A systematic review of interventions for homeless women.
The aim of this research is to undertake a systematic review of the existing literature to determine effective physical and psychosocial interventions for homeless women. Homelessness is an increasing problem worldwide. Homelessness results in considerable risk to the health and social and psychological well-being of those without permanent shelter. Community nurses require effective interventions to assist homeless women to improve their health; however, little is known about effective interventions for this unique group. A search of several databases was conducted. Seven hundred and fifteen papers were initially identified, with only six studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The methodologies included the following: randomised controlled trials (2), quasi-experimental (3) and a comparative study (1). Due to the diversity of the designs, measurement tools, interventions and outcomes of these studies, narrative synthesis was used to appraise their effectiveness. Study interventions such as structured education and support sessions (with and without advocates or support persons) and therapeutic communities reduced psychological distress and healthcare use, improved self-esteem, reduced drug and alcohol use within some limitations. The aspects of the effective interventions could form the basis of community nursing programmes for our communities. Further research is required to ensure that homeless women and their children receive effective nursing interventions. Community nursing can develop and trial programmes for homeless women including content within group sessions, counselling or advocacy within or without a therapeutic community, as presented in this review.


Colonic diverticular bleeding: precise localization and successful management by a combination of CT angiography and interventional radiology.
We report a case of 50-year-old man with relapsing severe colonic diverticular bleeding. The patient required total blood transfusion of 14 units, despite fasting for bowel rest. Repeated CT, colonoscopy, and angiography could not determine the accurate bleeding site. Superselective arterial embolization could be finally achieved by precise localization on CT immediately after superior mesenteric arteriography.


PI4KB on Inclusion Bodies Formed by ER Membrane Remodeling Facilitates Replication of Human Parainfluenza Virus Type 3.
Many positive-strand RNA viruses remodel the endomembrane to form specialized replication organelles. However, knowledge regarding whether negative-strand RNA viruses take advantage of intracellular membranes for replication is limited. Here we show that a negative-strand RNA virus, human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3), remodels the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane to form inclusion bodies (IBs), whereby the phosphoprotein (P) of HPIV3 recruits phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase beta (PI4KB) to IBs to generate PI4P, creating a PI4P-enriched microenvironment to promote HPIV3 replication. In addition, we find that human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) also takes advantage of the ER to form IBs and that these IBs are also enriched with PI4P. The nucleoprotein of HRSV recruits PI4KB to IBs. These results suggest that paramyxoviruses also exploit the host endomembrane to form IBs and that PI4KB is recruited by viral proteins to enrich IBs with PI4P to facilitate viral replication.


The clival-perpendicular or modified Water's view in compound tomography.
The air gap type of CT scanner with tilting gantry allows the use of head positions other than the standard semi-axial. The modified Water's or clival-perpendicular position is especially useful in the diagnosis of posterior fossa disease. The position offers a view that is approximately coronal to the clivus and tentorium. The clival-perpendicular view easily separates the supra- and infratentorial compartments. It also helps to differentiate extra- and intra-axial lesions and to locate the fourth ventricle, and it gives far better vertical orientation of posterior fossa pathology.


Selection of milks with varying fat contents and related overall liking, attitudes, norms and intentions.
A total of 236 subjects who used non-fat (0%), low-fat (1.9%) or regular-fat (3.9%) milk as their principal milk source participated in a hedonic test and in a survey in which overall liking, attitudes, norms and buying intentions of the three milk types as well as aspects of their consumption and shifts among them were studied. The subjects strongly preferred their own milk type in hedonic tests, in survey ratings of liking, and in their beliefs concerning sensory quality, nutritional and health value and suitability for various purposes. All the user groups indicated a reluctance to shift from the usual milk type but were, however, aware of nutritional recommendations as to which milk type they should use. The Fishbein model of attitudes, norms and behaviour explained 18-47% of the variation in buying intentions or selections of the milk types. The predictive power of the attitudinal component was greater than that of the norm component. Insertion of survey ratings of overall liking into the regression model slightly improved its predictive power (up to 25-48%), but this component was highly correlated with the attitude variable. It is concluded that the use of a certain milk type is highly supported by a consistent belief structure and positive attributions, which defend the established behaviour against any pressure to shift to another type of milk.


Sensory testing of recipes masking peanut or hazelnut for double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges.
In a double-blind placebo-controlled food challenge (DBPCFC), it is necessary that recipes comprising the allergen cannot be distinguished from placebo. We investigated whether the method of paired comparisons, a sensory difference test, could be used to test the suitability of recipes for a DBPCFC. We used two recipes, each with three concentrations of peanut or hazelnut flour. The recipe for peanut consisted of mashed potatoes with 2.7, 8.9, or 26.8 mg of peanut flour, and the recipe for hazelnut of oatmeal porridge with 74, 247, or 742 mg of hazelnut flour. Corresponding amounts of protein in the provided 15 g portions of each recipe were 0.7, 2.3, and 6.8 mg for peanut, and 11.6, 39, and 117 mg for hazelnut, respectively. Recipes were offered together with a placebo, and evaluated on sensory features by 81 healthy volunteers. The sensory test was easy to perform. Volunteers were not able to detect peanut flour in mashed potatoes, but they recognized hazelnut flour in oatmeal porridge on visual features. Sensory testing by means of the method of paired comparisons is a useful method to evaluate masking of foods for DBPCFC.


Mechanisms of resistance to aminoglycosides.
Bacterial resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics occurs by a variety of mechanisms. In clinical situations the most common mechanism is plasmid-determined modification of the drug that leads to a block of transport of the antibiotic into the cell. Amikacin, a semisynthetic aminoglycoside, is effective against a number of resistant strains because it has fewer sites of modification.


Sensitive method for intraoperative roentgenograms.
A new technique using mammography film has been developed. A portable x-ray machine and mammographic film has been used to obtain excellent intraoperative radiographs of renal calculi. The kidney is exposed through a flank incision. The film is cut to a size and shape that will permit an easy fit behind the kidney. Exposed film is developed in an automatic processor. This technique has facilitated location and removal of small calculi and faintly opaque calculi. Uric acid stones have been demonstrated in vitro. It is an inexpensive technique that requires no special equipment.


Interstitial-vestibular interaction in the control of head posture.
Experiments were performed in cats to determine whether the head tilt following a unilateral lesion of the interstitial nucleus of Cajal (INC) can be attributed to removal of interstitiospinal fibers which have direct excitatory synaptic connections with ipsilateral neck extensor (biventer cervicis-complexus) and flexor (sternocleidomastoid, SCM) motoneurons. Unilateral INC lesions were made either electrolytically or reversibly by procaine infusion into the INC, and electromyographic activity was recorded bilaterally from biventer (BIV), splenius (SP) and SCM muscles. In both groups of lesions, activity of the ipsilateral SP and BIV was higher than that of the contralateral ones. When procaine was infused into the INC of awake cats, an increase of activity of the ipsilateral SP began before the cats presented the typical head tilt to the opposite side. Bilateral INC lesions caused dorsiflexion of the head. These results indicate that the head tilt resulting from unilateral INC lesions can not be explained by simple removal of the ipsilateral, direct excitatory interstitioneck impulses. When unilateral INC lesions were combined with hemilabyrinthectomies, cats that were given labyrinthectomies on the side opposite to the previous INC lesions showed very severe head tilt, whereas cats that received labyrinthectomies on the same side did not show obvious head tilt. Furthermore, it took a much longer time for the cats of the former group to compensate the head tilt than it took those that had single lesions of the INC or labyrinth.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Job-loss and morbidity in married men with and without young children.
The data resulting from a longitudinal study of the consequences of threatened and eventual job-loss on health in industrial employees was examined in order to analyse the influence of family size. When the risk factor of age was eliminated, no difference was found in the use made of health services by married men with at least two dependent children aged under 16 years and those with no dependent children. However, the wives of men with no dependent children consulted at a significantly higher rate than the wives of men with dependent children in the period when their husbands faced and then underwent job-loss.


The Vermont longitudinal study of persons with severe mental illness, II: Long-term outcome of subjects who retrospectively met DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia.
The authors present the findings from a long-term follow-up study of 118 patients from Vermont State Hospital who, when rediagnosed retrospectively, met DSM-III criteria for schizophrenia at their index hospitalization in the mid-1950s. The patients were studied with structured, reliable, multivariate instrument batteries by raters who were blind to information in their records. The rediagnostic process is described, and results of the follow-up are presented. Outcome varied widely, but one-half to two-thirds of the sample had achieved considerable improvement or recovered, in contrast to statements in DSM-III that predict a poor outcome for schizophrenic patients.


Alexia with agraphia in multiple sclerosis.
Alexia with agraphia has not been reported in multiple sclerosis (MS), while aphasia is rare. This report documents these findings in a woman with relapsing MS. Associated features included dysmnesia, achromatopsia and elements of Gerstmann's syndrome. Cranial CT showed a large contrast-enhancing area of demyelination in the left temporo-parietal region.


Nonlinear dynamics, granular media and dynamic earthquake triggering.
The 1992 magnitude 7.3 Landers earthquake triggered an exceptional number of additional earthquakes within California and as far north as Yellowstone and Montana. Since this observation, other large earthquakes have been shown to induce dynamic triggering at remote distances--for example, after the 1999 magnitude 7.1 Hector Mine and the 2002 magnitude 7.9 Denali earthquakes--and in the near-field as aftershocks. The physical origin of dynamic triggering, however, remains one of the least understood aspects of earthquake nucleation. The dynamic strain amplitudes from a large earthquake are exceedingly small once the waves have propagated more than several fault radii. For example, a strain wave amplitude of 10(-6) and wavelength 1 m corresponds to a displacement amplitude of about 10(-7) m. Here we show that the dynamic, elastic-nonlinear behaviour of fault gouge perturbed by a seismic wave may trigger earthquakes, even with such small strains. We base our hypothesis on recent laboratory dynamic experiments conducted in granular media, a fault gouge surrogate. From these we infer that, if the fault is weak, seismic waves cause the fault core modulus to decrease abruptly and weaken further. If the fault is already near failure, this process could therefore induce fault slip.


