattle. Particular attention is paid to the stress induced changes in endogenous opioid levels and consequent effects on reproductive functions.


Retention Mechanism for Ion-Pair Chromatography with Chaotropic Reagents. From Ion-Pair Chromatography toward a Unified Salt Chromatography.
The breakthrough of chaotropic mobile phase modifiers in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) is due to their strong potential to provide adequate retention of ionic analytes without the blamed semipermanent modification of the chromatographic packing often connected to the use of classical ion-pair reagents. The lack of a physicochemical framework that is able to unify eclectic experimental evidence concerning the use of a wide gamut of ionic additives in RP-HPLC is the primary motive force for recent theoretical efforts to model their behavior. The time-honored solvophobic theory cannot properly explain salt effects. Its theoretical basis was recently questioned by breaking experimental evidence at variance with the textbook knowledge of ionic solutions interfaces; meanwhile, a recently proved extended thermodynamic approach to ion-pair chromatography (IPC) is challenged by the breakthrough of neoteric ionic additives whose behavior questions the rigidity of previous retention schemes and bridges salting chromatographic phenomena to IPC. Building on these research needs, the aims of this review are (1) to illustrate a comprehensive theory of analyte retention in the presence of any kind of electrolytes (hydrophobic ions, chaotropes, kosmotropes, ionic liquids [ILs]) to capture and rationalize the main salting effects and to support their strong practical impact for the separation of organic and inorganic ions, ionogenic, neutral, and zwitterionic analytes; (2) to explain why ion-specific salting chromatographic effects that represent a diachronic scientific consideration were not satisfactorily explained in the rubric of the solvophobic theory; and (3) to highlight the eligibility of chromatography as a basic technique that is able to clarify the currently hotly debated behavior of ions at water interfaces. The practical impact of chaotropic chromatography will also be detailed, and urgent research needs and suggestions will be illustrated.


Non-human Primate Total-body Irradiation Model with Limited and Full Medical Supportive Care Including Filgrastim for Biodosimetry and Injury Assessment.
An assessment of multiple biomarkers from radiation casualties undergoing limited- or full-supportive care including treatment with filgrastim is critical to develop rapid and effective diagnostic triage strategies. The efficacy of filgrastim with full-supportive care was compared with results with limited-supportive care by analyzing survival, necropsy, histopathology and serial blood samples for hematological, serum chemistry and protein profiles in a non-human primate (Macaca mulatta, male and female) model during 60-d post-monitoring period following sham- and total-body irradiation with 6.5 Gy 60Co gamma-rays at 0.6 Gy min-1 Filgrastim (10 μg kg-1) was administered beginning on Day 1 post-exposure and continued daily until neutrophil counts were ≥2,000 μL-1 for two consecutive days. Filgrastim and full-supportive care significantly decreased the pancytopenia duration and resulted in improved animal survival and recovery compared to animals with a limited-supportive care. These findings also identified and validated a multiparametric biomarker panel to support radiation diagnostic device development.


Effects of atrial pacing on coronary sinus endothelin-1 and nitric oxide levels in patients with myocardial bridging.
Myocardial bridging (MB) is associated with clinical and metabolic evidence of ischaemia. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the extent of atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction in patients with MB. The study population consisted of 15 patients with MB [9 women (60%), aged 56 +/- 9 years] and 14 control subjects [8 women (57%), aged 54 +/- 10 years]. All patients underwent coronary angiography. The femoral artery and coronary sinus endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NOx) plasma levels were measured before and after right atrial pacing in all subjects. Also, intravascular ultrasonography was performed in 13 patients with MB. With right atrial pacing, coronary sinus ET-1 levels increased significantly in patients with MB compared with baseline levels (5.77 +/- 6.76 versus 11.32 +/- 9.40 pg/ml, p < 0.05). The coronary sinus ET-1 levels remained unchanged in controls with pacing (3.99 +/- 4.00 versus 4.19 +/- 7.15 pg/ml, p > 0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups according to the increase in NOx levels with atrial pacing. Ten (77%) of the 13 patients had plaque formation in the segments proximal to the bridge with an area stenosis of 37 +/- 21% (12% to 75%). In patients with MB, post-pacing levels of coronary sinus ET-1 correlated significantly with the cross-sectional area of the plaque (r = 0.65, p = 0,04). Increased ET-1 levels and the pathological data of intravascular ultrasonography may be associated with endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis development in patients with MB. The presence of atherosclerosis in the proximal segments to the bridge may contribute to the myocardial ischaemia detected in these patients.