PicW orthologs from spruce with differential freezing tolerance expressed in Escherichia coli.
Spruce can grow at an extra low temperature (LT), and is inferred with important antifreezing gene resources. The research here identified 4 different spruce varieties, named as PicW1, PicW2, PicM and PicK. Sequence alignment showed base-substitution and deficiency mutations among them with sequence identity between 97.61% and 99.25%. Each gene was transferred into E. coli, where protein was induced by IPTG (isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactoside). Strains cultured at -5°C showed the lethal dose 50% (LD-50) between 53h and 57h for the transgenic strains, but 35h for the control. Strains cultivated at -20°C showed the LD-50 between 38h and 44h for the transgenic strains, but 25h for the control. Further, the soluble gene proteins were extracted and purified for Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) test, which showed characteristic thermal hysteresis (TH) value of 0.77°C (PicW1), 0.78°C (PicW2), 0.72°C (PicM), and 0.86°C (PicK) respectively, significantly higher than the value of 0.05°C of the control (BSA). Summarily, four homologous proteins showed good antifreeze property with the range from high to low as PicK>PicW2>PicW1>PicM. It suggested that they can be used as resources for genetic engineering of plant cold tolerance.


Live/Real time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography in percutaneous closure of atrial septal defects.
This study assessed the ability of live/real time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (3DTEE) in measuring (1) atrial septal defect (ASD) maximum dimension, area, and adjacent rim size, (2) ASD occluder left and right atrial disk size, (3) length of contact between the left atrial (LA) disk and the aorta, and in (4) assessing device related complications such as residual shunt, device embolization, and device encroachment upon adjacent cardiac structures. 3DTEE images acquired during percutaneous ASD closure by the Amplatzer Septal Occluder in 15 adult patients were retrospectively analyzed. Offline analysis was done using both the Philips 5500 ultrasound system and Philips QLAB software. 3D color flow Doppler images were used to assess residual ASD shunting. The Philips 5500 and Philips QLAB measurements correlated well for ASD maximum dimension and area measurements. The Philips QLAB 3DTEE disk size measurements also correlated well with the manufacturer obtained sizes. The aortic rim was deficient in 7 of the 15 patients, and the mean ASD occluder device size was 4 mm greater than the mean ASD maximum dimension. The LA occluder disk was in contact with the aorta throughout the cardiac cycle in 12 of the 15 patients, and the LA occluder disk size correlated significantly with the contact length with the aorta. Most of the patients demonstrated contact between the LA occluder disk and the aorta throughout the cardiac cycle. 3DTEE may be useful in identifying patients at greater risk for aortic erosion.


Effects of different copper salts on the physicochemical properties, microstructure and intermolecular interactions of preserved egg white.
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different copper salts on the physicochemical properties, microstructure and intermolecular interactions of preserved egg white (PEW) during pickling. With increased pickling time, the alkalinity of the pickling solution and the moisture of PEW pickled by three copper salts (CuSO4, CuCl2 and Cu(CH3COO)2) gradually decreased, while the pH showed dynamic trends. During the early stage of pickling, the viscosity of PEW changed dynamically. With the progress of pickling, the hardness and springiness of PEW increased gradually and the α-helix structure gradually transformed into a more stable β-structure. The main forces that maintained PEW gel were ionic and disulfide bonds. In the early stage of pickling, the alkali penetration rate of CuCl2 pickled preserved eggs was faster, and better gel strength and network structure were observed, followed by CuSO4 and Cu(CH3COO)2, while there were no significant differences in the later stage of pickling.


Does inclusive leadership influence task performance of hospitality industry employees? Role of psychological empowerment and trust in leader.
Drawing on the social exchange theory, this research advances the understanding of leadership and task performance in the hospitality industry in China by exploring the impact of inclusive leadership on the task performance of subordinates working in dyadic forms. The current literature is scarce on the role of leadership in increasing the task performance of employees working in teams in dyadic forms. Multi-level sample of 410 leaders-subordinates in the hospitality industry was used to derive the research findings using PLS-SEM. The results indicated a positive influence of inclusive leadership on the task performance of subordinates. Psychological empowerment mediated this direct relationship. In addition, trust in leaders strengthened the direct link of inclusive leadership with task performance and psychological empowerment. The findings demonstrate that leaders in the hospitality industry should adopt an inclusive leadership style as it contributes to employee task performance, which improves the industry's performance.


Mona, a novel hematopoietic-specific adaptor interacting with the macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor, is implicated in monocyte/macrophage development.
The production, survival and function of monocytes and macrophages are regulated by the macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF or CSF-1) through its tyrosine kinase receptor Fms. Binding of M-CSF results in Fms autophosphorylation on specific tyrosines that act as docking sites for intracellular signaling molecules containing SH2 domains. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, we cloned a novel adaptor protein which we called 'Mona' for monocytic adaptor. Mona contains one SH2 domain and two SH3 domains related to the Grb2 adaptor. Accordingly, Mona interacts with activated Fms on phosphorylated Tyr697, which is also the Grb2-binding site. Furthermore, Mona contains a unique proline-rich region located between the SH2 domain and the C-terminal SH3 domain, and is apparently devoid of any catalytic domain. Mona expression is restricted to two hematopoietic tissues: the spleen and the peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and is induced rapidly during monocytic differentiation of the myeloid NFS-60 cell line in response to M-CSF. Strikingly, overexpression of Mona in bone marrow cells results in strong reduction of M-CSF-dependent macrophage production in vitro. Taken together, our results suggest an important role for Mona in the regulation of monocyte/macrophage development as controlled by M-CSF.


Cost-effectiveness of point-of-care versus centralised, laboratory-based nucleic acid testing for diagnosis of HIV in infants: a systematic review of modelling studies.
Point-of-care (POC) nucleic acid testing for diagnosis of HIV in infants facilitates earlier initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) than with centralised (standard-of-care, SOC) testing, but can be more expensive. We evaluated cost-effectiveness data from mathematical models comparing POC with SOC to provide global policy guidance. In this systematic review of modelling studies, we searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database, Econlit, and conference abstracts, combining terms for "HIV" + "infant"/"early infant diagnosis" + "point-of-care" + "cost-effectiveness" + "mathematical models", without restrictions from database inception to July 15, 2022. We selected reports of mathematical cost-effectiveness models comparing POC with SOC for HIV diagnosis in infants younger than 18 months. Titles and abstracts were independently reviewed, with full-text review for qualifying articles. We extracted data on health and economic outcomes and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for narrative synthesis. The primary outcomes of interest were ICERs (comparing POC with SOC) for ART initiation and survival of children living with HIV. Our search identified 75 records through database search. 13 duplicates were excluded, leaving 62 non-duplicate articles. 57 records were excluded and five were reviewed in full text. One article was excluded as it was not a modelling study, and four qualifying studies were included in the review. These four reports were from two mathematical models from two independent modelling groups. Two reports used the Johns Hopkins model to compare POC with SOC for repeat early infant diagnosis testing in the first 6 months in sub-Saharan Africa (first report, simulation of 25 000 children) and Zambia (second report, simulation of 7500 children). In the base scenario, POC versus SOC increased probability of ART initiation within 60 days of testing from 19% to 82% (ICER per additional ART initiation range US$430-1097; 9-month cost horizon) in the first report; and from 28% to 81% in the second ($23-1609, 5-year cost horizon). Two reports compared POC with SOC for testing at 6 weeks in Zimbabwe using the Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications-Paediatric model (simulation of 30 million children; lifetime horizon). POC increased life expectancy and was considered cost-effective compared with SOC (ICER $711-850 per year of life saved in HIV-exposed children). Results were robust throughout sensitivity and scenario analyses. In most scenarios, platform cost-sharing (co-use with other programmes) resulted in POC being cost-saving compared with SOC. Four reports from two different models suggest that POC is a cost-effective and potentially cost-saving strategy for upscaling of early infant testing compared with SOC. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Unitaid, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, WHO, and Massachusetts General Hospital Research Scholars.


Clinical Presentation and Management of Malignant Psoas Syndrome: A Scoping Review of Case Reports and Case Series.
Malignant psoas syndrome (MPS) is a rare and underreported clinical syndrome that significantly impacts the quality of life of cancer patients through metastatic infiltration of the iliopsoas muscle. Patients suffering from MPS often present with painful hip flexion, loss of mobility, and immense pain in their legs and back. The current literature describing the clinical presentation, management, and prognosis of MPS is limited primarily to case reports and outdated literature reviews. There remains a gap in the current knowledge of MPS and in the management of this complex cancer-related pain syndrome. Thus, this scoping review aimed to map current case reports and case series on MPS for clinical presentation, treatment modalities, and resulting prognoses of MPS in late-stage cancer patients. A systemized search using the databases Embase and PubMed (Medline) was conducted to access case reports and case series published between January 1990 and October 2022 that met the study's inclusion criteria: (1) adult patients with metastatic cancer; (2) MPS symptoms secondary to infiltration of iliopsoas; (3) clinical presentation, treatment modality, and prognosis; and (4) English-language text. Our search strategy yielded 1926 citations. After removing 629 duplicates, 1,283 reports were excluded due to failure to meet eligibility criteria (n=1,271) or inaccessibility (n=12). Using the JBI appraisal tools for case reports and case series, a total of 14 articles remained for the final review. With histories of either genitourinary, hepatic, gastric, or skin cancer, each case reported new onset intense pain in the legs, back, abdomen, or pelvis with associated symptoms such as flexion of the hip or gait disorder. A computerized tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or positron emission tomography (PET) scan typically confirmed metastasis into the iliopsoas causing these symptoms, which suggested MPS. Each case utilized two to seven different pain management strategies to alleviate MPS symptoms. Many cases first used opioids for pain relief. Following a necessitated increase in morphine equivalent daily dose, a subsequent increase in the strength of analgesic, change in route of administration, and integration of combination drug therapy were generally added to the treatment regime. Many cases reported successful management of symptoms through utilizing methadone, radiation therapy, botulinum toxin injection, increased opioid dosage, or epidural catheter administration of opioids. A unified clinical definition of MPS may be required to inform physicians of this syndrome to help support clinical decisions regarding treatments for patients. The studies indicated that a clearer guideline for treatment protocol may be warranted as most cases reported utilizing various treatment medication dosages and procedures with vastly differing results.