Somatic cell hybridization of growth hormone-producing rat pituitary cells and mouse fibroblasts results in extinction of growth hormone expression via a defect in growth hormone RNA production.
In the GH3 line of pituitary cells, growth hormone (GH) production is stimulated by thyroid and glucocorticoid hormones, yet non-pituitary cells, for example mouse fibroblast cells, which also contain receptors for these hormones do not produce GH. We have chosen to study both types of control over GH production in GH3 rat pituitary x GH nonexpressing LB82 mouse fibroblast hybrid cells. Most hybrid cells fail to produce GH in either the absence or presence of the inducers triiodothyronine and dexamethasone although these hormone receptors are present. Rat and mouse GH genes were detected in the hybrid cells' DNA by Southern hybridization following restriction enzyme digestion and gel electrophoresis. The probe was a cloned, full length rat GH cDNA which cross-hybridizes with the mouse GH gene. Analyses with multiple restriction enzymes that cut inside and outside the rat and mouse GH coding sequences were performed. We conclude that 1) both rat and mouse GH genes are present in the hybrid cells in copy number equivalent to those in the parental cell lines, and 2) the rat GH structural gene and flanking sequences are identical in the GH3 and hybrid cell DNA at the level of sensitivity afforded by restriction enzyme analyses. GH mRNA was not detected in total cell or poly(A+) RNA isolated from control or hormone-treated hybrid cells assayed by translation in 2 in vitro systems or by Northern hybridization analyzes. The latter experiments showed that no hybridizable GH mRNA sequences were present in the hybrids as either incomplete transcripts, mature mRNA, or unprocessed high molecular weight precursors. We conclude that extinction of GH in these hybrid cells results from a transcriptional block and/or rapid transcript degradation.


Single-unit activity of dorsomedial arcuate neurons and diurnal changes of tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic neuron activity in female rats with neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment.
Neonatal monosodium glutamate (MSG)-treated rats were used in this study to answer two questions: (1) whether or not the dopamine-responsive dorsomedial arcuate (dm-ARN) neurons are tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic (TIDA) neurons, and (2) whether or not the remaining TIDA neurons in MSG-treated rats are functioning normally. MSG (4 mg/g b. wt., subcutaneously [s.c.]) or saline was given to neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats on days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 after birth. The female rats were ovariectomized at 50 days of age and treated with estrogen for 1 week before they were used between 65-90 days of age. The tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive (TH-ir) neurons located in the dm and ventrolateral (vl) parts of the ARN were significantly reduced in MSG-treated rats, as determined by immunohistochemical method. Some TH-ir cells, however, were visible along the border of the third ventricle. Using single-unit recording in brain slices, we found that dopamine inhibited significantly fewer percentage of dm-ARN neurons in MSG-treated (28.2%, n = 39) than in saline-treated rats (73.3%, n = 15). In contrast, bombesin exhibited similar effects (over 70% excitation) in both groups. Using neurochemical means, neonatal MSG treatment produced significant decreases of both 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and dopamine levels, but not their ratios, in the median eminence. Moreover, the diurnal change of TIDA neuronal activity persisted in the MSG-treated rats; so did the estrogen-induced afternoon prolactin surge. All these results indicate that neonatal MSG-treatment reduced the number and altered the location of TIDA and dopamine-responsive dm-ARN neurons. The remaining TIDA neurons seemed to be able to maintain their basal activities and diurnal rhythm.


Survey on critical incident reporting in a child and adolescent mental health service.
To examine the prevalence and nature of critical incident reports at a generic child and adolescent mental health service. This is a retrospective survey of all critical incident reports completed at a community based child and adolescent mental health service between 2008 and 2011. Information was obtained about the nature of incidents and actions taken. In a three year period, only eighteen incident report forms were completed. Staff were most frequently the victims of the incidents (50%, n = 9), followed by clients (38.8%, n = 7) and parents of clients (11.1%, n = 2). Falls were the most common incident reports (44.4%, n = 8). Two incidences were related to physical aggression and threatening behaviour by clients. Critical incident reporting was found to be uncommon overall. Most of the recorded incidents involved staff members and were of minor significance. Specific training for staff regarding incident reporting should be provided to ensure an acceptable standard of investigation is consistently carried out for all significant incidents.


Dietary iron intake and iron status of young children.
Aim. To determine the prevalence of iron deficiency in healthy young children and whether there is an association between food habits and dietary iron intake and iron status. Methods. 53 children aged 9-24 months were recruited into the study over a 12 month period from a general practice and Plunket child health clinics. Children with intercurrent infections were excluded. Iron status was determined from a full blood count and iron studies. Nutrient intake was assessed by a 24 hour food recall and dietary history questionnaire with nutrient analysis using the New Zealand Food Composition database from the New Zealand Institute of Crop and Food Research Ltd. Results. 10 children (20%) were anaemic (haemoglobin <110g/L) and 7 children were iron deficient (serum ferritin <10μg/L). The daily mean iron intake was 5.1± 3.1mg, which was 0.66 RDI for 9-12 months, and 0.80 for 12-24 months. There was no statistically significant relationship between iron status and food iron intake. Children in the top quintile for iron intake (mean 17.5 mg/day) consumed iron mainly from iron-fortified formula and baby food whereas the main source of iron in the lowest quintile (mean intake 2.0mg/day) was from a diverse range of foods including vegetables, bread and bakery goods, dairy products, breakfast cereals and fruit. In this group only one child consumed formula and three children consumed baby foods. Conclusion. A high prevalence of anaemia and of iron deficiency was found amongst the otherwise healthy children in the sample, without their being a relationship between dietary iron intake and either haemoglobin or serum iron indices, except for ferritin.


Prevalence and spectrum of NKX2.5 mutations in patients with congenital atrial septal defect and atrioventricular block.
Congenital atrial septal defect (ASD) and progressive atriventricular block (AVB) are the two most common phenotypes linked to NK2 homeobox 5 (NKX2.5) mutations in animals and humans. However, the prevalence and spectrum of NKX2.5 mutation in patients with ASD and AVB remain to be elucidated. In the present study, the coding exons and flanking introns of the NKX2.5 gene, which encodes a homeobox‑containing transcription factor essential for development of the heart, were sequenced in a cohort of 62 unrelated patients with ASD and AVB, and subsequently in a mutation carrier's available family members. As controls, 300 unrelated, ethnically‑matched healthy individuals were recruited, who were also genotyped for NKX2.5. The functional consequence of the mutant NKX2.5 was evaluated in contrast to its wild‑type counterpart using a dual‑luciferase reporter assay system. As a result, a novel heterozygous NKX2.5 mutation, p.Q181X, was identified in an index patient with ASD and AVB, with a prevalence of ~1.61%. Genetic analysis of the proband's pedigree revealed that the mutation co‑segregated with ASD and AVB with complete penetrance. The nonsense mutation, which eliminated partial homeobox and the carboxyl terminus, was absent in the 600 control chromosomes. Functional evaluation showed that the NKX2.5 mutant had no transcriptional activity. Furthermore, the mutation disrupted the synergistic activation between NKX2.5 and GATA binding protein 4, another cardiac core transcription factor associated with ASD. The results of the present study expand the spectrum of NKX2.5 mutations linked to ASD and AVB, and indicated that NKX2.5 loss‑of‑function mutations are an uncommon cause of ASD and AVB in humans.


Risk factors of herpes simplex virus type 2 among STD clinic attenders in Delhi, India.
The present study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors associated with HSV-2 infection among sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinic attenders of Delhi in India. Out of 128 patients included, 76 were males and 52 were females. Antibodies to HSV 1 and 2 and HIV infection were determined by ELISA. Syphilis seropositivity was determined by VDRL test and confirm by TPHA test. Ulcer scrapping were stained by Giemsa for Herpes progenitalis and Donovan bodies and Grams for Haemophilus decreyi infection. The HSV-2 and HSV-I seroprevalence was found to be 85.2% and 77.3% respectively. 87.3% of HSV-2 seropositive patients were asymptomic. 10.7% of patients had coinfection of HSV-2 and HIV. STDs like syphilis, chancroid, gonococcal and non-gonococcal urethritis were significantly associated in HSV-2 infection. Thus the study demonstrates high prevalence of HSV-2 infection in Delhi city. Significant association of HSV-2 infection with previous history of STD (p < 0.02) and multiple sexual partners in males was found (p < 0.002).


Analysis of early infectious complications after autologous bone marrow transplantation.
We reviewed the hospital course of 35 patients who underwent autologous bone marrow transplantation. Fever and profound neutropenia developed in all. Microbiologically confirmed infection developed in 22 patients, and unconfirmed but clinically evident infection developed in six. A bacterial infection developed in 21 patients (most commonly bacteremia without a detectable focus). Mucocutaneous fungal (12 patients) and viral (13 patients) infections were common, whereas invasive fungal (two patients) and viral (one patient) infections were uncommon. New pulmonary infiltrates developed in seven patients. Six deaths occurred during the initial hospitalization for transplantation, only one of which was directly attributable to infection. Stepwise logistic regression analysis retained male gender, total body irradiation, administration of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and development of mucositis or diarrhea as predictors of decreased survival, whereas higher pretreatment albumin levels and the administration of oral nonabsorbable antifungals were associated with an increased likelihood of survival. A comparison of these infectious complications with those found in allogeneic bone marrow transplant recipients shows similarities and differences with potentially important implications for patient management.


Lectin-binding patterns in epithelial lining of jaw cysts.
Lectin-binding patterns were examined in epithelial walls of 65 jaw cysts (30 post-operative maxillary cysts: POMCs, 20 radicular and 15 follicular cysts), and characteristic lectin staining for each kind of jaw cysts is presented. Between squamous and columnar epithelia, the staining intensity of WGA, Con A and UEA-I was not different, but SBA bound more remarkably to squamous than to columnar epithelia. In both epithelia the outer layers did react more strongly with the lectins examined. Concerning odontogenic cysts, the lectin-binding affinities of outer and intermediate layer cells were nearly the same in both follicular and radicular cysts. Basal cells of radicular cyst walls were however, more markedly positive for lectin binding than of follicular cysts. Furthermore, basal cells of keratinized (RKSE 60 keratin-positive) epithelium were inferior to those of non-keratinized linings in the bindings. Lectin-binding patterns of metaplastic squamose epithelia of POMCs which were positive for RGE53-keratin (principally columnar epithelium-specific keratin) were similar to originally squamous linings of odontogenic cysts. Columnar linings of unusual radicular cysts were positively stained with SBA. By these results, lectin-binding sugar residues of the epithelium seem to be related to the epithelial morphology.