Anemia treatment of lymphoproliferative malignancies with erypoiesis: an overview of state of the art.
Anemia is a common comorbidity of lymphoproliferative malignancies, especially in multiple myeloma. Blood transfusions and ESAs (erythropoiesis stimulating agents) are both possible treatment options, but the latter is often preferred because of the potential risks of unwanted side effects related to blood transfusions. Evidence is accumulating that the use of ESAs in above clinical conditions is safe and effective and not associated with an increase in mortality or serious adverse events. 69.1% of patients achieved a hemoglobin response defined as an increase in hemoglobin of>2g/dl while receiving ESAs and concomitant chemotherapy. If supplemented with iron the hemoglobin response rate can be increased and hence the total dosage and financial cost reduced. A hemoglobin response is often accompanied by an increase in quality of life. HYPO% (hypochromic erythrocytes<5%) is believed to be both a significant positive predictor for the Hb response and also an indicator for iron supplementation if⩾5%. Conventional biochemical markers like serum ferritin concentration and transferrin saturation are not reliable for this use. The effect of EPO stimulating agents as the predictor of the Hb response, quality of life, mortality and the potential adverse events are discussed.


T helper type-2 cytokine responses: potential therapeutic targets.
T helper (Th)2 cell-mediated immune responses are associated with parasitic helminth infections and atopic disorders. The production of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-9 and/or IL-13 by Th2 cells mediates a range of responses that can be protective or pathogenic. Progress has recently been made in elucidating the mechanism of Th2 immunity, which has therapeutic potential for the treatment of allergic diseases.


Variables related to the informal caregivers' burden of dependent senior citizens in Spain.
The study aims at analyzing the psychosocial variables associated with the informal caregivers' burden of dependent older people. A sample of 296 dependent people and their informal caregivers (n=153) was randomly selected among users and non-users of the Spanish public In-Home Help Service (HHS) in an autonomous Spanish region (Comunidad Valenciana). Diverse variables in reference to the care context and the caregiver as well as the care recipient show major associations with the burden: those associated to disease and the social situation of the dependent person, the greater frequency and intensity of care, and the low frequency in which the caregiver receives help from others. The obtained data makes possible to establish guidelines based on the psychological and educational interventions which relieve the informal caregivers' burden of dependent senior citizens, which must be combined with respite services, in order to promote the permanence of this population group in the community environment.


TARBP2-stablized SNHG7 regulates blood-brain barrier permeability by acting as a competing endogenous RNA to miR-17-5p/NFATC3 in Aβ-microenvironment.
Breakdown of blood-brain barrier (BBB) is recognized as serious pathological marker of Alzheimer's disease development. Studies confirmed that β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition induced high BBB permeability by disrupting tight junction (TJ) proteins formed from endothelial cells (ECs). Here, we found TARBP2, SNHG7 and NFATC3 in expressions were increased and miR-17-5p expression was decreased in Aβ(1-42)-incubated ECs. Overexpression of TARBP2, SNHG7 and NFATC3 elevated BBB permeability and knockdown of them had converse results. Agomir-17-5p decreased BBB permeability and antagomir-17-5p increased BBB permeability. TARBP2 as a RNA-binding protein (RBP) bound to SNHG7 and resulted in longer half-life of SNHG7. The decreased expression of miR-17-5p had a negative post-transcriptional regulation to NFATC3, leading to the increased expression of NFATC3. In addition, SNHG7 regulated NFATC3 expression by acting as a molecule sponge targeting to miR-17-5p. NFATC3 inhibited TJ proteins expression by functioning as a transcription factor. TARBP2/SNHG7/miR-17-5p/NFATC3 pathway implied a potential mechanism in studies of BBB changes in AD pathological progression.


Structure of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis NusA-RNA complex.
NusA is a key regulator of bacterial transcriptional elongation, pausing, termination and antitermination, yet relatively little is known about the molecular basis of its activity in these fundamental processes. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, NusA has been shown to bind with high affinity and specificity to BoxB-BoxA-BoxC antitermination sequences within the leader region of the single ribosomal RNA (rRNA) operon. We have determined high-resolution X-ray structures of a complex of NusA with two short oligo-ribonucleotides derived from the BoxC stem-loop motif and have characterised the interaction of NusA with a variety of RNAs derived from the antitermination region. These structures reveal the RNA bound in an extended conformation to a large interacting surface on both KH domains. Combining structural data with observed spectral and calorimetric changes, we now show that NusA binding destabilises secondary structure within rRNA antitermination sequences and propose a model where NusA functions as a chaperone for nascently forming RNA structures.


Metastatic primary testicular carcinoid tumor managed with radical orchiectomy, retroperitoneal lymph node dissection and inferior vena cava excision: Case report.
Metastatic primary testicular carcinoid tumor remains a very rare condition. We report the first case of metastatic primary testicular carcinoid tumor where along retroperitoneal lymph node dissection excision of the Inferior Vena Cava was also performed. The rarity is further emphasised by the presence of a contralateral testicular dermoid cyst. Given the features of the tumor were not in keeping with the traditional predictors of metastases (primary tumor >7.3 cm, poor differentiation and the presence of carcinoid syndrome) this case adds valuable addition to the relatively limited literature available on this rare condition.


Inferring Temporal Information from a Snapshot of a Dynamic Network.
The problem of reverse-engineering the evolution of a dynamic network, known broadly as network archaeology, is one of profound importance in diverse application domains. In analysis of infection spread, it reveals the spatial and temporal processes underlying infection. In analysis of biomolecular interaction networks (e.g., protein interaction networks), it reveals early molecules that are known to be differentially implicated in diseases. In economic networks, it reveals flow of capital and associated actors. Beyond these recognized applications, it provides analytical substrates for novel studies - for instance, on the structural and functional evolution of the human brain connectome. In this paper, we model, formulate, and rigorously analyze the problem of inferring the arrival order of nodes in a dynamic network from a single snapshot. We derive limits on solutions to the problem, present methods that approach this limit, and demonstrate the methods on a range of applications, from inferring the evolution of the human brain connectome to conventional citation and social networks, where ground truth is known.


Future of monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of hematologic malignancies.
The approval of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) as antibody-targeted therapy in the management of patients with hematologic malignancies has led to new treatment options for this group of patients. The ability to target antibodies to novel functional receptors can increase their therapeutic efficacy. The authors reviewed improvements in MAb design to enhance their effectiveness over the existing therapeutic MAb currently approved for treating hematologic malignancies. Three classes of therapeutic MAbs showing promise in human clinical trials for treatment of hematologic malignancies include unconjugated MAb, drug conjugates in which the antibody preferentially delivers a potent cytotoxic drug to the tumor, and radioactive immunotherapy in which the antibody delivers a sterilizing dose of radiation to the tumor. A better appreciation of how MAbs are metabolized in the body and localized to tumors is resulting in the development of new antibody constructs with improved biodistribution profiles.


Enhancement of nucleolar RNA synthesis by chromium (III) in regenerating rat liver.
Rats pretreated with CrCl3 at an intraperitoneal dose of 5 mg Cr/kg body weight, and then subjected to partial hepatectomy concentrated Cr in the regenerating liver cells, especially in the nucleoli. Hepatic RNA synthesis induced by partial hepatectomy was further enhanced by Cr(III) administration without changes of the nucleotide pool size at least for 12 hr after the hepatectomy. Of the RNA species newly synthesized, the synthesis of nucleolar RNA was predominantly enhanced. The nucleolar RNA thus synthesized in the regenerating liver of Cr(III)-dosed rats followed normal processing into rRNA as estimated by actinomycin D-chase experiments followed by sucrose density gradient centrifugation analysis and also by nucleotide composition analysis of nucleolar and ribosomal RNAs. These results suggest that Cr accumulated in nucleoli may participate in nucleolar gene expression.


Immunization levels among inner city children enrolled in subsidized childcare.
Measure immunization rates in subsidized child care and determine whether the population is representative of inner city preschool children. We identified 156 children, ages 0-60 months, in 14 inner-city child care centers enrolled in subsidized care and obtained demographic and immunization information. ZIP-code distribution of sample children was correlated with similarly aged children from the 2000 Census (family incomes .150% of poverty). The overall subsidized child care population was geographically similar to all low-income children, ages 0-5, in Jacksonville (r.0.94). Only 73.3% were up-to-date at 3 months and 44.2% at 12 months of age (3 DTaP, 2 HIB, 2 IPV, 3 Hep B). Our findings support the contention that children in subsidized child care are geographically representative of low-income, inner city preschool children. This study suggests that children enrolled in subsidized child care are both potentially underserved and an accessible window into the inner-city preschool population.


Comparison of postoperative pain after open and endoscopic carpal tunnel release: A randomized controlled study.
Results of open and endoscopic carpal tunnel surgery were compared with many studies done previously. To the best of our knowledge, difference in pain after endoscopic carpal tunnel release (ECTR) and open carpal tunnel release (OCTR) has not been objectively documented in literature. The aim of the study was to compare the pain intensity in the early postoperative period in patients undergoing OCTR versus those undergoing ECTR. Fifty patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome were randomized into two groups using "random number generator" software (Research Randomizer, version 3.0); endoscopic surgery group [(21 female, 1 male; mean age 49 years (range 31-64 years)] and open surgery group [(25 female, 3 male; mean age 45.1 years (range 29-68 years)] and received carpal tunnel release. Surgery was performed under regional intravenous anesthesia. The patients' pain level was assessed at the 1(st), 2(nd), 4(th), and 24(th) postoperative hours using a visual analog scale (VAS) score. Mean age, gender and duration of symptoms were found similar for both groups. Boston functional scores were improved for both groups (P < 0.001, P < 0.001). Pain assessment at the postoperative 1(st), 2(nd), 4(th) and 24(th) hours revealed significantly low VAS scores in the endoscopic surgery group (P = 0.003, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P < 0.001). Need for analgesic medication was significantly lower in the endoscopic surgery group (P < 0.001). Endoscopic carpal tunnel surgery is an effective treatment method in carpal tunnel release vis-a-vis postoperative pain relief.


Fever temperatures modulate intraprotein dynamics and enhance the binding affinity between monoclonal antibodies and the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2.
Fever is a typical symptom of most infectious diseases. While prolonged fever may be clinically undesirable, mild reversible fever (<39℃, 312 K) can potentiate the immune responses against pathogens. Here, using molecular dynamics and free energy calculations, we investigated the effect of febrile temperatures (38℃ to 40℃, 311 K to 313 K) on the immune complexes formed by the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with two neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. In analyzing the conformational dynamics of the interactions between the antibodies and the spike protein under different thermal conditions, we found that, at mild fever temperatures (311-312 K), the binding affinities of the two antibodies improve when compared to the physiological body temperature (37℃, 310 K). Furthermore, only at 312 K, antibodies exert distinct mechanical effects on the receptor binding domains of the spike protein that may hinder SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. Enhanced antibody binding affinity may thus be obtained using appropriate temperature conditions.


Evaluation of functional mobility, balance, and executive functions in children with epilepsy.
It is known that motor skills and executive functions are interrelated in healthy children. The study aims to evaluate the functional mobility, balance and executive functions in children who are diagnosed with epilepsy and to determine whether they are related to each other. The study included 21 children who were diagnosed with epilepsy and have no additional comorbidities and 21 healthy children who had similar age and sex to those diagnosed with epilepsy. Their demographic data were collected using a descriptive information form. In addition, the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) and the Stair Climb Test (SCT) were used to evaluate their functional mobility, the Pediatric Berg Balance Scale (PBSS) to evaluate their balance, and the Behavior Evaluation Inventory for Executive Functions Parent Form (BRIEF-P) to evaluate their executive functions. Our study found a statistically significant difference between the children with epilepsy and their healthy peers in terms of functional mobility and executive functions (p < 0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference between them in terms of balance parameters (p > 0.05). In addition, a statistically significant difference was found between the executive functions and functional mobility in children with epilepsy (p < 0.05). The coefficient of determinations (R2) indicating how differences in T and SCT scores explained by executive function domains were found as 0.718 and 0.725, respectively. Epilepsy can negatively affect several aspects of functional mobility and executive functions in childhood. According to the results of our study, it is important to recognize the motor skills and executive functions problems of children with epilepsy who do not have additional comorbidities, and to direct them to appropriate healthcare programs. Our results support the need to raise awareness in both health professionals and families to encourage children with epilepsy to be more active.


Hypothermia decreases astroglial injury and arachidonate release during combined glucose-oxygen deprivation.
Hypothermia provides significant protection when initiated during or after cerebral ischemia in vivo. However, the mechanisms producing this protective effect are not known. Astroglial cultures were prelabeled with [3H]arachidonic acid. Hypothermia reduced both cellular injury and release of [3H]-labeled arachidonic acid metabolites during combined glucose-oxygen deprivation. Inhibition of phospholipid degradation may be one of the mechanisms that contributes to the protective effect of hypothermia.


Genetic variation in dopamine neurotransmission and motor development of infants born extremely-low-birthweight.
To determine if genetic variation associated with decreased dopamine neurotransmission predicts a decrease in motor development in a convenience cohort study of infants born extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW). Four hundred and ninety-eight infants born ELBW had genome-wide genotyping and a neurodevelopmental evaluation at 18 to 22 months of age, corrected for preterm birth. A polygenic risk score (PRS) was created to combine into one predictor variable the hypothesized influences on motor development of alleles at seven independent single nucleotide polymorphisms previously associated with relative decreases in both dopamine neurotransmission and motor learning, by summing the number of alleles present in each infant (range=0-14). The motor development outcome was the Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Second Edition. The linear regression models were adjusted for seven clinical and four genetic ancestry covariates. The mean PRS of infants with cerebral palsy (CP) was compared to those without CP. PRS was inversely related to PDI (p=0.011). Each 1-point increase in PRS resulted in an average decrease in PDI of 1.37 points. Patients with CP did not have a greater mean PRS than those without (p=0.67), both with and without adjustment for covariates. Genetic variation that favors a decrease in dopamine neurotransmission predisposes to a decrease in motor development in infants born ELBW, but not to the diagnosis of CP. Genetic variation in dopamine neurotransmission was associated with a decrease in motor development in infants born at an extremely-low-birthweight. It does not predispose to the diagnosis of cerebral palsy.


Safe but stifled: Assessing the impact of space and place on risk and adaptive response among shelter residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed society's interactions with spaces and places. This is especially true for shelter residents who had greater perceived risks of contracting the virus, largely because of communal living. To understand how shelter residents conceptualized their risk and resilience, we implemented a PhotoVoice project with five artists living in a Miami, FL shelter. Although these residents sometimes perceived the shelter as safe, it was often to the detriment of self-determination. Despite profound restrictions, residents still found ways to adapt to their environment. This article helps shelters and scholars alike better understand the ways that residents conceptualize their lived environments and highlights opportunities to empower residents despite challenging circumstances.


A single mutation in bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase (A737V, tsL141) decreases its processivity as a polymerase and increases its processivity as a 3'-->5' exonuclease.
The bacteriophage T4 DNA polymerase mutant A737V (tsL141 and tsCB120) was originally characterized as temperature-sensitive for DNA replication and an antimutator for transition mutations. Its antimutator phenotype is suppressed by the L771F mutation (Reha-Krantz, L. J., Stocki, S., Nonay, R., and Maughan, C. (1989) J. Cell. Biochem. 13D, 140). We find that the A737V polymerase arrests much more frequently than the wild type when polymerizing on primed single-stranded DNA templates. Although the 3'-->5' exonuclease of the mutant is indistinguishable from the wild type on single-stranded DNA, it is more active than the wild type on duplex DNA. In a single encounter with the primer, the wild type polymerase can incorporate more than 50 nucleotides. The processivity of the A737V polymerase is less than the wild type as a polymerase, but is greater than the wild type as an exonuclease. The L771F polymerase resembles the wild type in each of these properties, while the double mutant (A737V, L771F) is intermediate between the two single mutants. Kinetic studies of wild type T4 DNA polymerase (Capson, T. L., Peliska, J. A., Kaboord, B. F., Frey, M. W., Lively, C., Dahlberg, M., and Benkovic, S. J. (1992) Biochemistry 31, 10984-10994) suggest that DNA binds first to the polumerase active site, before adopting a configuration in which it can be hydrolyzed by the exonuclease. Within this framework, our studies suggest that DNA moves more readily from the polymerase- to the exonuclease-competent configuration on the A737V mutant polymerase, and that this movement is decreased by the compensating L771F mutation.


Tailored Feedback Based on Clinically Relevant Performance Metrics Expedites the Acquisition of Robotic Suturing Skills-An Unblinded Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
Previously, we identified 8 objective suturing performance metrics highly predictive of urinary continence recovery after robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy. Here, we aimed to test the feasibility of providing tailored feedback based upon these clinically relevant metrics and explore the impact on the acquisition of robotic suturing skills. Training surgeons were recruited and randomized to a feedback group or a control group. Both groups completed a baseline, midterm and final dry laboratory vesicourethral anastomosis (VUA) and underwent 4 intervening training sessions each, consisting of 3 suturing exercises. Eight performance metrics were recorded during each exercise: 4 automated performance metrics (derived from kinematic and system events data of the da Vinci® Robotic System) representing efficiency and console manipulation competency, and 4 suturing technical skill scores. The feedback group received tailored feedback (a visual diagram+verbal instructions+video examples) based on these metrics after each session. Generalized linear mixed model was used to compare metric improvement (Δ) from baseline to the midterm and final VUA. Twenty-three participants were randomized to the feedback group (11) or the control group (12). Demographic data and baseline VUA metrics were comparable between groups. The feedback group showed greater improvement than the control group in aggregate suturing scores at midterm (mean Δ feedback group 4.5 vs Δ control group 1.1) and final VUA (Δ feedback group 5.3 vs Δ control group 4.9). The feedback group also showed greater improvement in the majority of the included metrics at midterm and final VUA. Tailored feedback based on specific, clinically relevant performance metrics is feasible and may expedite the acquisition of robotic suturing skills.


A novel steroidal glycoside, ophiofurospiside A from Ophiopogon japonicus (Thunb.) Ker-Gawl.
A new furospirostanol saponin, ophiofurospiside A (1), was isolated together with the known steroidal glycosides 2, 3, and 4 from the tubers of Ophiopogon japonicus (Thunb.) Ker-Gawl. Using chemical and spectral analyses (IR, MS, 1D NMR, and 2D NMR), the structure of 1 was established as 26-O-beta-d-glucopyranosyl-(22S, 25R)-furospirost-5-ene-3beta, 17alpha, 26-triol-3-O-[alpha-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 --> 2)]-[beta-d-xylopyranosyl-(1 --> 4)]-glucopyranoside (1). Three known steroidal saponins 2-4 were identified on the basis of spectroscopic data.


A simple technique for the traditional method to estimate mean radiant temperature.
The mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) is the most important meteorological factor influencing human thermal comfort in urban areas. Numerous methods have been implemented for estimating Tmrt using measured radiometer or thermometer data, and exhibit different levels of accuracy. This study presents a simple technique based on the traditional method (Tmrt_TM) to estimate Tmrt by utilizing measured radiation data from the radiometers. The estimated Tmrt values from the six-directional method (Tmrt_SM) and two black globe thermometer methods (Tmrt_BG and Tmrt_BGv) at two stations (sky view factor 0.69 and 0.94) in Jeju, Republic of Korea, for 8 days (5 sunny days, 3 (semi-) cloudy days) in spring and summer were used to validate the Tmrt_TM. The results showed that the mean differences between Tmrt_TM and Tmrt_SM were within the required accuracy for comfort in ISO 7726 (± 2 ℃) on sunny days and were reduced to 0.1-0.3 ℃ in high Tmrt conditions such as clear summer days. The Tmrt_BG in most sunny and semi-cloudy days and Tmrt_BGv on all days resulted in large mean differences from the Tmrt_TM that exceeded the required accuracy for thermal stress in ISO 7726 (± 5 ℃). Therefore, both black globe thermometer methods should be used carefully when estimating Tmrt, especially during sunny days. The correlations between Tmrt_TM and Tmrt_SM were highly significant, 0.93 on all days (p = 0.01). The newly developed regression equations between Tmrt_TM and Tmrt_SM could reduce mean differences within 0.5 ℃ for all days, and their r2 values exceeded 0.87. Therefore, the simple Tmrt_TM technique can be used for Tmrt estimation in human thermal comfort studies.