A retrospective analysis comparing subjects with isolated and coexistent vocal cord dysfunction and asthma.
Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is often misdiagnosed as asthma or complicates coexisting asthma. This study aimed to identify distinguishing clinical characteristics in patients with VCD, asthma, and coexisting VCD and asthma. We conducted a retrospective analysis of demographic and clinical data from 292 patients with VCD, asthma, coexisting VCD and asthma, and control subjects from an outpatient university asthma/allergy clinic. Concomitant asthma was present in 32.6% of VCD subjects. Overall, 42.4 % of all VCD subjects were previously misdiagnosed as having asthma for an average of 9.0 years. Upper airway symptoms were more prevalent in the VCD population and nocturnal apnea was more prevalent in comorbid VCD and asthma compared with either condition alone. Irritable bowel syndrome and chronic pain were identified as new comorbidities associated with VCD. VCD subjects who had been misdiagnosed with asthma had significantly more health care and asthma medication use compared to VCD subjects who had not mimicked asthma. There was no difference in asthma severity between those with and without VCD. Comorbid VCD and asthma led to an increase in long-acting β-agonist use only, but no difference in health care usage, compared with asthma alone. These findings suggest that the main morbidity associated with VCD may not lie in its inherent disease process, but instead in its ability to mimic asthma.


Pre-implantation alcohol exposure induces lasting sex-specific DNA methylation programming errors in the developing forebrain.
Prenatal alcohol exposure is recognized for altering DNA methylation profiles of brain cells during development, and to be part of the molecular basis underpinning Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) etiology. However, we have negligible information on the effects of alcohol exposure during pre-implantation, the early embryonic window marked with dynamic DNA methylation reprogramming, and on how this may rewire the brain developmental program. Using a pre-clinical in vivo mouse model, we show that a binge-like alcohol exposure during pre-implantation at the 8-cell stage leads to surge in morphological brain defects and adverse developmental outcomes during fetal life. Genome-wide DNA methylation analyses of fetal forebrains uncovered sex-specific alterations, including partial loss of DNA methylation maintenance at imprinting control regions, and abnormal de novo DNA methylation profiles in various biological pathways (e.g., neural/brain development). These findings support that alcohol-induced DNA methylation programming deviations during pre-implantation could contribute to the manifestation of neurodevelopmental phenotypes associated with FASD.


Chirality induced tilted-hill giant Nernst signal.
We reveal a novel source of a giant Nernst response exhibiting strong nonlinear temperature and magnetic field dependence, including the mysterious tilted-hill temperature profile observed in a pleiad of materials. The phenomenon results directly from the formation of a chiral ground state, e.g., a chiral d-density wave, which is compatible with the eventual observation of diamagnetism and is distinctly different from the usual quasiparticle and vortex Nernst mechanisms. Our picture provides a unified understanding of the anomalous thermoelectricity observed in materials as diverse as the hole-doped cuprates and heavy-fermion compounds like URu(2)Si(2).


Preliminary Crystallographic Analysis of Phospholipase A(2) from Naja naja kaouthia Lesson Venom.
An acidic phospholipase A(2) isolated from the venom of Naja naja kaouthia Lesson in Guangxi exhibits anticoagulative and hemolytic activities. In this work, the enzyme was crystallized by the method of hanging drop vapor diffusion. Two crystal forms were obtained and characterized by X-ray diffraction. One of them belonged to space group P 4 ( 3 ) 2 ( 1 )2 or P4(1)2(1)2 with unit cell parameters a b 8.797 nm, c 10.831 nm and there were three molecules per asymmetric unit the other belonged to space group P2(1)3 with unit cell parameters a b c 6.840 nm and there was one molecule per asymmetric unit. The diffraction data were collected up to 0.28 nm for each crystal form. The crystal properties of Naja naja verom phospholipase A(2) from different geographical regions are compared.


Bradykinin-induced contraction of human peripheral airways mediated by both bradykinin beta 2 and thromboxane prostanoid receptors.
Bradykinin (BK) induces bronchoconstriction in asthmatic but not in normal individuals. Studies in vivo in the human suggest that BK causes cholinergic nerve activation, release of prostanoids, and local axon reflexes with release of tachykinins in the airways. To determine the mechanisms of BK-induced airway narrowing, we investigated the effects of epithelium removal, inhibition of the enzymes neutral endopeptidase (NEP) and cyclooxygenase, and blockade of neural conductance with tetrodotoxin (TTX) on BK-induced responses of human isolated peripheral airways. Responses to BK were recorded from airways with spontaneous intrinsic tone and from airways precontracted with methacholine. Furthermore, we measured the BK-induced release of the prostanoids PGE2, PGI2, and TXA2 from airways with and without epithelium in the absence and presence of indomethacin by radioimmunoassay. Finally, we examined the effect of the bradykinin beta 2 receptor antagonist Hoe 140 and the thromboxane prostanoid (TP) receptor blocking drug GR32191 on BK-induced responses. BK contracted intact and epithelium-denuded airways with spontaneous intrinsic tone, whereas precontracted airways either relaxed or contracted to BK. Removal of the epithelium increased the sensitivity to BK sevenfold without changing the direction of the response. The NEP inhibitor phosphoramidon tended to increase the sensitivity to BK (NS) and did not change the direction of the response. Both contractile and relaxation responses to BK and the release of the prostanoids PGE2, PGI2, and TXA2 by the airway tissues were largely inhibited by indomethacin, whereas TTX had no effect. PGE2, PGI2, and TXA2 were released by both intact and epithelium-denuded airways.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Forelimb skeletal muscle and skin glucose uptake during Escherichia coli endotoxin shock in the dog.
We previously demonstrated an increase in gracilis muscle glucose uptake during endotoxin shock in the dog. The present study was completed to investigate this phenomenon in forelimb skeletal muscle and skin. The isolated forelimb preparation was used. Mongrel dogs were anesthetized with nembutal and heparinized. Shock was induced by i.v. infusion of E. coli endotoxin. When isolated forelimb temperature was maintained at contralateral intact forelimb temperature (which was always the same as core temperature), forelimb skeletal muscle and skin glucose uptake increased by 30 minutes of shock, and remained above control for the 4 hour shock period. Total forelimb blood flow decreased and the limb became severely hypoxic (mean venous PO2 = 24 mmHg). However, when the isolated forelimb temperature was not artificially maintained at contralateral intact forelimb temperature (same as core temperature), the isolated forelimb temperature fell approximately 3 degrees C and the elevation of glucose uptake was not observed. Although forelimb blood flow decreased to the same level as in the temperature controlled group, the forelimbs were only moderately hypoxic. This study emphasizes the important influence of temperature on tissue metabolism and the recognition of its importance in experimental data interpretation, especially when metabolic variables are involved. It also demonstrates that changes in glucose uptake during shock are similar in dog forelimb skeletal muscle, provided that changes in muscle temperature are similar.


The epidemiological impact of antiretroviral use predicted by mathematical models: a review.
This review summarises theoretical studies attempting to assess the population impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART) use on mortality and HIV incidence. We describe the key parameters that determine the impact of therapy, and argue that mathematical models of disease transmission are the natural framework within which to explore the interaction between antiviral use and the dynamics of an HIV epidemic. Our review focuses on the potential effects of ART in resource-poor settings. We discuss choice of model type and structure, the potential for risk behaviour change following widespread introduction of ART, the importance of the stage of HIV infection at which treatment is initiated, and the potential for spread of drug resistance. These issues are illustrated with results from models of HIV transmission. We demonstrate that HIV transmission models predicting the impact of ART use should incorporate a realistic progression through stages of HIV infection in order to capture the effect of the timing of treatment initiation on disease spread. The realism of existing models falls short of properly reproducing patterns of diagnosis timing, incorporating heterogeneity in sexual behaviour, and describing the evolution and transmission of drug resistance. The uncertainty surrounding certain effects of ART, such as changes in sexual behaviour and transmission of ART-resistant HIV strains, demands exploration of best and worst case scenarios in modelling, but this must be complemented by surveillance and behavioural surveys to quantify such effects in settings where ART is implemented.


Induced circular dichroism of gold in the self-assembled polymeric nanoparticles.
This study reports that the alkanethiol-capped golds loaded in the self-assembled polymeric nanoparticles exhibit the characteristic induced circular dichroism (ICD) in the near UV absorption region. The core-shell type polymeric nanoparticles composed of poly(y-benzyl L-glutamate) (PBLG) as hydrophobic inner core and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as hydrophilic outer shell were obtained by the diafiltration method after dissolving PBLG/PEO block copolymer in organic solvent. The circular dichroism (CD) of alkanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles as the guest was induced by the chiral PBLG as the host in self-assembled polymeric nanoparticles with Cotton effect in the range of 220-230 nm whose crossing point matched lambda(max) in the UV region of alkanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy and electrophoretic light scattering spectrophotometry were used to study the morphology and particle size of gold-loaded core-shell type polymeric nanoparticles, respectively. The results indicated that the PBLG chains in the block copolymer and alkanethiol-capped gold nanoparticles were associated together by hydrophobic interaction and chiral PBLG core in the self-assembled polymeric nanoparticles induced CD of the gold.


Metformin reduces the Walker-256 tumor development in obese-MSG rats via AMPK and FOXO3a.
Studies have associated obesity with a wide variety of cancers. Metformin, an anti-diabetic drug, has recently received attention as a potentially useful therapeutic agent for treating cancer. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the mechanisms involved in the increase in tumor development and the reduction of it by metformin in obesity using an experimental breast tumor model. Newborn male Wistar rats were subcutaneously injected with 400mg/kg monosodium glutamate (MSG) (obese) or saline (control) at 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 days of age. After 16 weeks, 1 × 10(7) Walker-256 tumor cells were subcutaneously injected in the right flank of the rats and concomitantly the treatment with metformin 300 mg/kg/15 days, via gavage, started. The rats were divided into 4 groups: control tumor (CT), control tumor metformin (CTM), obese-MSG tumor (OT) and obese-MSG tumor metformin (OTM). On the 18th week the tumor development and metformin effect were analyzed. Tumor development was higher in OT rats compared with CT rats. Activation of insulin-IR-ERK1/2 pathway and an anti-apoptotic effect might be the mechanisms involved in the higher development of tumor in obesity. The effect of metformin reducing the tumor development in obese rats might involve increased mRNA expression of pRb and p27, increased activity of AMPK and FOXO3a and decreased expression of p-ERK1/2 (Thr202/Tyr204) in Walker-256 tumor. Our data allow us to suggest that metformin, reducing the stimulatory effect of obesity on tumor development, has a potential role in the management of cancers.