Changes in microbial diversity of brined green asparagus upon treatment with high hydrostatic pressure.
The application of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP, 600MPa, 8 min) on brined green asparagus and the changes in bacterial diversity after treatments and during storage at 4 °C (30 days) or 22 °C (10 days) were studied. HHP treatments reduced viable cell counts by 3.6 log cycles. The residual surviving population did not increase during storage at 4 °C. However, bacterial counts significantly increased at 22 °C by day 3, leading to rapid spoilage. The microbiota of green asparagus was composed mainly by Proteobacteria (mainly Pantoea and Pseudomonas), followed by Firmicutes (mainly Lactococcus and Enterococcus) and to a less extent Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria. During chill storage of untreated asparagus, the relative abundance of Proteobacteria as well as Enterococcus and Lactococcus decreased while Lactobacillus increased. During storage of untreated asparagus at 22 °C, the abundance of Bacteroidetes decreased while Proteobacteria increased during late storage. The HHP treatment determined a reduction of the Proteobacteria both early after treatment and during chill storage. In the HHP treated samples stored at 22 °C, the relative abundance of Pseudomonas rapidly decreased at day 1, with an increase of Bacteroidetes. This was followed by a marked increase in Enterobacteriaceae (Escherichia) simultaneously with increase in viable counts and spoilage. Results from the study indicate that the effect of HHP treatments on the viability ofmicrobial populations in foods also has an impact on the dynamics of microbial populations during the storage of the treated foods.


Biological Role of Anions (Sulfate, Nitrate , Oxalate and Acetate) on the Antibacterial Properties of Cobalt (II) and Nickel(II) Complexes With Pyrazinedicarboxaimide Derived, Furanyl and Thienyl Compounds.
A number of biologically active complexes of cobalt(II) and nickel(II) with pyrazinedicarboxaimido derived thienyl and furanyl compounds having the same metal ion but different anions such as sulphate, nitrate, oxalate and acetate have been synthesized and characterized on the basis of their physical, spectral and analytical data. In order to evaluate the role of anions on their antibacterial properties, these ligands and their synthesized metal complexes with various anions have been screened against bacterial species Escherichia coil,Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The title studies have proved a definitive role of anions in increasing the antibacterial properties.


The Journey of an Outstanding Scientific Mind: Prof Hiroshi Maeda (1938-2021).
In the mid-70s of the last century, Prof [...].


Excimer ablation of human intervertebral disc at 308 nanometers.
Excimer laser energy, which has been shown to photoablate tissue at a precisely controllable rate with minimal thermal damage, was applied to human intervertebral disc in an effort to develop a technique for percutaneous discectomy. Cadaveric samples of human disc were used. Excimer laser energy was produced by a XeCl, magnetically switched, long-pulse laser working at 308 nm, 20 Hz. Annulus tissue of approximately 1 mm thickness was placed in contact with the output tip of a 400 microns core diameter quartz fiber, and measurements of ablation rate were made at different radiant exposures. Ablation rates were found to vary linearly with radiant exposure, from 0.7 micron/pulse at 10 mJ/mm2 to 11.0 microns/pulse at 55 mJ/mm2, with a correlation coefficient of 0.984. Threshold radiant exposure, calculated by extrapolation, was found to be about 7 mJ/mm2. Histologic analysis showed a minimum of thermal damage in these specimens, and when ablated with modification to maintain constant fiber-tissue contact, thermal injury was nearly absent, as compared to samples ablated with Nd:YAG through a contact probe. Thermographic analysis, performed using the AGA 782 Digital Thermography system, showed increasing temperature with increasing radiant exposure, with a maximum temperature of 47.2 degrees C at 55 mJ/mm2. In that precise tissue ablation was demonstrated with minimal generated heat, and excimer energy at 308 nm is transmissible through fiber optics, excimer holds great promise for the development of a percutaneous discectomy technique.


Prognostic value of retrieved lymph node counts in patients with node-negative perihilar cholangiocarcinomas.
This study aimed to find out the prognostic value and optimal cut-off value of retrieved lymph node (LN) counts in patients with node-negative perihilar cholangiocarcinomas. The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database was used to screen out patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma. The cut-off number of retrieved LNs was determined by the X-tile programme. Kaplan-Meier methods with log-rank tests and Cox regression analysis were used for survival analysis. A total of 778 patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (2004-2014) met the inclusion criteria for this research, and there were 403 patients without LN metastases (N0) among them. The cut-off numbers of retrieved LNs, which were determined using the X-tile programme, were 8 and 18. Both results of univariate and multivariate survival analyses in N0 patients showed that patients with ≥18 retrieved LNs had a significantly better survival rate than patients with 1-7 retrieved LNs and patients with 8-17 retrieved LNs. In the subgroup of patients with early-stage tumours, patients with at least 13 retrieved LNs had a significantly better overall and cancer-specific survival than patients with fewer retrieved LNs. The retrieved LN counts are an independent prognostic factor for patients with node-negative perihilar cholangiocarcinoma. Patients with at least 18 retrieved LNs had a better overall and cancer-specific survival than patients with fewer retrieved LNs. The minimum requirement for retrieving of LNs should reach 18 in perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.


Pandemic Disruption in Residency Did Not Alter Trends in Intended Scope of Practice.
We found the intended scope of practice remained unchanged in graduating family medicine residents between pre-pandemic and pandemic period. Tracking these trends with later cohorts will fully assess the pandemics' impact on training so that residencies can adjust their education accordingly.


Leaflet folding plasty combined with annular plication for mitral valve repair.
We describe a new technique of mitral valve repair based on two reconstructive techniques: (1) the folding leaflet method, and (2) the classic annular plication. This combination appears to be useful in cases with a large prolapsing posterior mitral leaflet with excessive leaflet height or in cases with commissural prolapse involving both the anterior and posterior leaflets.


Superoxide radicals and hydrogen peroxide formation in mitochondria from normal and neoplastic tissues.
Mitochondria from beef heart, Morris hepatoma 3924A and Ehrlich ascites tumor (Lettré mutant) have been studied with respect to hydrogen peroxidase and superoxide radical formation and the presence of superoxide dismutase activity (EC 126.96.36.199, superoxide:superoxide oxidoreductase). The generation of superoxide radicals and hydrogen peroxide occurs at the level of the membrane, being present also in mitochondrial fragments. Hepatoma and ascites mitochondria have little or no superoxide dismutase activity. Superoxide radicals appear to be precursors of hydrogen peroxide formation, the reaction being catalyzed by superoxide dismutase.


Plasma insulin-like growth factor-I and its binding proteins 1 and 3 during continuous nonoral and oral combined hormone replacement therapy.
We determined the effects of continuous combined nonoral and oral estrogen-progestin therapy on plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and its binding proteins 1 (IGFBP-1) and 3 (IGFBP-3). Forty women complaining of climacteric symptoms were randomized to receive either transdermal estradiol patches (50 microg daily) in combination with an intrauterine system releasing 20 microg of levonorgestrel daily or an established regimen of an oral dose of 2 mg of estradiol and 1 mg of norethisterone acetate daily for 1 year. Fifteen women in the nonoral therapy group and 17 in the oral therapy group completed the 1-year prospective study. Plasma levels of IGF-I decreased significantly in the oral therapy group, but no changes were observed in the plasma levels of its binding proteins. Transdermal estrogen in combination with intrauterine levonorgestrel did not induce any change in plasma IGF-I, whereas the plasma levels of IGFBP-3 decreased. IGFBP-1 concentrations increased, which may be related to the induction of this protein into the endometrium by the intrauterine levonorgestrel delivery. Both the nonoral and oral continuous combined estrogen-progestin therapies used in this study produced only minor changes in the circulating concentrations of IGF-I and its binding proteins.


Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Cardiac Surgery.
Mitochondria are key to the cellular response to energetic demand, but are also vital to reactive oxygen species signaling, calcium hemostasis, and regulation of cell death. Cardiac surgical patients with diabetes, heart failure, advanced age, or cardiomyopathies may have underlying mitochondrial dysfunction or be more sensitive to perioperative mitochondrial injury. Mitochondrial dysfunction, due to ischemia/reperfusion injury and an increased systemic inflammatory response due to exposure to cardiopulmonary bypass and surgical tissue trauma, impacts myocardial contractility and predisposes to arrhythmias. Strategies for perioperative mitochondrial protection and recovery include both well-established cardioprotective protocols and targeted therapies that remain under investigation.


T lymphocytes in infectious mononucleosis. II. Response in vitro to interleukin-2 and establishment of T cell lines.
The addition of 20% interleukin-2 (IL-2) significantly reduced the percentage of T lymphocytes dying in vitro after being isolated from the peripheral blood of acute infectious mononucleosis (IM) patients. Moreover, the immediate addition of 20% IL-2 to freshly isolated blood allowed IM T cell lines to be readily established from the peripheral blood of acute IM patients. Characterization of seven of these IM T cell lines showed them to be T3+, T11+, T4-, T9- and generally T10-. Over half of the lines characterized were T8+. It will now be possible to re-evaluate IM T cell effector functions as previous assays of IM T cell functions may have been influenced by the presence of rapid and extensive T cell death in vitro.


Association of differentiated thyroid carcinoma with HLA-DR7.
Seventy-four American white thyroid cancer patients were typed for HLA-A, B, and DR antigens. A significant increase in HLA-DR7 was found in the nonradiation-associated thyroid cancer patients (42.5%, 20/47 cases), compared to 22.8% of 979 normal controls. The association is stronger in the follicular and mixed papillary-follicular subgroup (52.0%, 13/25 cases, P corrected less than 0.01). The occurrence of various malignancies in family members was found in 57.9% of HLA-DR7 positive patients, versus 20% of HLA-DR7 negative patients, in a retrospective record review. Although the frequency of HLA-DR7 was not increased in the radiation-associated thyroid cancer patients (22.2%, 6/27 cases), the interval from the irradiation date to the onset date of thyroid cancer was shorter in HLA-DR7 positive cases (17.3 +/- 6.2 years) than in HLA-DR7 negative patients (29.4 +/- 11.5 years). This data suggest that HLA-DR7 is associated with and may influence development of thyroid cancer.