How glycosylation affects glycosylation: the role of N-glycans in glycosyltransferase activity.
N-glycosylation is one of the most important posttranslational modifications of proteins. It plays important roles in the biogenesis and functions of proteins by influencing their folding, intracellular localization, stability and solubility. N-glycans are synthesized by glycosyltransferases, a complex group of ubiquitous enzymes that occur in most kingdoms of life. A growing body of evidence shows that N-glycans may influence processing and functions of glycosyltransferases, including their secretion, stability and substrate/acceptor affinity. Changes in these properties may have a profound impact on glycosyltransferase activity. Indeed, some glycosyltransferases have to be glycosylated themselves for full activity. N-glycans and glycosyltransferases play roles in the pathogenesis of many diseases (including cancers), so studies on glycosyltransferases may contribute to the development of new therapy methods and novel glycoengineered enzymes with improved properties. In this review, we focus on the role of N-glycosylation in the activity of glycosyltransferases and attempt to summarize all available data about this phenomenon.


The management of the levodopa psychoses.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is frequently associated with psychiatric problems. Depression generally responds to antidepressant medications or to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The nondepressive psychoses generally require a reduction in parkinsonian medications, or possibly a "drug holiday." In patients whose psychosis fails to respond to a reduction in medication or who cannot tolerate the worsening parkinsonism, an antipsychotic drug should be added. Clozapine is probably the drug of choice, with low potency neuroleptics being second-line options.


Evaluation of oxidative stress in the anemia of dogs with chronic kidney disease.
Anemia and systemic oxidative stress may occur in dogs with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Only scarce information regarding the intraerythrocytic redox status under these conditions is available at this time. The aim of this study was to evaluate the indicators of oxidative stress and intraerythrocytic antioxidant defense in dogs with anemia of CKD. Thirty dogs with CKD in stages 3 or 4 with nonregenerative anemia (HCT ≤ 37%) were compared to 20 healthy dogs. Complete blood count, reticulocyte %, blood smear evaluation, intraerythrocytic concentrations of total (GSHt), reduced (GSH), and oxidized glutathione (GSSH), and activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as plasma concentrations of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBAR) were determined. Anemia of CKD dogs was nonregenerative (reticulocytes ≤ 0.2% with scarce anisocytosis and poikilocytosis). Intraerythrocytic GSSH and SOD, and plasma TBAR were higher in dogs with CKD. There was a positive correlation between the creatinine concentration and TBAR, and negative correlations between creatinine concentration and HCT, as well as between HCT and TBAR. In CKD dogs with a higher degree of anemia, SOD levels were higher and GSSH concentrations were lower. Despite the evidence of increased systemic oxidative stress, the compensatory response of SOD and the sustained intraerythrocytic concentrations of GSSH in CKD dogs with anemia indicated that the erythrocytes maintained the antioxidant defense. There was no strong evidence that oxidative stress was associated with higher degrees of anemia in dogs with CKD.


Delta receptors in the rat vas deferens.
The effects of the delta-selective antagonist ICI 174864 and naltrexone on the dose-response curves to the mu-selective agonist RX 783006 and D-ala-D-leucine enkephalin (DADL) have been investigated in the rat isolated vas deferens preparation (RVD) set up in Krebs solution containing half the normal Ca++ concentration. The results obtained provide very strong evidence for the existence of both mu- and delta-receptors in this preparation. The Ke values of a number of opioid antagonists v. DADL in the RVD have been determined and compared to the Ke values obtained in the mouse vas deferens assay (MVD). The very good correlation (slope = 1.01, r = 0.98) obtained between the Ke values from the 2 preparations confirms the presence of a delta-receptor in the RVD.