A thromboelastometric evaluation of the effects of hypothermia on the coagulation system.
Hypothermia may be accidental or therapeutic. Therapeutic hypothermia is increasingly used as treatment for various conditions, e.g., neuroprotection after cardiac arrest. Hypothermia leads to an impairment of the coagulation system, but the degree of impairment has been difficult to determine. Most studies have been performed on plasma instead of whole blood. We therefore evaluated whole blood investigating the effects of hypothermia on the coagulation system over a wide range of temperatures (25-40 degrees C). Blood was drawn from six healthy volunteers into citrated test tubes. Samples were then placed in water baths with temperatures ranging from 25 to 40 degrees C for 30 min before the coagulation system was studied using rotational thromboelastometry. A contact activator (Ellagic acid) was used for initiation of coagulation. Clotting time, clot formation time, alpha angle, and maximum clot strength were measured. All tests were run for 60 min and they were performed at the same temperature as the temperature in the water bath. Coagulation was increasingly impaired with decreasing temperatures in the temperature range studied. All variables measured were significantly impaired in a stepwise pattern (P < 0.0001). Evaluation using a whole blood analysis shows that hypothermia progressively impairs the coagulation system.


The immune-endocrine loop during aging: role of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I.
Why a primary lymphoid organ such as the thymus involutes during aging remains a fundamental question in immunology. Aging is associated with a decrease in plasma growth hormone (somatotropin) and IGF-I, and this somatopause of aging suggests a connection between the neuroendocrine and immune systems. Several investigators have demonstrated that treatment with either growth hormone or IGF-I restores architecture of the involuted thymus gland by reversing the loss of immature cortical thymocytes and preventing the decline in thymulin synthesis that occurs in old or GH-deficient animals and humans. The proliferation, differentiation and functions of other components of the immune system, including T and B cells, macrophages and neutrophils, also demonstrate age-associated decrements that can be restored by IGF-I. Knowledge of the mechanism by which cytokines and hormones influence hematopoietic cells is critical to improving the health of aged individuals. Our laboratory has recently demonstrated that IGF-I prevents apoptosis in promyeloid cells, which subsequently permits these cells to differentiate into neutrophils. We also demonstrated that IL-4 acts much like IGF-I to promote survival of promyeloid cells and to activate the enzyme phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI 3-kinase). However, the receptors for IGF-I and IL-4 are completely different, with the intracellular beta chains of the IGF receptor possessing intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity and the alpha and gammac subunit of the heterodimeric IL-4 receptor utilizing the Janus kinase family of nonreceptor protein kinases to tyrosine phosphorylate downstream targets. Both receptors share many of the components of the PI 3-kinase signal transduction pathway, converging at the level of insulin receptor substrate-1 or insulin receptor subtrate-2 (formally known as 4PS, or IL-4 Phosphorylated Substrate). Our investigations with IGF-I and IL-4 suggest that PI 3-kinase inhibits apoptosis by maintaining high levels of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. The sharing of common activation molecules, despite vastly different protein structures of their receptors, forms a molecular explanation for the possibility of cross talk between IL-4 and IGF-I in regulating many of the events associated with hematopoietic differentiation, proliferation and survival.


Mechanical Characterization of the Elastoplastic Response of a C11000-H2 Copper Sheet.
This work presents an elastoplastic characterization of a rolled C11000-H2 99.90% pure copper sheet considering the orthotropic non-associated Hill-48 criterion together with a modified Voce hardening law. One of the main features of this material is the necking formation at small strains levels causing the early development of non-homogeneous stress and strain patterns in the tested samples. Due to this fact, a robust inverse calibration approach, based on an experimental-analytical-numerical iterative predictor-corrector methodology, is proposed to obtain the constitutive material parameters. This fitting procedure, which uses tensile test measurements where the strains are obtained via digital image correlation (DIC), consists of three steps aimed at, respectively, determining (a) the parameters of the hardening model, (b) a first prediction of the Hill-48 parameters based on the Lankford coefficients and, (c) corrected parameters of the yield and flow potential functions that minimize the experimental-numerical error of the material response. Finally, this study shows that the mechanical characterization carried out in this context is capable of adequately predicting the behavior of the material in the bulge test.


[Value of hypertonic media for the isolation of aberrant forms of Candida albicans from women with lower genital tract infections].
Women presenting symptoms and/or signs of lower genital tract infection were examined mycologically and to increase the sensitivity of the culture methods and to estimate the aberrant forms of fungi, hypertonic media was used. 47 yeast species were isolated from 86 patients. On the other hand 8 Candida albicans strains were isolated by using hypertonic culture media in which no growth was observed in any of the media used for routine culture. In relation with this study 8 cases were evaluated and the culture methods that have been used were discussed.


Isolated glucocorticoid deficiency.
A three-month-old boy with hypoglycemic episodes, feeding problems and hyperpigmentation is described. Hormone assays revealed elevated serum ACTH values and low levels of plasma cortisol that did not rise after exogenous ACTH administration; blood pressure, serum electrolytes and earlier plasma aldosterone and renin activity were in the normal range. These data suggest a diagnosis of an isolated glucocorticoid deficiency, secondary to unresponsiveness to ACTH. Replacement therapy with glucocorticoids was highly effective. Despite replacement therapy, during follow-up he had an increase in basal plasma renin activity with aldosterone concentration normal. In our patient, a mineralcorticoid deficiency might eventually develop; therefore, the selective glucocorticoid deficiency might also be part of a progressive defect involving the glomerulosa too.


Correlation of twin-block appliance efficacy and wear duration as assessed with a compliance indicator.
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between objective wear time and treatment efficacy of a twin block (TB) appliance. A TB appliance incorporating a compliance indicator was delivered to 44 children in the age group of 11-14 years (25 boys and 19 girls). Participants were instructed to wear the appliance full time and were recalled at 3-4- week intervals. Cephalograms and study models were taken at baseline and after 6 months of appliance therapy. Data from 41 of the 44 participants were analyzed. A wide variation in daily wear time among participants was observed. Based on wear time, they were divided into full time (FT >17 h/d) and part time (PT < 12 h/d) wear groups. Mean wear durations were 20.86 hours in the FT-wear group and 9.55 hours in the PT-wear group. In skeletal changes, the ANB (A point, nasion, B point) angle was reduced by 2.69° in the FT-wear group, and 1.33° in the PT-wear group, and statistically significant increases were seen for the mandibular base measurement (Pg/OLp) in the FT-wear group (2.22mm), compared with those in the PT-wear group (0.44mm). . In dental changes, overjet were reduced by 3.91 mm and 2.0 mm in the FT-wear and PT-wear group, respectively. This difference was statistically significant. Skeletal effects were pronounced in the FT-wear group, and dentoalveolar changes were comparable in the 2 wear groups. The maximum skeletal treatment effect of a TB appliance was found to occur with FT wear over a 6-month treatment period.


Spatial analysis of COVID-19 spread in Iran: Insights into geographical and structural transmission determinants at a province level.
The Islamic Republic of Iran reported its first COVID-19 cases by 19th February 2020, since then it has become one of the most affected countries, with more than 73,000 cases and 4,585 deaths to this date. Spatial modeling could be used to approach an understanding of structural and sociodemographic factors that have impacted COVID-19 spread at a province-level in Iran. Therefore, in the present paper, we developed a spatial statistical approach to describe how COVID-19 cases are spatially distributed and to identify significant spatial clusters of cases and how socioeconomic and climatic features of Iranian provinces might predict the number of cases. The analyses are applied to cumulative cases of the disease from February 19th to March 18th. They correspond to obtaining maps associated with quartiles for rates of COVID-19 cases smoothed through a Bayesian technique and relative risks, the calculation of global (Moran's I) and local indicators of spatial autocorrelation (LISA), both univariate and bivariate, to derive significant clustering, and the fit of a multivariate spatial lag model considering a set of variables potentially affecting the presence of the disease. We identified a cluster of provinces with significantly higher rates of COVID-19 cases around Tehran (p-value< 0.05), indicating that the COVID-19 spread within Iran was spatially correlated. Urbanized, highly connected provinces with older population structures and higher average temperatures were the most susceptible to present a higher number of COVID-19 cases (p-value < 0.05). Interestingly, literacy is a factor that is associated with a decrease in the number of cases (p-value < 0.05), which might be directly related to health literacy and compliance with public health measures. These features indicate that social distancing, protecting older adults, and vulnerable populations, as well as promoting health literacy, might be useful to reduce SARS-CoV-2 spread in Iran. One limitation of our analysis is that the most updated information we found concerning socioeconomic and climatic features is not for 2020, or even for a same year, so that the obtained associations should be interpreted with caution. Our approach could be applied to model COVID-19 outbreaks in other countries with similar characteristics or in case of an upturn in COVID-19 within Iran.


Look out-it's your off-peak time of day! Time of day matters more for alerting than for orienting or executive attention.
BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: Older adults' peak performance on memory and cognitive inhibition tasks tends to be in the morning, whereas younger adults' peak performance tends to be in the afternoon. Although these tasks require efficient attentional processes for optimal performance, previous research examining age differences in the effects of time of day has not measured the distinct aspects of attention quantified by the Attention Network Test (ANT; Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz, & Posner, 2002, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14, 340-347). The authors examined the relationship between time of testing and the efficiency of alerting, orienting, and executive attention networks by randomly assigning younger (18-28 years; n = 27, M = 21.37 years, SD = 2.39) and older (65-85 years; n = 32, M = 73.34 years, SD = 5.18) adults to morning (AM) or afternoon (PM) testing of alerting, orienting, and executive attention. Mean reaction times for each network were analyzed with a univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) with age (younger, older) and time of day (AM, PM) as between-subjects factors. Consistent with the authors' hypotheses, although time of day had little effect on orienting or executive attention, it affected alerting in opposite ways for younger and older adults, with alerting cues benefiting performance most at participants' off-peak times of day. A larger benefit from alerting cues was observed when participants were tested at their off-peak (M = 30.11 ± 15.66) relative to their peak (M = 2.18 ± 15.97) time. These findings show that age-related circadian patterns influence the alerting component of attention, with both age groups showing the largest benefit from alerting cues when testing occurs at nonoptimal times of day. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of controlling for time of day in investigations of attention and add to our understanding of how age differences in circadian patterns impact attention.