Boar sperm protein tyrosine phosphorylation in the presence of egg yolk soluble and low density lipoprotein fractions during cooling.
Increased protein tyrosine phosphorylation and the appearance of a phosphorylated protein of 32 kD (p32) are reported among the capacitation-like changes in cryopreserved boar sperm. Egg yolk freezing extenders are composed by two fractions: insoluble granules and soluble plasma, which contains the low density lipoproteins (LDL) proposed as responsible for the egg yolk cryoprotective action. The aim of this work was to analyze the effects of complete egg yolk and its insoluble, soluble and LDL fractions on boar sperm quality and protein tyrosine phosphorylation after the first stage of a standard cryopreservation protocol. Semen samples in Androstar® Plus diluent were centrifuged and resuspended in the different egg yolk extenders. Temperature was decreased from 17 °C to 5 °C and sperm quality, protein tyrosine phosphorylation and protein pattern were analyzed. Results showed that complete egg yolk as well as soluble and LDL egg yolk fractions maintained sperm quality after temperature decrease. Cooling without any lipid component or in the presence of the insoluble fraction, significantly reduced sperm motility. About sperm protein tyrosine phosphorylation analysis, the p32 band appeared before treatments or after cooling in Androstar® Plus diluent. Complete egg yolk and its insoluble fraction interfered with sperm tyrosine phosphorylation even after cells were extensively washed. Analysis of extenders revealed a high amount of tyrosine phosphorylated proteins in the insoluble fraction, which may have co-precipitate with sperm in experiments. Samples submitted to temperature decrease from 17 °C to 5 °C in the presence of soluble and LDL egg yolk fractions in Androstar® Plus diluent did not show any change in the p32 band associated with sperm capacitation. However, a tyrosine-phosphorylated protein of 33 kD present in clarified egg yolk was also observed in sperm treated with this extender. Protein transference from plasma and LDL egg yolk extenders was also observed in sperm protein profile. Results suggested that soluble and LDL fractions might have a protective action preventing sperm protein tyrosine phosphorylation during cooling from 17 °C to 5 °C. Further studies are needed to expand the knowledge of the LDL protection mechanism as well as to determine the possible benefits of clarified egg yolk in freezing protocols.


Circulating soluble Fas ligand correlates with disease activity in Graves' hyperthyroidism.
Apoptosis of thyrocytes may play an important role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroiditis. Meanwhile, the Fas/Fas ligand (FasL) apoptosis pathway has received much attention in physiological homeostasis and immune regulation in various thyroid diseases, including Graves' hyperthyroidism (GD). FasL is a type II membrane protein of the tumor necrosis factor family, and induces apoptosis when it binds to Fas. Soluble FasL (sFasL) may also exert cytotoxic activity against Fas-expressing cells by producing trimerization of Fas molecule, but soluble Fas (sFas) is an apoptotic inhibitor. To determine the role of circulating sFas/sFasL in modulating disease activity of GD, we examined the circulating levels of sFas/sFasL in GD patients with various levels of anti-thyrotropin-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor antibodies (TRAb). Serum samples were obtained from 22 consecutive untreated hyperthyroid GD patients with higher TRAb level (63.8% +/- 12.5%, group I) and 22 treated euthyroid GD patients, who were in a state of disease remission, with lower TRAb level (7.9% +/-5.9%, group II). The levels of sFas were significantly higher in group I (1.56 +/- 0.26 ng/mL) than in group II (0.76 +/- 0.26 ng/mL, P <.01). The levels of sFasL were also significantly higher in group I patients (0.153 +/- 0.018 ng/mL) than in group II patients (0.126 +/- 0.012 ng/mL, P <.01). A significant correlation was found between sFasL levels and TRAb activity in all GD patients (r = 0.69, P <.01). Because changes in sFasL levels and TRAb levels occur in parallel, increased serum sFasL in patients with GD may contribute to homeostasis in the thyroid. Serum sFasL may be considered to be a candidate marker for evaluating disease aggression or regression in GD.


Buffering effect of suspended particulate matter on phosphorus cycling during transport from rivers to lakes.
How to maintain harmful algal blooms under phosphate-limitation is still an open question in mesotrophic/eutrophic lakes. Little evidence for the importance of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in mediating phosphorus cycling and contributing to eutrophication has been generated for aquatic ecosystems, especially in coupled river-lake systems. In this study, we examined phosphorus transport and redistribution in a river-lake system in the Lake Erhai basin by establishing the relations between phosphorus distribution and phosphorus sorption behavior on SPM, and predicted how changes in the quality and quantity of SPM might influence phosphorus cycling by laboratory experiments and modeling. During the wet seasons, TP pool shifted from being dominated by total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) in the Miju River and estuary regions (73±5%) to being dominated by total particulate phosphorus (TPP) (74±11%) in Lake Erhai. The detritus-SPM in the Miju River as a P-sink and phytoplankton-SPM in Lake Erhai as a P-source buffered TDP levels during the wet seasons, which attributed to P activity and phytoplankton-POC of SPM. Increasing SPM concentrations could enhance the P-buffering. When C0 ≤ 5 μmol/L and phytoplankton-SPM ≥ 16 mg/L, P release increased by 50%-300%; when C0 ≥ 5 μmol/L and detritus-SPM ≥ 16 mg/L, P removal could exceed 30%. This study highlights two distinctive roles of SPM in regulating P cycling during transport from rivers to lakes. Especially the phytoplankton-SPM to buffer phosphate-limitation during algal blooms should not be ignored, which could provide theoretical references for the mechanism of continued algal blooms in mesotrophic lakes.