The Association Between the Mediterranean Lifestyle Index and All-Cause Mortality in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra Cohort.
Overall lifestyle patterns rather than individual factors may exert greater reductions on chronic disease risk and mortality. The objective is to study the association between a Mediterranean lifestyle index and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Investigators analyzed data from 20,494 participants in the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra cohort in 2019. The Mediterranean lifestyle index is composed of 28 items on food consumption, dietary habits, physical activity, rest, and social interactions that score 0 or 1 point; scores theoretically could range from 0 to 28 points. After a median follow-up of 12.1 years, 407 deaths were observed. In the multivariable-adjusted model, high adherence (>14 points) to the Mediterranean lifestyle was associated with a 41% relative reduction in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio=0.59, 95% CI=0.42, 0.83) compared with low adherence (3-10 points, p<0.001 for trend). For each additional point, the multivariable hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were 0.95 (95% CI=0.89, 1.02) for food consumption; 1.00 (95% CI=0.92, 1.08) for dietary habits; and 0.73 (95% CI=0.66, 0.80) for physical activity, rest, social habits, and conviviality. Significant interaction with age at last contact (p<0.001) suggested a lower risk for each additional point among participants aged ≥50 years (hazard ratio=0.50, 95% CI=0.34, 0.74), whereas no association was found for participants aged <50 years (hazard ratio=1.15, 95% CI=0.54, 2.44). Adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle may reduce the risk of mortality in a Spanish cohort of university graduates. Inverse associations were found for the overall Mediterranean lifestyle score and lifestyle block, whereas no associations were observed for the dietary blocks. Future research should consider the Mediterranean lifestyle beyond the Mediterranean diet in different populations for the promotion of healthy longevity. This study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02669602.


Cell and type specificity of interferon action. Unusual characteristics of the transcriptional control of gene expression by interferon-gamma in T cells.
We have examined the mechanisms by which interferon (IFN)-gamma and IFN-alpha regulate the expression of 2'-5'-oligoadenylate synthetase (2-5A synthetase) and class I major histocompatibility complex antigens in murine T cells and in cell types of other histological origin. When treated with IFN-alpha both fibroblasts and T cell lines displayed a marked increase of the 2-5A synthetase activity and of the corresponding mRNA. The augmentation of the enzyme activity in T cells was induced by IFN-alpha at the transcriptional level, as determined by nuclear run-on analysis. In contrast IFN-gamma was capable of increasing 2-5A synthetase activity only in fibroblasts, but not in T cells. Nuclear run-on assays revealed that the 2-5A synthetase gene in T cells is not transcriptionally activated by IFN-gamma. After IFN-alpha and -gamma treatment we also observed a significant increase in class I gene expression in fibroblasts and T cell lines as measured both on the cell surface and by cytoplasmic RNA accumulation. In the case of the T cell line, DO1110, the observed increase in the steady-state levels of class I transcripts was a consequence of a high rate of H-2 gene transcription as demonstrated by run-on analysis. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in this IFN-dependent H-2 gene transcriptional activation are different between IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma. When the T cell lines DO1110, L12-R4 and EL4 were transfected with a plasmid containing a reporter gene (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) under the control of a regulatory IFN-responsive DNA element of 237 bp or 1.4 kb, IFN-alpha was able to activate the transcription of these constructs. In contrast, IFN-gamma did not recognize the IFN-responsive element which, by itself, activated transcription of the reporter gene in response to IFN-gamma in other cellular types of non-T cell origin. Therefore, in the T cell lines examined, IFN-gamma increases the H-2 gene expression by acting on DNA elements located upstream of the regulatory segment used in this study or downstream of the cap site. This suggests a possible cell specificity in the activation of an IFN-responsive element, that in turn may regulate the IFN-inducible gene expression in a cell-specific fashion. Thus, the differential biological activities of IFN-gamma on T cells could be generated by a differential gene activation at the transcriptional level.


In vivo affinity label of a protein expressed in Escherichia coli. Coenzyme A occupied the AT(D)P binding site of the mutant F1-ATPase beta subunit (Y307C) through a disulfide bond.
When Tyr-307 of the beta subunit of F1-ATPase from a thermophilic Bacillus strain PS3 is replaced by cysteine and expressed in Escherichia coli cells, about a half population of the mutant beta subunit are labeled by Coenzyme A at Cys-307 through a disulfide bond which is cleavable by reducing treatment. The mutant beta subunit can be reconstituted into the alpha 3 beta 3 complex of which ATPase activity is stimulated two-fold by reducing treatment either prior or after reconstitution. Since Tyr-307 has been supposed to be located at one of subdomains which form the ATP binding site of the beta subunit, Coenzyme A binds to the mutant beta subunit as an AT(D)P analogue in E. coli cells and then covalently attaches to Cys-307.


Reference values for the EORTC QLQ-C30 quality of life questionnaire in a random sample of the Swedish population.
To obtain reference values for health-related quality of life (HRQL) measured with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) in a random sample of the adult Swedish population. A population-based survey of a random sample of 7002 Swedish adults aged 40-79 years, frequency-matched to reflect the age and sex distribution of upper gastrointestinal cancer patients. Scales were scored on a 0-100 metric according to standard procedures. Functions and symptoms were dichotomized into "poor" versus "good" function, and "symptomatic" and "no or minor symptoms", respectively. The results were stratified for age and gender. The questionnaire was completed by 4910 (70.5%) of 6969 eligible participants. Missing values were limited. HRQL was found to vary according to age and sex. Generally, men reported better functioning and fewer symptoms than women. The most common symptoms were fatigue, pain, and insomnia. The reference values provided can be used as a surrogate baseline measure in HRQL research, and when evaluating the effect of interventions on HRQL in cancer patients.


Outcome of laparoscopic major liver resection for colorectal metastases.
Minimally invasive liver resection (MILR) for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) is gaining widespread acceptance. However, data are still lacking on the feasibility, long- and short-term outcomes of laparoscopic major hepatectomy (i.e., three or more liver segments). Between October 2002 and December 2008, prospectively collected data of 117 patients who underwent major liver resection [97 open (OMLR) and 20 laparoscopic (LMLR) procedures] for CRLM were analyzed. Twenty patients in the LMLR group were matched with 20 patients of the OMLR based on 13 parameters. We compared the long- and short-term outcomes between these two groups. Median duration of surgery was 257.5 (range 75-360) min in LMLR versus 232.5 (range 120-400) min in OMLR (P = 0.228). Median blood loss during surgery was 550 ml in each group (range 100-4,000 vs. 100-2,500 ml, P = 0.884). There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of postoperative complications (both severity and location). Median magnitude of tumor-free resection margin was 7.5 versus 5.5 mm in the laparoscopy versus open group, respectively (P = 0.651). Median disease-free survival (DFS) of the entire study population was 18.4 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 11.9-50.0 months]. Median overall survival (OS) was 50.7 months (95% CI 36.2 months to undetermined). The estimated DFS and OS rates at 1, 2, and 5 years were comparable in the two groups (P = 0.637 and 0.872, respectively). Laparoscopic MLR for selected CRLM is feasible and might result in comparable oncologic outcomes as in open liver resection.


Exploring a case of incompatibility in a complex regimen containing Plasma-Lyte 148 in the pediatric intensive care.
In the local pediatric intensive care unit, precipitation was observed in the intravenous catheter upon co-administration of four drugs together with the buffered electrolyte solution (Plasma-Lyte 148, Baxter). Co-infusion of incompatible combinations represents a safety concern. To reproduce the clinical case of precipitation. To further explore and understand the risk of precipitation, different combinations of the components as well as the corresponding electrolyte solution with 5% glucose (Plasma-Lyte 148 with 5% glucose) should be investigated. Physical compatibility of fentanyl, ketamine, midazolam, and potassium chloride was tested in combination with the buffered electrolyte solutions. The concentrations and infusion rates representative of children 10-40 kg were used to estimate mixing ratios. Analyses detecting visual particles (Tyndall beam) and sub-visual particles (light obscuration technology) were undertaken. Measured turbidity and pH in mixed samples were compared with unmixed controls. Both midazolam and ketamine showed formation of visual and sub-visual particles upon mixing with Plasma-Lyte 148, respectively. Particle formation was confirmed by increased turbidity and a distinct Tyndall effect. pH in mixed samples mirrored the pH of the buffered electrolyte, suggesting that the solubility limits of midazolam, and in some ratios also ketamine, were exceeded. Midazolam also precipitated in combination with the glucose-containing product that held a lower pH, more favorable for keeping midazolam dissolved. Replication of the case revealed that both midazolam and ketamine contributed to the precipitation. Midazolam and ketamine were both evaluated as incompatible with the buffered electrolyte solution and midazolam also with the buffered electrolyte-glucose solution and should not be co-administered in the same i.v.-catheter line. Fentanyl and potassium chloride were interpreted as compatible with both buffered electrolytes.


Erratum regarding previously published articles.
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.cccb.2021.100021.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.cccb.2021.100009.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.cccb.2021.100023.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.cccb.2021.100014.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.cccb.2021.100027.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.cccb.2021.100030.].