Effects of acute morphine pretreatment on the rate-decreasing and antagonist activity of naloxone.
Rats responded under a schedule in which every 30th lever press (fixed ratio 30) produced a food pellet during sessions divided into six 5-min ratio components separated by 10-min timeout (TO) periods. Cumulative doses of morphine or naloxone were administered at the start of consecutive TO periods. When given alone, morphine decreased response rates in a dose-dependent manner, abolishing responding at 10 or 17.8 mg/kg. Naloxone doses of 0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg restored rates and patterns of behavior suppressed by a dose of 17.8 mg/kg morphine; doses of 0.32 to 10 mg/kg prevented the rate-decreasing effects of cumulative morphine doses. When administered alone, naloxone initially decreased response rates at a cumulative dose of 32 to 100 mg/kg; with repeated testing and intervening morphine exposure, the required cumulative dose was decreased to 10 or 32 mg/kg. An acute 10 mg/kg morphine pretreatment, given 4 h before the session, decreased the cumulative naloxone dose required to suppress rates an additional 10- to 30-fold. This effect was time-dependent and dose-dependent, and the usual naloxone dose-response function could be recaptured 1 week after the pretreatment effect was obtained. In contrast, acute morphine pretreatment did not alter either the cumulative dose of morphine itself required to suppress rates or the naloxone dose required to reverse or prevent morphine's rate-decreasing effects.


Comparison of catalytic activity and mass concentration of serum creatine kinase MB isoenzyme in the detection of coronary reperfusion in acute myocardial infarction after therapeutic thrombolysis.
Serum creatinine kinase MB isoenzyme time-activity curves are useful for the assessment of coronary reperfusion after acute myocardial infarction. The purpose of this study was to compare serum creatine kinase MB catalytic activity with mass concentration for the determination of coronary reflow after therapeutic thrombolysis. Creatine kinase MB mass was determined immunoenzymometrically. Creatinine kinase MB catalytic activity concentration was determined by electrophoresis. Serum was collected every 4 hours for 96 hours in two groups of myocardial infarction patients: A (n = 10), urokinase induced reperfusion; B (n = 10), conventional therapy without urokinase. Peaks of mass and activity occurred at similar times in groups A and B. Both were significantly earlier in the urokinase treated patients. The maximal rate of increase of creatine kinase MB (based on either mass or catalytic activity) was threefold greater in the urokinase group. There are no important differences between the behaviour of creatine kinase measured as catalytic concentration or as mass concentration. Mass concentration is therefore equally useful as an indicator of coronary reperfusion.


Sorbent hemodialysis: clinical experience with new sorbent cartridges and hemodialyzers.
To recycle spent dialysate, a sorbent hemodialyzer uses a purification cartridge, adapted from water reclamation systems originally designed for the aerospace program. Increasing interest in home hemodialysis has driven a renewed examination of sorbent dialyzer technology, resulting in the development of a modern sorbent hemodialyzer and an array of new sorbent cartridges. Initial clinical experience with the Allient Hemodialysis System and the new sorbent cartridges is presented, with an emphasis on achievable clearances and ultrafiltration, as well as information about symptom profile and electrolyte balance.


Enhancement of Aggregate Formation Through Aromatic Compound Adsorption in Elastin-like Peptide (FPGVG)5 Analogs.
Elastin-like peptides (ELPs) exhibit temperature-dependent reversible self-assembly. Repetitive sequences derived from elastin, such as Val-Pro-Gly-Val-Gly (VPGVG), are essential for the self-assembly of ELPs. Previously, we developed (FPGVG)5 (F5), in which the first valine residue in the VPGVG sequence was replaced with phenylalanine, which showed strong self-aggregation ability. This suggests that interactions through the aromatic amino acid residues of ELPs could play an important role in self-assembly. In this study, we investigated the thermoresponsive behavior of F5 analogs in the presence of aromatic compounds. Turbidimetry, spectroscopy, and fluorescence measurements demonstrated that aromatic compounds interacted with F5 analogs below the transition temperature and enhanced the self-assembly ability of ELPs by stabilizing amyloid-like structures. Furthermore, quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography analyses showed that the F5 analogs could adsorb and remove hydrophobic aromatic compounds from aqueous solutions during aggregate formation. These results suggested that the F5 analogs can be applicable as scavengers of aromatic compounds.


Perceived choice, social interaction, and dimensions of moral of residents in a home for the aged.
In a study of 50 residents in a home for the aged, the relationships of health at relocation, choice in relocation, income, perceived choice within an institutional environment, and social interaction to four indices of morale were examined in hierarchical multiple regression designs. The theoretical concept of decisional control (i.e., perceived choice) guided the investigation. Significant multivariate effects were found for all dimensions of morale: agitation, attitude toward own aging, lonely dissatisfaction, and a combined morale index. Choice within the institution and social interaction were the major contributors to these significant multivariate relationships, but income was also influential in analysis of the attitudinal and combined morale indices for a subsample. Retrospective measures of health at relocation and choice in relocation were unstable in their contributions to overall multivariate relationships. Relationships of age, recency of loss of a significant other, and length of residency to morale were explored and found not to be significant. Results are discussed against the background of theoretical expectations, and avenues for future research are identified.