Intellectual outcome in children with malignant tumors of the posterior fossa: influence of the field of irradiation and quality of surgery.
The purpose of this study was to determine the respective parts played by cerebral hemisphere irradiation, posterior fossa irradiation, and surgery in the poor late functional results often observed in children treated for medulloblastoma. To do this we compared the intellectual outcome in a series of 59 children operated on for medulloblastoma, who had received whole-brain irradiation, to that observed in a series of 37 children operated on for ependymoma of the posterior fossa, who had received radiotherapy only on the posterior fossa. Only patients who had survived for more than 2 years without recurrence were included. At the assessment 1 year after treatment, intellectual outcome was somewhat better in the ependymoma group, but the difference was not statistically significant. At the long-term follow-ups at 5 and 10 years the results remained stable in the children treated for ependymoma, around 60% having an IQ above 90, whereas the intellectual level of the children treated for medulloblastoma was seen to have deteriorated progressively: 20% had an IQ above 90 5 years after treatment and only 10% at the 10-year follow-up. This progressive degradation is most likely due to the irradiation of the cerebral hemispheres, as this prophylactic irradiation constituted the only difference between the two groups. Moreover, irradiation to the posterior fossa did not seem to affect intellectual functions, since in the group of children with ependymomas the proportion of IQs above 90 was high and remained stable over the years. Surgery was certainly responsible for some poor results. The percentage of IQs above 90 observed 1-2 years after treatment was between 70 and 80 when no postoperative complications occurred, and only between 20-40% in the presence of postoperative complications. Postoperative aggravation was in most cases related to a brain-stem lesion. These results encourage the reduction, when possible, of irradiation to the cerebral hemispheres and underline the importance of the quality of surgery.


Absorption studies on aminoglycoside binding to the packaging region of human immunodeficiency virus type-1.
The binding of paromomycin, neomycin B, and three analogues of neomycin to a 176-mer RNA from the packaging region of HIV-1 (LAI) has been studied using UV absorption spectroscopy at wavelengths between 200 and 300 nm. From plots of absorption as a function of drug concentration, values of binding constants for these drugs on RNA were determined.


Incidence of barodontalgias and their relation to oral/ dental condition in personnel with responsibility in military flight.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the incidence of barodontalgias in a sample of 506 patients, all of whom are personnel with responsibility in military flight. An additional aim was to correlate this incidence with various oral pathologies and their subsequent treatment. The ICAO and CPITN indices in flight personnel who underwent the obligatory official examination at the Straits Air Command Hospital were investigated, in each case taking the data of the initial examination. Any effects that occurred in simulated flights, conducted in a hypobaric chamber, were also recorded. Any case of barodontalgia was investigated in depth, relating it to the pathology that caused it, and observing the result of the treatment employed. There were three cases of barodontalgia (2.63%). The pain was essentially of posterior localisation (92.3%), and in the majority of cases was described as acute and localised (61.5%). In a high percentage it did not disappear after landing (61.5%). The pathologies were varied, and the treatments were in keeping with these. The result after the therapeutic phase was entirely satisfactory in 69.2%. If we correlate the appearance of barodontalgias with other variables, in the patients who experienced them we record a larger number of fillings (P = 0.1617) and a smaller number of teeth missing (P = 0.6603). The Caries Index is similar in the two groups (P = 0.9187). The average ICAO is higher (P = 0.3345) in those patients who suffered from pain, though it must be pointed out that the low number of cases means it is difficult to record statistically significant results. Our results showed an incidence of barodontalgia in the study population of 2.63%, overall. In real flight the incidence was 2.4% and in the ascents conducted in the hypobaric chamber it was 0.2%. On the other hand, no statistically significant differences were found between the results for the Indices of Oral Health of the patients affected by barodontalgia and those not so affected, although the ICAO was greater.


Antidiabetic effect of an extract of nutricultured Brassica napus containing vanadium from a Jeju water concentrate.
The purpose of this study was to determine the antidiabetic effect of an extract of nutricultured Brassica napus containing vanadium (BECV). The BECV was prepared following nutriculture of B. napus with a Jeju water vanadium concentrate for 7 day. The BECV was administered to db/db mice for 8 weeks at different dosages (0.028, 0.14, and 0.7 μg/kg; as vanadium concentration in BECV). After 8 weeks, the BECV results showed mouse blood glucose concentrations to significantly decrease, in a dose-dependent manner, compared with the results for control mice. In addition, the concentrations of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and glycated hemoglobin were significantly lower after 8 weeks of administration of 0.7 μg/kg BECV. Therefore, the BECV may have protective effects against type 2 diabetes.


Inhibition of the repair of photosystem II by oxidative stress in cyanobacteria.
The activity of Photosystem II (PS II) is severely restricted by a variety of environmental factors and, under environmental stress, is determined by the balance between the rate of damage to PS II and the rate of the repair of damaged PS II. The effects of oxidative stress on damage and repair can be examined separately, and it appears that, while light can damage PS II directly, oxidative stress acts primarily by inhibiting the repair of PS II. Studies in cyanobacteria have demonstrated that oxidative stress suppresses the de novo synthesis of proteins, in particular, the D1 protein, which is required for the repair of PS II.


Relapse of T-cell all after stem cell transplant presenting as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: the value of non-invasive diagnostic imaging in detecting cardiac leukemia.
We describe a 14-year-old female with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with a mediastinal mass at diagnosis who developed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) after stem cell transplantation (SCT). During refractory relapse after SCT using bone marrow from her HLA-matched sibling, she underwent whole thorax irradiation because of pleural effusion and a recurrent mediastinal mass. After a second SCT using peripheral blood from the same donor, she developed HC suspected to be related to tacrolimus. However, isolated cardiac relapse was finally diagnosed by several non-invasive imaging techniques. Cardiac irradiation resolved her cardiac failure, though she eventually developed progressive and fatal hematological disease.


Development of analytical procedures for determination of total chromium by quadrupole ICP-MS and high-resolution ICP-MS, and hexavalent chromium by HPLC-ICP-MS, in different materials used in the automotive industry.
A European directive was recently adopted limiting the use of hazardous substances such as Pb, Hg, Cd, and Cr(VI) in vehicle manufacturing. From July 2003 a maximum of 2 g Cr(VI) will be authorised per vehicle in corrosion-preventing coatings of key components. As no standardised procedures are available to check if produced vehicles are in agreement with this directive, the objective of this work was to develop analytical procedures for total chromium and Cr(VI) determination in these materials. The first step of this study was to optimise digestion procedures for total chromium determination in plastic and metallic materials by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). High resolution (HR) ICP-MS was used to examine the influence of polyatomic interferences on the detection of the (52)Cr(+) and (53)Cr(+) isotopes. If there was strong interference with m/ z 52 for plastic materials, it was possible to use quadrupole ICP-MS for m/ z 53 if digestions were performed with HNO(3)+H(2)O(2). This mixture was also necessary for digestion of chromium from metallic materials. Extraction procedures in alkaline medium (NH(4)(+)/NH(3) buffer solution at pH 8.9) assisted by sonication were developed for determining Cr(VI) in four different corrosion-preventing coatings by HPLC-ICP-MS. After optimisation and validation with the only solid reference material certified for its Cr(VI) content (BCR 545; welding dusts), the efficiency of this extraction procedure for screw coatings was compared with that described in the EN ISO 3613 standard generally used in routine laboratories. For coatings comprising zinc and aluminium passivated in depth with chromium oxides the extraction procedure developed herein enabled determination of higher Cr(VI) concentrations. This was also observed for the screw covered with a chromium passivant layer on zinc-nickel. For coating comprising a chromium passivant layer on alkaline zinc the standardized extraction procedure was more efficient. In the case of painted metallic plate, because of a reactive matrix towards Cr(VI), its extraction without degradation was difficult to perform.


Magnetization dynamics, throughput and energy dissipation in a universal multiferroic nanomagnetic logic gate with fan-in and fan-out.
The switching dynamics of a multiferroic nanomagnetic NAND gate with fan-in/fan-out is simulated by solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation while neglecting thermal fluctuation effects. The gate and logic wires are implemented with dipole-coupled two-phase (magnetostrictive/piezoelectric) multiferroic elements that are clocked with electrostatic potentials of ~50 mV applied to the piezoelectric layer generating 10.1 MPa stress in the magnetostrictive layers for switching. We show that a pipeline bit throughput rate of ~0.5 GHz is achievable with proper magnet layout and sinusoidal four-phase clocking. The gate operation is completed in 2 ns with a latency of 4 ns. The total (internal + external) energy dissipated for a single gate operation at this throughput rate is found to be only ~500 kT in the gate and ~1250 kT in the 12-magnet array comprising two input and two output wires for fan-in and fan-out. This makes it respectively three and five orders of magnitude more energy-efficient than complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor-transistor (CMOS)-based and spin-transfer-torque-driven nanomagnet-based NAND gates. Finally, we show that the dissipation in the external clocking circuit can always be reduced asymptotically to zero using increasingly slow adiabatic clocking, such as by designing the RC time constant to be three orders of magnitude smaller than the clocking period. However, the internal dissipation in the device must remain and cannot be eliminated if we want to perform fault-tolerant classical computing.


Preterm infants with video-EEG confirmed seizures: outcome at 30 months of age.
Our aim was to identify early predictors of poor neurodevelopmental outcome and of subsequent epilepsy in very early preterm and late preterm newborns with neonatal seizures. Fifty-one preterm infants with gestational age (GA) <or=36 weeks were identified among those admitted to the NICU of University Hospital of Parma between January 1999 and December 2003 and prospectively followed-up. They were subdivided in two Groups: early preterm newborns with a GA <or=29 weeks and those with GA between 30 and 36 weeks. Selection criteria included multiple digital-video-EEG confirmed neonatal seizures and a follow-up of at least 30 months. Independent variables considered for analysis included neonatal risk factors, etiology and type of seizures, EEG activity, and cerebral ultrasound scan examinations. Ten infants had a favorable outcome, 17 died, and 23 had an adverse outcome. One infant was lost on follow-up. Apgar score at 1 min (O.R.=15.457, 95% CI: 2.236-106.850, p=0.006) and severely abnormal background EEG activity (O.R.=8.298, 95% CI: 1.316-52.301, p=0.024) were independent predictors of abnormal outcome. Nine infants presented post-neonatal epilepsy. Severely abnormal Cerebral Ultrasound scans were predictive of epilepsy (O.R.=13.72, 95% CI: 1.959-96.149, p=0.008). Neonatal seizures in preterm infants are associated to a high rate of mortality and severe morbidity in survivors but no definitive differences between the two groups of preterm infants were found. Risk-factors for development of subsequent epilepsy are strongly related to the underlying brain damage.